Unit 104 – Describing Charts and Trends
Cue 4: Costs / go down 4% in 2006 / rise 3% so far in 2007 Learner:
Cue 2: Our competitor’s stock price / go up and down / recently Learner:
Cue 3: Customer satisfaction / go up 15% / May to June this year Learner:
Cue 4: Costs / go down 4% in 2006 / rise 3% so far in 2007 Learner:
Now listen to some example phrases. Remember, there are many possible correct answers for each question.
Answer 1:
Revenue essentially remained steady through Q1 and 2 of 2006.
Answer 2:
Recently our competitor’s stock price has been fluctuating.
Answer 3:
Starting in May and going to June, customer satisfaction really took off, rising by 15% in just two months.
Answer 4:
After dropping 4% in 2006, costs have picked up again. So far in 2007 they have risen 3%.
So, how did you do? It’s a good idea to go back and try the practice again, substituting different language and structures each time to exercise your fluency. Also, you can listen to the phrasecast for this and the other episodes for focused practice on all the new phrases and expressions we’ve learned.
All right. We’ve covered all the basic types of trends – flat and fluctuating, upward and downward. Now let’s turn to something Pat does at the end of today’s listening.
Moving on to talk about his own company, Ambient, Pat says that their position has “consolidated,” that is stabilized, after “fending off,” or fighting away, competition from CallTell on the bottom end and Sirus on the “prime” or high end. Then he goes on to make a final point about this slide:
And let me just draw your attention here to the effects of the new Asian players entering our market as we see their growth reflected in the 5% increase of the combined ‘others’ group, which now accounts for over a quarter of the entire European market.
The “combined others group” that Pat is talking about refers to all other players in the market outside the three main competitors, which are CallTell, Sirus and Ambient. Pat makes the point that this group now accounts for “over a quarter” of the entire European market. “Over a quarter” is a way of using vague or unspecific language to maximize a point: Pat chooses to emphasize the large size of the “others” group, but he could also have minimized its significance by saying something like, “only just over a third,” or “well under a half.” Let’s study more ways to use vague language in order to maximize or minimize a point.
This could mean as much as a 20% drop in sales.
Layoffs will result in no more than about a 20% drop in productivity.
I’m afraid that the new policy could result in employee turnover as high as 12% if we don’t act now.
We’re probably only looking at a 2 or 3% drop at the most, if not a lot less. I’d expect at least a 20% increase in price or something in that
neighborhood.
Great, well, that about covers today’s show. We’ve studied introducing the main point of a graph and we’ve learned all the basic language for describing trends – flat and fluctuating, upward and downward. In addition, we’ve seen how using vivid metaphors borrowed from sports and war gives your trend descriptions impact. Finally, we’ve practiced a variety of language for maximizing or minimizing the significance of the data you are using so you can skillfully control its impact on the audience.
During the last episode in this three-part series on charts and trends, we’ll turn to another important aspect of describing change – that is talking about future trend lines and predicting change.
Language Review
A) Under each mini graph, write several expressions that can be used to describe the trend. Where appropriate, add adverbs such as “dramatically,” “sharply,” or “steadily.”
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2.
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5.
6.
B) For each of the cues below, write a sentence describing a trend. The first one has been done for you. Practice using a variety of structures and vocabulary.
1. Consumer confidence, go up by 5%, 1998 to 2000 From 1998 to 2000, consumer confidence increased by 5%.
2. Price of wheat, go down $3, Q2 and Q3 2006; go up $2, Q4 2006.
3. BioClone’s stock price, remain unchanged, Q1 2007; go up by 50%, Q2 2007.
4. Employee turnover, go down by 3%, 2004; go up by 5% 2005; go up by 10% in 2007, reach peak in 2007.
5. Revenue, go up 3m, Q4 2005; level off, Q1 2006; fluctuate, the rest of the year.
Study Strategy
What kind of trends do you use or come across in your work? Taking a few examples, sketch out some trend graphs on a piece of paper or on your computer. Then, make some cues for yourself like the ones above in Review Exercise B that outline the key points you want to make. Practice using the language we learned in last episode for calling attention to and highlighting your points, then, based on your cues, briefly describe the key points you want to get across with each graph. After you’ve practiced a couple times, you can make the presentation into a small PowerPoint presentation. Try giving it to a friend or recording it, then ask your friend for feedback.
Language Review Answers
A)1. go up, rise, increase; steadily, slowly.
2. take off, soar; rise quickly, sharply, dramatically. 3. remain unchanged, remain steady, stay the same. 4. go down, fall, decrease; steadily, slowly.
5. plummet, plunge, crash; fall sharply. 6. level off.
7. hit bottom; pick up.
8. reach a peak, to peak; then fall off. 9. fluctuate, go up and down.
B)
2. After falling by $3 in the period between Q2 and Q3 of 2006, the price of wheat rose again by 2$ in Q4.
3. Throughout the first quarter of 2007, BioClone’s stock price remained basically unchanged; however, in Q2 of 2007 it saw a sharp increase, soaring by over 50%.
4. In 2004 employee turnover dropped off by 3%, but rose again by 5% in 2005; Then, with the news of the merger, it reached an all time high, gaining 10% in 2007.
5. In Q4 of 2006 revenue went up by $3 million, then leveled off in Q1 of 2006 before experiencing minor fluctuations until the end of the year.