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(2) Presenting for Success A complete study program in the language and skills of presenting in English.. Written by James Moss, Clayton Lee & Alex Schmidt Audio produced & recorded by Paul Meredith Online activities by James Moss & Chris Wacker. Copyright 2010 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. 2nd Edition Published 2010. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 2.

(3) Table of Contents (Click a unit title to jump to the start of that unit). 1.. Introduction. pg 4-6. 2.. Unit 101 – Making your Introduction. pg 7-14. 3.. Unit 102 – Signposting your Presentation. pg 15-22. 4.. Unit 103 – Describing Charts and Trends (Part 1). pg 23-32. 5.. Unit 104 – Describing Charts and Trends (Part 2). pg 33-44. 6.. Unit 105 – Describing Charts and Trends (Part 3). pg 45-56. 7.. Unit 106 – Voice Technique and Emphasis. pg 57-65. 8.. Unit 107 – Closing Down and Summarizing. pg 66-74. 9.. Unit 108 – Question and Answer (Part 1). pg 75-85. 10.. Unit 109 – Question and Answer (Part 2). pg 86-96. 11.. Unit 110 – Presenting a SWOT Analysis (Part 1). pg 97-107. 12.. Unit 111 – Presenting a SWOT Analysis (Part 2). pg 108-118. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 3.

(4) Introduction This is an e-book brought to you by Business English Pod, the leading provider of on-demand audio and study tools for business English communication skills at www.businessenglishpod.com. My name is Clayton and I’ll be your host for this series. Is giving presentations important to you career? For most of us, the answer is yes. Presenting our products, success stories, challenges and solutions – this is the heart of business communication, where money is often made or lost. And, in today’s globalizing business environment, we are increasingly called to give presentations in English. In this nine-chapter series, we will be looking in detail at the fundamentals of giving presentations in English. The goal is for you to create a basic repertoire or toolbox of phrases, structures and strategies so that you can give presentations in English more fluently, more confidently and more successfully. In the first chapter, titled, “Introducing your Presentation,” we’ll look at how to make a good start as well as at the overall structure of a presentation. Then, in “Signposting and Signaling,” we’ll be learning strategies for making the organization of your talk strong and clear. In the next three chapters on Charts and Graphs, we’ll be studying in more detail language you can use to organize your thoughts, highlight key points, and relate your ideas to each other. We’ll also focus on a key area of presentations, how to deal with visuals, charts and graphs and how to describe trends and change. Next, in chapter 6, “Voice and emphasis,” we’ll take a look at how to deliver your presentations more fluently and clearly so that your words have greater impact. Finally, in the last three chapters of the book—“Closing Down” and “Q&A 1 and 2”—we’ll study how to finish presentations effectively in order to leave the audience with a strong impression. In addition to summarizing your talk, we’ll be practicing a series of specific strategies for successfully dealing with questions.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 4.

(5) In all, this e-book has over two hours of information-packed audio lessons. Together with our phrasecasts – recordings of key phrases and expressions for study on the go – there’s over 180 minutes of skills development and listening practice. In addition, the accompanying study notes contain a complete transcript of each chapter, vocabulary definitions, extra practice questions and study strategies. And by upgrading to the online version of this e-book, you can get access to a variety of additional language development exercises on the Web. In each chapter, I introduce the topic, then play a listening that demonstrates the key concepts. Afterwards, in the “debrief” section, I take you through the main points and explain important vocabulary and idioms. For each skill, we practice a variety of example phrases that you can use. Finally, in the practice section of each debrief, you have an opportunity to use some of the language you just learned. Learners often ask me how to study more efficiently and effectively. I have some suggestions. Listen to each chapter multiple times. Rewind and practice the example phrases many times. Make a note of anything you don’t understand. First listen to the chapter without the transcript; then, when you have time, go back and listen again with the transcript. Underline and look up words you don’t understand. It’s important to study words in context, paying attention to collocations, or word partnerships, and words in whole sentences, with their accompanying prepositions and other grammatical characteristics. For example, it’s not enough to know the word “presentation”; to use this word, you also have to know the verbs, adjectives and prepositions that go with it – for example, “to deliver” or “to give” an “effective” presentation “to” someone. Another important study strategy is to do the practice section of each debrief – where you actually get to practice what you’ve learned by speaking out loud. Try rewinding and substituting different language the second time your practice. Substitution helps you increase your fluency, that is, your ability to say the same thing in many ways. Also, after you’re finished, you can write out examples using your own presentations and record yourself speaking. Work together with a learning partner so that you can get feedback from a friend. These and many more study strategies are covered in the study notes for each chapter. Last don’t forget to review the vocabulary and do the practice exercises in the study notes.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 5.

(6) And you can check the website for additional online activities to give you extra targeted practice of key language and strategies. If you have not already upgraded to the online version of the e-book, the online exercises are available for purchase at www.businessenglishpod.com. Presenting for Success is targeted for learners at or above Common European Framework (CEF) level B2, “upper-intermediate.” This corresponds to a BULATS score higher than 3 or IELTS higher than 5. The materials are designed to be useful to students at a variety of levels: Intermediate learners will focus initially on language development whereas advanced learners can zoom in on skills development, high-level vocabulary, fluency, confidence and enhancement of overall professionalism. All right, now it’s on with the show! That means, let’s get started. I am confident that the skills and language you will learn over the next nine chapters will help you greatly improve your fluency, confidence and effectiveness in the delivery of presentations. On behalf of all of us here at www.businessenglishpod.com, I wish you great success with your studies! Presenting for Success is an official publication of Business English Pod Ltd., copyright 2010, all rights reserved.. What’s Included? All Business English Pod e-books come with a variety of study resources to provide learners with maximum flexibility and value. You can access and download all the materials for this e-book on this webpage: http://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter2/ebooks/presenting-for-success/. Each e-book includes the following resources:. Podcasts. Study Notes. MP3 lessons you can listen to on your computer, MP3 player or mobile phone.. PDF lesson transcripts with extra vocabulary and language exercises.. PhraseCasts. Online Activities. Compact MP3’s of just the dialog, phrases and speaking practice.. Interactive quizzes, listening and language review exercises.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 6.

(7) Unit 101 – Introducing Your Presentation Today we look at some of the language used during internal presentations. To start off this episode, I’ve asked some of my colleagues what tips they might have for making a good introduction. Following that, we have the main dialog and then the debrief. So here’s me putting my colleagues right on the spot… Clayton: Okay, we’re talking about presentations, and in particular introductions to presentations. Jeff, do you have any guidelines you use when you’re writing, preparing or actually doing an introduction? Is there something you always keep in mind, and say, “Well this is what I always do and must do?” Jeff: Well, in English we talk about something called an “elevator pitch” – which is like a summary of a proposal or idea, which takes maybe no more than 10 to 15 seconds to explain. The idea is that it should be short enough that you can actually give it to someone in an elevator, just in that very brief period of time that you have their attention. Now I think when you’re beginning a presentation, in some ways you’re in the same situation: You may be planning to give a very long speech – it could last 30 or 45 minutes – but you’ve only got that first minute or so to convince people that they ought to be listening to what you’re going to say. So you’ve got to give them some good reasons to listen to everything else that is coming up – give them an idea of what you’re going to say and why they should be listening. Clayton: Do you have a formula Peter? I do. If you don’t… Peter: Er, well, please tell me! Let me get my pen! Clayton: Well I got this formula from a certain school a long time ago. It’s pretty good. It has all the elements I think should be in every presentation – whether it’s formal or informal. Peter: Well tell us! Clayton: Your name - well first of all a greeting – you have to say … Peter: I think you should always start with a Thank you! Clayton: Or Welcome or Hello. Peter: I think Thank you. Jeff: Or Hello. Peter: Thank you and welcome. Clayton: Well why don’t we put them all together, “Hello, thank you and welcome to what-do-you-call-it.” Jeff: You can put them all together. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 7.

(8) Presenting for Success Clayton: Put them all together – one package. And then a name – I think it’s kind of rude not to tell people exactly who you are and your title, what your job is and why you are qualified to speak on the subject. Peter: And that’s a good point – you know a lot of internal presentations these days are done over telephone conference or video conference and you’ve got people from different international locations. They might’ve heard your name but they might not know your face. And so when you get up to speak, even within your company and even maybe your division or your department – it is, as you say good manners, but it is also important (to identify yourself). Clayton: Yeah, I think a lot of listeners to these podcasts – they themselves are very accomplished speakers in their own language – and so I’m sure they know how to make a speech, or presentation, and hopefully though, this podcast will give these speakers, and others, the ideas of how…the types of language we use in presentations, and in particular introductions in this particular podcast.. Vocabulary elevator pitch: In this context, a pitch means a short speech used to sell something. An elevator pitch is a pitch so short that you could give it to someone, for example a senior manager, just in that 10 to 15 seconds you have his or her attention in an elevator ride. “Last week I saw our marketing VP in the coffee room and I gave him an elevator pitch about my new sales strategy.” accomplished speakers: Accomplished is an adjective that means skilled or expert. So accomplished speakers are people who are very good at giving talks, presentations, etc. “Even if you’re not an accomplished speaker, there are a few tips you can follow to give a professional presentation.” signposting: Signposting (or a signpost) is language that helps us follow the structure of a talk, such as “First…, second…, third…,” or “Now I’m going to talk about…” They’re called signposts because they show the way, just like a road sign. It also can be used as a verb. “It’s important to signpost your talk well so people can follow what you’re saying.” videoconference: A conference held through a video connection so that people at distant locations can see each other on the monitor. “We had a videoconference with Shanghai last week.” consumer products: Products whose end customer are normal people instead of companies. Consumer products include food, soap, clothing, etc. – anything that people use. “We have been looking for ways to expand from purely consumer product-oriented approaches to more B2B – or business to business – oriented approaches.” visual aids: Visual aids are anything people can look at to understand your presentation better, such as charts, graphs, pictures, models, handouts, etc. ready when you are: This phrase is used to signal that you’re ready to start something whenever the other participants are. For example, if you’re about to travel with a colleague, you might say, “It’s almost time to leave for the airport. I’m ready when you are.” © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 8.

(9) loud and clear: You can say this phrase to show you can hear something loudly and clearly. Sometimes, it’s used to signal that you understand a point someone else has made. “I hear you loud and clear, Barbara. The deadline is tomorrow.” …..leading off: …starting something. “Laura will be leading off the seminar with a presentation on interview skills.” product lines: Groups of products that share some similarities, such as physical qualities, distribution channels, or marketing plans. “Apple’s product line includes notebook and desktop computers, iPods, and cell phones.” sector: A division of something larger, such as a society, economy, or company. “Our commercial lending sector is our most successful overall.” analyst: A person who analyzes, or studies and explains, an aspect of a business. “Hal has been a real estate analyst for over 20 years. He’s seen everything.” trends: In business, “trends” refers to how something – sales, for example – progresses or moves. There are many terms used to describe trends and they’ll be covered in later chapters of this e-book. In general, though, trends can go up or down, stay the same, or fluctuate (go up and down in an unpredictable way). “The latest trend shows that our sales are going up among teenagers in Asia and South America.” forecast: A “forecast” is made when analysts take current information and predict the direction of future trends. “The forecast doesn’t look good for our SUV division. People are concerned about gas prices and the environment.” (sales) strategies: Specific plans to achieve a goal. In the case of sales, this would mean plans to use certain sales methods and marketing plans. “As part of our sales strategy, we’re going to focus on growth markets in SE Asia.” kickoff meeting: Kickoff (from sports) means to start; so a kickoff meeting is the first in a series of meetings or the first event at a conference, etc. “At our annual sales meeting, Jenny chaired the kickoff meeting this year.” prepared remarks: Often at a presentation, a speaker will give “prepared remarks.” In other words, he or she will give a talk which has been planned beforehand. “I have my prepared remarks written on cards so I can review them before I speak.” handout: “Handouts” are written copies of material related to a presentation, which are distributed to the audience. Handouts might be copies of PowerPoint slides, notes, or resources. Note that the phrasal verb “hand out” also means “to distribute.” “Phil included a list of helpful websites with his handouts.” tie in to / tie in with: To be related to, or connect with, a topic or product. “LEGO produces a variety of toy building sets to tie in with popular movies such as ‘Star Wars.’”. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 9.

(10) Presenting for Success Dialog Perry: Okay, everybody, let’s all take a seat and get things started. We have a long day ahead of us, and we need to keep to the schedule… So let’s see how our videoconference line is working. Hello Sydney and New York! Can both of you hear us and see us ok? Sydney: Yes, Perry, we have our whole sales group here. Everything is working ok, and we’re ready when you are. New York: Loud and clear here in New York too, Perry. Perry: OK then…..leading off this morning is Claude Dautry from consumer products division, and he’ll be presenting some of the latest sales figures and trends for our product lines in this very key sector. Claude…if you’re ready……please take it away. Claude: Thank you, Perry…. And good morning everybody. A warm welcome from our Paris office, whether you are here in person – or here via video from Sydney or New York. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Claude Dautry, senior sales analyst from our Consumer Products Division, and I’ll be presenting our analysis of recent sales data. We will then examine some important trends and conclusions we can make about the growth of our product lines. After that, we plan to look at some forecasts and proposed sales strategies to adjust to the trends we see developing. During this kickoff meeting, we hope to arrive at some recommendations to forward to senior management, before their next shareholder meeting. And finally, we will open it up to any questions you might have about sales in general, whether it concerns the EU, the Americas or the Asia-Pacific region. I estimate my prepared remarks will cover about 30 minutes, and the next 30 minutes will be dedicated to answering your questions. Hopefully, you’ve all received the handout material I sent, but I’ll also be showing the charts in PowerPoint, in case you don’t have your handouts with you. So, let’s take a look at our first topic, which– uh yes, you have a question? Questioner: Yes, sorry to interrupt…I was wondering if you planned to talk about global marketing efforts and how they tie in to regional sales promotions. (fade out). © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 10.

(11) Debrief Building up a spirit of teamwork in an internal meeting is very important, especially during the introduction stage of a presentation. Personality plays a part, but some simple language patterns do help. Use pronouns such as we, all, us, our, ours, and everybody as much as possible. For example, when starting a meeting, we can say:    . Well, why don’t we all get started? Let’s all take our seats, if we could. Is everybody ready to start? Ok, let’s kick this meeting off.. The introduction phase sets the tone and expectations of a meeting or presentation. Although very often the presenter will introduce him or herself to the audience, sometimes another person may introduce the speaker, as in our example where the presenter was introduced by the chairperson of the teleconference. A complete introduction for a presentation includes the following parts: a greeting ↓ a name and position ↓ the title and subject ↓ the objective or goal of the presentation ↓ the main parts of the talk ↓ a mention of the visual aids that will be used ↓ the time it will take ↓ when questions should be asked ↓ a reference to the audience ↓ and a link to the first section of the presentation Not all presentation introductions will have every one of these elements, and not all will follow this sequence. However, most proper introductions will use a majority of these elements in some form, and in this general sequence. Let’s start with some greetings:    . Good morning, everybody. Good afternoon, and welcome to the North American division. Welcome, all of you, to the Smith Center. I thank you all for coming this evening, to our first employee benefits review.. The name and position of the presenter usually follows. If the presenter is well known amongst the audience, he may not even mention his own name. If most of the people know the presenter, then they may precede their self-introduction © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 11.

(12) Presenting for Success with “For those of you who don’t know me…”. However, when presenting in front of large or widely separated departments, it is customary to introduce yourself with not only your own full name, but your title and area of responsibility. This tells audience members who you are, what your position is, and what sort of knowledge or duties you have concerning the presentation subject. Let’s try some names and titles:  . My name is _______, and I’m a HR manager for our UK operation. I’m ___________, and I’m a test engineer for the QC Department.. (Repeated with example names)  My name is Alison Wright, and I’m the HR manager for our UK operation.  I’m Chuck Yeager, and I’m a test engineer with Quality Department. When introducing one’s duties, or areas of knowledge, we usually use the words “I am responsible for…”. Or, “I am in charge of…”. Let’s try some of these:    . I’m responsible for new employee training… I’m in charge of test data collection… I’m responsible for designing new electrical switches… I manage regional sales promotions in South America…. Try combining the above phrases into complete introductory statements that include name, title and area of responsibility: After the beep, introduce yourself and state your responsibilities at your company. Then listen to an example answer to compare. Of course, the details of everyone’s answer will be a little different: Learner:. Example answer: Good morning everybody, my name is Alison Wright. I’m the HR manager for our London division, and I’m responsible for new employee training. After the presenter introduces himself and his position, the subject of the presentation is then usually stated, along with the purpose of the presentation. A well-designed presentation will then include a guide to the rest of the talk. The presenter will tell the audience what is to come, and what parts of the presentation will be presented in which order. This is called signposting, like the signs on street corners that tell a traveler where he is, and where he is going. Signposting helps to focus the audience’s attention. We’ll cover signposting in the next podcast.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 12.

(13) Language Review A. Put the parts of the introduction of a presentation into a likely order. Note that in some cases, more than one order is possible. 1) 2). the objective of the presentation. your name and position. 3). and a link to the first section of your presentation. 4). A greeting. 5). the title and subject. 6). the main parts of your talk. 7). when you would like questions. 8). a mention of the visual aids that you will use. 9). the time you will take. 10). a reference to the audience. B. Match the following phrases with the language functions above. The first one has been done for you. a. Hello, my name is Ravi Chatterjee and I am in charge of the IT team here in Chicago. 2. Name and position b. The main purpose of my talk today is to outline the implementation of our new security policies over the last quarter. c. My presentation is entitled “Titanium Bridge: Sharing Information Securely with our Customers.” d. I’ve divided my talk up into three parts. First, I’ll give you some background on the new policy. Second, I’ll tell you about the implementation. And finally, we’ll look at the performance of the new system. e. I know you are all busy, so I want to respect your time. The whole presentation should take about 15 minutes. f. Okay? Are you with me? Many of you look like you’ve heard this all before; don’t worry, I’ll be focusing more on the results end, which should be new to you. g. All right, that covers the introduction to my presentation. Now, let’s start with the first topic, background on the new policy. h. Because I’d like to keep this short, please hold your questions until the end. Then we can discuss whatever aspects of the project are of particular interest to you. i. And I’ll be using PowerPoint. j. Good morning. Is everybody here? Can we get started?. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 13.

(14) Presenting for Success Study Strategy Using the structure and the phrases highlighted above, build an introduction to your own presentation, either one you have actually given or one that you heard someone else give. Make some notes about what you want to say, but don’t write everything down. Then, record yourself speaking. Afterwards, play it back to see if you missed anything. How do you sound? Get some feedback from a friend. Then try it again. Practice makes perfect.. Language Review Answers Language Review A and B Note that especially for numbers 6 through 10, the order may vary from presentation to presentation. 1) A greeting j. 2) your name and position a. 3) the title and subject c. 4) the objective of the presentation b. 5) the main parts of your talk d. 6) a mention of the visual aids that you will use i. 7) the time you will take e. 8) when you would like questions h. 9) a reference to the audience f. 10) and a link to the first section of your presentation g.. Online Practice Click the “Launch” button to open the online practice:. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 14.

(15) Unit 102 – Signposting Your Presentation Today we are looking at signposting during presentations. Signposting is language such as, “My presentation is divided into three parts,” or “That’s all for point 1, let’s move on to point 2,” or, “Moving back to what I was saying earlier,” or even, “That concludes the main part of my presentation.” These phrases help your audience keep engaged and interested by showing them the structure of your presentation. Because they show the way, we call them “signposting” or “signaling” phrases: They are the signs along the road of your talk that signal the audience where we are, what we are doing, and why this is important. They can also help you remind yourself of the structure of your presentation so that you don’t get lost. Let’s listen to a short excerpt or part from the middle of a presentation about sales performance. As you, listen focus on the phrases the presenter uses to signpost the structure of his talk.. Vocabulary To wrap something up: To presentation in time for lunch.”. conclude. something.. “We. wrapped. up. the. Market segment/sector: This term describes a set of businesses that are buying and selling such similar goods and services that they are in direct competition with each other. “There is a lot of competition in the sports car market sector.” Sales trends: Sales trends show movement or example, if sales numbers go up (increase) in a trend. “Casey will talk about sales trends at the our numbers are going up, going down, or staying. progress of sales data. For certain market, that’s a sales meeting. I’m curious to see if the same.”. Market niche: A small market with highly specialized products. “In order to survive in the steel business, we were forced to focus on a niche market where the competition wasn’t so extreme.” To come of age: To grow up, reach maturity. “Our business really came of age in the 1990s during the period of fast growth in the high-tech sector.” Theme: The subject, topic or general feeling of your presentation. “The theme of my talk was that we have to increase sales to survive.” Handy: Useful. “Let me give you a few handy tips for finding a job.” Overburdened: A burden is a weight that you carry. It is usually something heavy that slows you down. To be overburdened is to have too much weight to carry. “During the project launch, staff were overburdened – they had to work overtime every day, and morale decreased.” Absorb: To take in or suck in fluid, as a towel takes in water. To absorb information is to learn. “There was too much information to absorb in my presentation, so I think the audience started to fall asleep.” © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 15.

(16) Presenting for Success Dialog … and that about wraps it up for the detailed sales figures. …… Now, let’s see what we can conclude from the sales data. I’ve divided this section of the presentation into three parts. First, we’re going to review historical sales in this market segment. Next, we will discuss developing sales trends, and finally we will compare our performance with our chief competitors. So, let’s talk about some of the history of our particular market niche. Our whole industry came of age in ... … ok, that covers the history of sales in the marketplace. Now, let’s move on to some of the trends in recent sales that we have observed. First, I’ll give a detailed analysis of industry sales trends by region. Then, we’re going to examine our own sales in these same regions. And we’ll finish this section by going over our sales trends for new products. Everybody with me? Well, then… let’s turn our attention to this first chart, which shows overall sales trends worldwide …. Debrief Any presentation requires a clear strategy or plan to help you reach your objectives. The aim is not to pass away twenty minutes talking non-stop and showing a lot of nice pictures. It is to deliver a message that is worth hearing to an audience that wants to hear it. However, how many speakers really hold an audience's attention? What is the secret for those who do?  First, find out about the audience and what they need to know.  Plan what you're going to say  And say it clearly and concisely.  And make sure to signpost throughout the presentation. What is signposting? The term “signposting” comes from signs posted on street corners, which tell travelers where they are and where they are going. In presentations, signposting is informing the listener as to what things are going to be talked about, and when sections have been completed and new sections are opened. This helps to focus the audience’s attention. Once the audience knows what subjects and sections are to come, they can listen to the information from the right perspective, and know how to “file” this information away in the proper © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 16.

(17) places in their minds. One does not want the audience wondering what subjects you are talking about, or how the information currently being presented fits into the larger theme of the presentation. Make it simple for the listener. Lead the listener through the presentation with signposting. How does one signpost? A good speaker uses various signposting signals to help hold the audience's attention and make the parts of the presentation very clear – he does this as he introduces the subjects, and as he moves through them. One type of signal is to introduce a list. This could begin with a phrase like I’ve divided this section of the presentation into three parts. The speaker then says what the three things are and talks about each one at the required level of detail. For example: 'There are three types of price that we have to think about - economic price, market price and psychological price. Let's look at each of these in more detail. First, economic price. This is based on production costs and the need to make a profit ... (and the speaker goes on to describe this type of price in more detail.) After that, he goes on to talk about the market price and so on. Another signaling technique is to give a link between parts of the presentation. Tell the listeners where one part of the talk finishes and another part starts. For example, a well-organized presentation usually contains different parts and a progression from one part to the next part, with clear phrases like:  That's all I want to say about the development of the product.  Now let's turn to the actual marketing plan.  Let’s now take a look at sales results This technique is very helpful to the audience, including those who are mainly interested in one part only. Another type of signaling is sequencing of information. This usually follows a logical order, usually based on time. So a project may be described in terms of the past, the present and the future. Key words in sequencing information are: first, then, next, after that, later, at the end, finally, etc. Still another technique, which helps to emphasize key points, is careful repetition of what has been talked about.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 17.

(18) Presenting for Success Examples are: As I've already said, there is no alternative but to increase production by 100 per cent. or I'd like to re-emphasize the main benefit of the new design – it achieves twice as much power with half as much fuel. Here are some other examples of emphasizing points which have already been talked about:  As we saw in part 2…  As we covered during our discussion of weight savings…  Recalling our look at sales projections for the next decade… And here are some useful signposting phrases that should be used to guide listeners. To move on which means to go to the next subject: Let’s move on to the situation in our overseas markets. To expand on which means give more information on: Could you expand on the issue of pricing? To digress which means to change to another subject: If I can digress for just a moment, what about our plans for the new office? To go back which means to go to a point earlier in the presentation: Let’s go back to the first item on the agenda. To recap which is to repeat a previous part of the presentation: So, to recap, our sales for the third quarter have been strong in all regions. To conclude which is to bring to an end: I’d like to conclude by discussing the future of our company. To summarize which means give the main points: Next, Peter is going to summarize our marketing strategy. To turn to which means to move on: I’d like to turn to the question of hiring new staff. To elaborate on which means to give detailed information on: The next presentation will elaborate on our sales plans for next year. Although many phrases can be used to indicate the end of a section and the beginning of another, there is one single word that can be used in almost all cases to signal ends and beginnings. This word is “so,” most often followed by a pause. We encourage our podcast listeners to use other phrases to make your presentations more interesting, but when one cannot think of a signposting phrase quick enough, the word “so” is a very handy replacement.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 18.

(19) Listen and practice these examples, and pay special attention to the pauses:     . So, So, So, So, So,. what can we conclude from this data? let’s move on to our market for air conditioners. lets take a look at this chart. what can we expect from the future? what can the past teach us?. Great, now it’s your turn to practice some of the phrases and skills we’ve learned today. Imagine you are giving a presentation about your company to a group of visitors. What would you like to include in your introduction? Think of three points: Perhaps you want to mention the history, the products or maybe the people. Or perhaps there are other points you want to make. Then, after you hear the beep, begin by signposting your three main points. You can say, “There are three main points I’d like to introduce…” or “I’ve divided my introduction into three points: First….; second….; third….” Afterwards, signal that you’re starting the first part by saying something like, “Great, let’s first take a look at the history…” or “Let’s turn to the history.” Are you ready? First take a few seconds to think. Example Points: 1. Company history 2. Products 3. People) Learner:. How did you do? Now, let’s listen to an example answer. But remember, there are many possible correct answers. Example answer: I’ve divided my introduction into three parts. First I’ll say something about the 100-year history of our company. Second, I’ll talk about what makes our products so special. And finally, I’ll tell you a little bit about the people that make it all possible. Okay? Let’s start on the first point, the history. It’s always a good idea to rewind and try the practice again. Try substituting different language this time. Remember that this language can be used inside your presentation to signpost points within points, as well as during the overall introduction. Also, there are a lot of phrases covered in this episode today that we didn’t get to practice. Remember to listen to the phrasecast of this and other episodes for focused practice of all the expressions that we look at. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 19.

(20) Presenting for Success A final point concerns signposting and structuring of information. Psychologists have suggested that concentration is reduced after about thirty minutes without a break or a change in activity. Furthermore, audiences should not be overburdened with technical details or given too many facts to remember. It is claimed that to ask people to remember more than three things in a fiveminute talk is too much. Some say that seven is the maximum number of any length of presentation. Any such calculations are probably not very reliable, but every speaker needs to think about exactly how much information of a particular type a specific audience is likely to absorb and to plan accordingly. And, in keeping with our own advice, we are going to conclude this podcast well inside of thirty minutes, just to make sure you absorb all of what we’ve just covered. And our final signpost is “Thanks for listening…!”. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 20.

(21) Language Review A. Useful language Match the language functions on the left with the language on the right. The first one has been done for you. 1). to give information on. 2). A.. I’d like to turn to the question of hiring new staff.. to move on. B.. So, to recap, our sales for the third quarter have been strong in all regions.. 3). to review the main points. C.. I’d like to conclude by discussing the future of our company.. 4). to go to the next subject. D.. Let’s go back to the first part of the agenda.. 5). to change subject. E.. Could you expand on the issue of pricing?. 6). to bring to an end. F.. Next, Peter is going to summarize marketing strategy.. 7). to repeat/summarize an previous part of the presentation. G.. The next presentation will elaborate on our sales plans for next year.. 8). to go to a point earlier in the presentation. H.. If I can digress for just a moment, what about the plans for our new office?. 9). to give more information on a point. I.. Let’s move on to the overseas markets.. to. detailed. another. G. situation in. our. our. B. Signposting strategies To review some key signposting language, match the first half of each phrase on the left with the second half on the right. The first one has been done for you. 1). I’ve divided this section of. 2). B. A.. our discussion of weight savings…. Let's look at. B.. the presentation into three parts.. 3). That's all I want to say. C.. about sales projections for next year…. 4). As we covered during. D.. each of these in more detail.. 5). Recalling our look. E.. at the development of the product.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 21.

(22) Presenting for Success Language Review Answers A. 2)A. 3)F. 4)I. 5)H. 6)C. 7)F. 8)D. 9)E. B. 2)D. 3)C. 4)A. 5)E.. Online Practice Click the “Launch” button to open the online practice:. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 22.

(23) Unit 103 – Describing Charts and Trends 1 Clayton: This is the first of three episodes on charts and trends. Over these three shows, we’ll be learning language for dealing with visuals, describing trends, analyzing and comparing data, and making predictions. “Visuals” refers to any visual element of your presentation – charts, graphs, pictures and so on. A trend is the general direction—upward or downward—of some metric, that is measurement, such as price or revenue. For example, when we say, “The price of oil has risen 30% in the last three months,” that’s a trend. Peter: Clayton, just before we get going, can you tell us why dealing with charts and trends is so important for presentations? Clayton: Well, every presentation contains a visual element, whether it is a few words written with a marker on the board or a high-tech PowerPoint presentation with movies and animations. As the old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So pictures – charts and graphs – they can do the talking for you. But you need to be able to highlight the main points clearly, effectively and logically. That way, your carefully prepared visuals are going to have the maximum impact on your audience. Now, in today’s episode we’re focusing on the basics of how to deal with visuals in your presentation: That is, how to attract attention to them, how to emphasize the key parts, and how to relate points about different visuals as you move through your slides. A slide is just one picture in your PowerPoint presentation for example. By the way, you’ll see that a lot of the language we cover continues on our discussion of signposting during the last episode. Peter: Great, now tell us about the listening today. Clayton: Okay, the listening comes from a presentation at the Central European head office of Ambient, an American mobile phone manufacturer. Ambient has regained market share after a couple of bad years and has now taken over the number two place behind market leader Sirus and just ahead of the third player, CallTell. You’ll hear Pat, the new finance director in the Central Europe region, in the middle of a presentation to the sales team. As we join them, he is bringing up a slide on revenue trends among the top three players in the business. As you listen, pay attention to the language that Pat uses to call attention to his points and to relate them to each other.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 23.

(24) Presenting for Success Vocabulary Visual – Any visual element such as a picture, chart, graph (see below), movie, etc. that is used to communicate information in your presentation. Graphic – An image or a picture, usually part of a visual. Distinguish from “graph” below. Chart – This is any visual that contains information: There are pie charts (charts that are round and represent numbers in terms of “slices” of the pie), organizational charts (the “family tree” of your organization), flow charts (show a process, such as a production process) and so on. Graphs (see below) may also be counted as a kind of chart, but chart usually refers to the above basic types. Metric – This refers to any number – such as customer satisfaction, productivity, revenue per unit, etc. – that a company uses to measure success. Trend – The general direction of some metric – upward or downward. For example, “Oil prices have risen steadily over the last year” is a trend. Graph – A chart with x and y or horizontal and vertical axes that shows one or more trend lines, usually a metric changing over time. Bar graphs are a specific kind of chart where each data point – each number – is represented by a bar, that is a long rectangle. (Bar graphs look like a row of buildings.) Quarter – Refers to a period of three months. There are four quarters in a year. You can also call them by number: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. To make a play for – An idiom that means to try to acquire or to control. Low-end: This term describes products that are more affordable for consumers. These products might be made from lower-quality materials and/or might not have advanced features. “This car model’s low-end version does not have heated seats or a GPS.” Reaped: Harvested, obtained. “Soon, we’ll reap the benefits of all our hard work.” Price points: A price point is the retail price of a product, often considered with other prices. “What price points do you have in mind?” No love lost: When people say they have “no love lost” for something, it means they have no kind feelings toward it. We can use this expression to describe relationships with people, too. “There’s no love lost between Stan and the new boss. The tension is unbearable.” Plateau: A plateau is a long, flat piece of land with no hills or mountains. In a business sense, the word describes data that has stayed the same for awhile. “It appears that mortgage rates have reached a plateau. They haven’t increased or decreased in several months.”. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 24.

(25) 3G – Short for “third generation,” this refers to the newest mobile phone networks that support much higher rates of data transfer, measured in megabytes per second (mbps), for applications other than voice, i.e., video telephony, download of movies and so on. Rollout – Similar to product launch, this usually refers to the bringing on to market of manufactured items. It can also be used as a verb, such as, “We rolled out our new 3G (see above) phones in 2005”. Also, sometimes processes or policies can be rolled out, in which case this word means something like “implement” or “implementation.” For example, “We rolled out the new customer data management system in March.” Accounts for: To account for something means to provide an explanation or justification for something. “Illness accounted for 60% of our absenteeism last year.” Year-on-year: This term is used to compare data from the current year to that of the previous year. “I’m surprised that we’re showing a 20% year-on-year decline in revenue.”. Dialog Pat: Everybody ready? Okay, I’ll lead into our discussion today with a quick look at sales over the last five quarters. I’m going to bring up our competitors one by one so we can have a look at how they’ve been doing in contrast to our own performance. Okay, well first there’s CallTell. As I’m sure you all know, they’ve been making a play for the low-end market since they sold off their network division. We can see the boost in sales they reaped in Q4 of 2006 when they brought out their new budget price points. But, that’s only part of the story, as we’ll see a little later. Next we have everyone’s favorite - Sirus [boos] - okay, no love lost there but let me just draw your attention to the plateau in sales they’re facing at the moment with their disastrous 3G rollout. As you can see, it’s really put their revenue under pressure in the last two quarters. And that brings us to Ambient. As I said at the beginning, it’s been a great couple of quarters – and I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear Central Europe now accounts for over 25% of our European sales – that’s a 34% year-on-year increase. Fantastic. But we’re actually projecting a fairly flat second half as we focus on the higher value product lines – something we’ll look at in more detail later.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 25.

(26) Presenting for Success Debrief Pat has clearly signposted all of his points and used some very effective language for highlighting key trends. Let’s take a closer look at how he does that. Listen again to the beginning. I’m going to bring up our competitors one by one so we can have a look at how they’ve been doing in contrast to our own performance. This is Pat’s introduction to his slide. He is giving us the background on what he plans to say so that we can follow him and keep everything in context: He says, “I’ll lead into our discussion today with….” From this, we can tell this is the first, or “lead,” slide in his discussion. Now, let’s look at some of the vocabulary. A “quarter” refers to a period of three months. There are four quarters in a year. You can also refer to them by number: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. When Pat says he is going to “bring up” their competitors one by one, he doesn’t just mean “mention” them. He means he is going to shows us a graph where each competitor’s revenue figures are “brought up” onto the picture one at time, building up until we have three trend lines to compare. You can refer to the study notes for this episode to see the actual graph Pat is using. This is called a bar graph because it is composed of a series of “bars” or thick vertical lines that look like chocolate bars standing on end. Okay, let’s practice some more language we can use to introduce a point.    . We’ll kick off the discussion today with an analysis of our revenue figures over the last three years. First, we’ll be focusing on return on investment in the real estate area. I’d like to begin by going over some of the key concerns that the marketing department has voiced on this plan. Let’s start off with a quick look at our sales.. Now, what does Pat do next? He calls attention to the first trend he brings up on his graph: “Okay, well first here’s CallTell.” What is some other language he could use to call attention to a visual?   . Have a look at this. As you can see … Take a look at this, … Well first here are our total profits in 2006.. Alright, what happens next? Remember, Pat is talking about one of Ambient’s competitors, CallTell. As I’m sure you all know they’ve been making a play for the low-end market since they sold off their network division.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 26.

(27) As we’ll see again and again, competition between companies is often described in terms of war or sports metaphors. “To make a play for” is an idiom that means to try to acquire or to control. Pat’s sentence literally means that CallTell is trying to improve their sales in the low-end, that is low-price, market. Now here’s an important point: Remember that Pat is what we call “the new kid on the block.” That means he has not been working for Ambient very long, whereas many people in his audience will have been with the company for years. At this stage in his presentation, Pat is making some fairly simple points because they provide important background for his later analysis, but everyone already knows what he is talking about. So, especially as a newcomer to Ambient, it’s important for him to show respect for his audience. “As I’m sure you all know…” is a great way to do this. Let’s learn some other ways to respect your audience’s knowledge.   . As you are all aware, we are facing some difficult choices over the next six months. The past year has obviously seen some tough challenges from our competitors. Most of you are familiar with our productivity figures, but for the benefit of those who aren’t, let me briefly bring them up on screen.. All right, now let’s take a look at how Pat highlights a key point. He is still talking about CallTell. We can see the boost in sales they reaped in Q4 of 2006 when they brought out their new budget price points. “Budget price points” refers to inexpensive, low-end products, in this case mobile phones. “We can see” is a way of drawing attention to the point you want to make. Pat probably has a laser pointer, and he is pointing at the part of the graph he wants everyone to focus on. Later, he highlights another point by saying, “Let me just draw your attention to…" What other kinds of phrases can he use for this?    . One thing you’ll immediately notice is a marked increase in Q4. I’d particularly like to draw your attention to the sharp fall in investments here in Q2 of 2007. I’d also like to point out the strong growth in the luxury sector. And perhaps I should mention the slight drop in customer satisfaction reported in Western Europe.. Since highlighting is such an important part of getting your message across, why don’t we practice this skill? Are you ready? It’s your turn to give it a try. In a moment, you’ll hear a series of points, such as “fall in sales, Q1.” After each point, you’ll hear a beep. That means it’s your turn to start talking: Use the phrases we just practiced to draw attention to each point. For example, if you hear “fall in sales, Q1,” you can say something like, “One thing you’ll immediately notice is that sales fell dramatically in Q1.” Are you ready? Let’s begin.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 27.

(28) Presenting for Success Prompt: sharp increase in revenue, 2006 Learner:. Prompt: Strong profit performance, Q1 2007 Learner:. How did that go? Listen to some example answers. Example answers  . I’d particularly like to draw your attention to the sharp increase in revenue in 2006. One thing you’ll immediately notice is the strong profit performance in Q1 of 2007.. After telling us that CallTell has improved revenue by selling more low-end phones, Pat does something very interesting: He foreshadows a point to come. “Foreshadow” means anticipate or give a hint about something. But that’s only part of the story, as we’ll see a little later. Pat is essentially giving us a hint about a key point he is going to make later in his presentation, which we will see in the third episode of this series. Foreshadowing is a great way of keeping the audience interested, and also of relating the structure of your presentation internally, so that audience members will be able to think back clearly to a point that you made earlier when it becomes important for your analysis later. Are there any other examples of foreshadowing in today’s listening? Yes, this is something Pat does again at the end when he says “But we’re actually projecting a fairly flat second half as we focus on the higher value product lines – something we’ll look at in more detail later.” By the way, “project” means to predict and “flat” refers to little growth – a flat trend line. All right, how else can you foreshadow a point?   . … And that indicates reasonable growth in this sector, which we’ll come back to in a moment. As I’ll point out later, we’ve only seen limited success with this strategy. For now, let’s keep talking about marketing channels. This is a key issue, which we’ll be dealing with a little later in the presentation when I go over departmental structure.. What happens next? Pat brings up the trend for the second competitor onto the chart. Let’s listen:. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 28.

(29) Next we have everyone’s favorite – Sirus [boos] – okay, okay no love lost there but let me just draw your attention to the plateau in sales they’re facing at the moment with their disastrous 3G rollout. It doesn’t sound like Sirus is very popular, does it? As the idiom goes, it’s the company that “everyone loves to hate.” That’s what Pat means by “there’s no love lost there,” which is another great idiom to add to your vocabulary. As we looked at earlier when we reviewed highlighting, Pat says “Let me just draw your attention to…” in order to draw attention to the following point: That is, after the disastrous rollout (or launch) of their 3G technology (which means third generation advanced cell phone technology) Sirus is facing a plateau in sales. A plateau is simply a mountain with a flat top. So to “face a plateau” means to remain level – no movement, a flat trend line. This kind of language for actually describing trends we’ll be looking at in greater detail in the next episode in this series, Charts and Trends 2. Now, before Pat is able to highlight this point about Sirus, he has to signpost that he is moving on to another part of his slide. He says, “next we have everyone’s favorite – Sirus,” then he puts the trend line for Sirus on the screen so that his audience can compare it to CallTell’s. And then again after he finishes talking about Sirus, Pat has to signpost the last point as he brings Ambient’s figures up on to the screen: He says “And that brings us to Ambient.” What is some more language we can use to signpost the next graphic or next slide? Well, you can use some of the ways we learned earlier for introducing a point. In addition, here are some phrases that are specifically designed for moving between points:    . That’s all for sales growth, now let’s have a look at profit margins. And that brings us to the next point I’d like to make. Great, that’s all for 2006. Let’s now turn to the figures for 2007. That concludes the first slide. Let’s bring up the next. Now here we see the current state of the market.. Okay, there’s just one more point to cover in today’s episode. We’ve practiced introducing a point, moving between points, highlighting a point, foreshadowing or anticipating a future point. And the only thing left is how to refer to a previous point. Listen to Pat talking about Ambient during the last section of today’s listening. As I said at the beginning, it’s been a great couple of quarters – and I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear Central Europe now accounts for over 25% of our European sales – that’s a 34% year-on-year increase. “As I said at the beginning” is a way of calling back to mind a previous point, perhaps something that you foreshadowed earlier. In this case, Pat is giving more evidence to one of his main comments, which is that the Central Europe region is doing quite well: By a “34% year-on-year increase,” Pat means a 34% rise compared with last year.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 29.

(30) Presenting for Success Now, what are some more ways to refer to a previous point?   . As I mentioned earlier, we really need to keep coming back to our defect rate as a key quality indicator. Returning to what I said earlier, this is definitely an area of concern for us in the future. To go back to what I was saying about our overall growth, I don’t really think we have much reason to be worried.. And, that does it for today’s episode. You’ve practiced a variety of signposting language for emphasizing or highlighting important messages and relating the points of your presentation to each other. These are very important skills to have. Practicing this language will help you prove the old saying true by making each of your pictures truly worth a thousand words. Now, just a little foreshadowing here, in the next episode we’ll be dealing in detail with describing trends. We’ll be learning a variety of lively and vivid language and structures for concisely describing the main trend lines in your charts and graphs.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 30.

(31) Language Review A) Fill in the gaps in the following phrases with the words in the box. dealing. bring up. benefit. look. mention. kick off. earlier. attention. 1. I’d particularly like to draw your __________ to the sharp fall in investment here in Q2 of 2007. 2. We’ll ________ the analysis today with an look at our revenue figures over the past three years. 3. This is a key issue, which we’ll be ________ with a little later in the presentation when I go over departmental structure. 4. Returning to what I said _______, this is definitely a key area of concern for us in the future. 5. Most of you are familiar with our productivity figures, but for the _______ of those who aren’t, let me briefly bring them up on screen. 6. Take a _______ at this chart. 7. That concludes the first slide. Let’s ________ the next. Now here we see the current state of the market. 8. And perhaps I should ________ the slight drop in customer satisfaction reported in Western Europe.. B) Now, match each of the phrases above with the functions in the box below. Write the number of the phrase next to the matching function.. Highlighting a point. Foreshadowing. Returning to a previous point. Calling attention to a slide/graphic. Introducing a point. Respecting your audience. Moving to the next slide/ graphic. Highlighting a point. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 31.

(32) Presenting for Success Study Strategy A great way to practice the language we learned in this episode is to work with some charts, graphs or visuals from your own company or one of your own presentations. Practice introducing each visual, and using the phrases we learned in this show to highlight key points and relate them to each other. Remember to clearly signpost each main message because that helps your audience (and also you!) follow and understand exactly where you are in your series of ideas. Here’s a great tip: Record yourself speaking – with video if it’s available or with a MP3 or tape recorder. Then go back and listen to how you sound. What kind of impression do you make? How fluent is your language? What are the strong points? Can you catch any mistakes or areas for improvement? With regular practice such as this, you’ll be fast on your way to an English presentation expert.. Language Review Answers A) 1. attention; 2. kick off; 3. dealing; 4. earlier; 5. benefit; 6. look; 7. bring up; 8. mention B) 1= 2= 3= 4= 5= 6= 7= 8=. Highlighting a point Introducing a point Foreshadowing Returning to a previous point Respecting your audience Calling attention to a slide/graphic Moving to the next slide/graphic Highlighting a point. Online Practice Click the “Launch” button to open the online practice:. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 32.

(33) Unit 104 – Describing Charts and Trends 2 In the last episode, we learned how to present your visuals clearly and logically by signposting your points and highlighting key areas. Now that you’ve gotten these basics, you need to get into the details and deal with the numbers. So in this episode, we’ll be focusing on describing trends. Remember a trend is the general direction or tendency of a metric or measurement – upward, downward, flat, fluctuating, peaking, bottoming out, and so on. So, you’ll be learning how to use these and many more terms for describing your charts and graphs in fluent, vivid sentences so that you can present your data with maximum impact. Today’s listening continues on from last time. Pat, Ambient’s new Central European finance director, has just finished talking about sales revenue and is now moving on to discuss market share, which he often just refers to as “share.” The visual he will be talking about is a line graph that compares the trends in market share over the last six quarters from Q1 2006 to Q2 2007. His discussion centers on the top three players in the mobile phone business – his own company, Ambient, and their two top competitors, CallTell and Sirus. You’ll find the graph that Pat is actually referring to in the study notes for this episode. As you listen, pay attention to the trend language that Pat uses to describe the recent changes in the market.. Vocabulary Market share: A portion of the sales in a particular market. “We’ve grown steadily over the last three years and now have nearly 30% market share.” Horizontal axis: The horizontal or X-axis on a graph, which often shows time. Slice of the pie: The idiom “slice of the pie” comes from “pie charts,” round graphs that are traditionally used to represent market share as slices of the circle or “pie.” Capacity is also conveniently represented by pie graphs. “Microsoft, of course, have the biggest slice of the pie.” Fluctuation: This refers to up and down movement, like a wave. The verb is “to fluctuate.” Budget models: Budget models of products are priced lower and more affordable to a wider group of consumers. These consumers may be “on a budget” or have limited money to spend. “In our line of MP3 players, the budget models are doing quite well in lower-income markets.” © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 33.

(34) Presenting for Success To bring something online: This is similar to “to roll something out” (see the vocabulary explanations for Charts and Graphs 1). It can refer to products, but often also it refers to production capacity or policies: “Last month we brought two more assembly machines online, boosting our capacity by 25%.” That said: At the beginning of a sentence in oral English, this means “Despite this fact.” For example, “I like sweets a lot. That said, I don’t eat a lot of them because I care a lot about my health.” To hold one’s ground: This is an idiom that is based on a war metaphor: In competition, opposing companies are like enemies on the battleground. “To hold one’s ground” means you do not retreat. So we can say, “We held our ground in market share despite repeated attacks from Company B.” To take a hit on (something): If a company takes a hit on something, it is negatively affected by it. For example, a seasonal business might take a hit on poor weather. Or, we could say, “Toyota really took a hit on the recent recalls.” Rollout: We use the word “rollout” as a noun or verb when we talk about bringing manufactured items to market or implementing an idea or policy. “Last August, we rolled out our new line of notebook computers in the U.S., before students returned to universities.” At someone’s expense: If a trend goes up “at someone’s expense,” it means the increase corresponds to subtraction in their share of the pie (see above.) For example, “Our market share increased 5% at Company B’s expense,” means that our share went up 5% while Company B’s went down by the same amount. Position: Situation or status. “If we acquire Bates Distributing, we’ll be in an excellent position for future growth.” Consolidate // consolidated our position: In a business sense, “consolidate” means to strengthen. If a company consolidates its position, it strengthens its status or ranking among other companies. “Our competitors are strong. We need to make consolidating our position a priority.” To fend off competition: This is another idiom based on an underlying war metaphor (see ‘hold one’s ground’). “To fend off” means to fight off. “We need to fend of the competition before we start talking about expanding.” Bottom end // bottom end of the market: If something is at the bottom end, it’s considered to be lower quality or have lower prestige. “These DVD players are at the bottom end of the product line. So, they’re priced lower than other products.” The bottom end of the market means a low position. “I think we should stop focusing the bottom end of the market and start targeting the premium market.” Prime: Most important or most valuable. “Our office is in the financial district, a prime location.”. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 34.

(35) Segment: A division of a market. “Retail is one segment of commercial real estate.” Players: Participants, contenders, companies with similar interests. “Apple and Dell are major players in the computer manufacturing industry.” Underlying: We use this adjective to describe something that is present, but not obvious. (Think of a pen beneath a piece of paper. You can’t see it, but you know it’s there.) “Poor sales performance caused many problems in our company, but the underlying cause was weak management.”. Dialog Pat: All right, let’s leave sales there and move on to market share. Now this graph shows us the trend in market share starting in the first quarter of 2006 moving up to the present. The vertical axis represents billions of U.S. dollars. Looking at the figures for 2006, Sirus had the biggest slice of the pie. After remaining unchanged at around 30% for the first half, their share started fluctuating in Q3 and 4. Meanwhile, we were struggling to catch CallTell as their budget models came online. That said, we were still able to hold our ground thanks to some hard work on your part. Things get interesting when we compare the latest IDG figures for Spring 2007. Recently, as you know, Sirus has taken a hit on the release of their problematic G3 rollout. Actually, their share has slipped back a couple of points to about 27%. Meanwhile, CallTell has grown largely at their expense. Our own position has been further consolidated this year as we successfully fended off competition from CallTell on the bottom end and gained on Sirus in the prime multimedia segment. And let me just draw your attention here to the effects of 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. All things considered, the exec team is fairly pleased with the overall picture on market share and the underlying trends for 2007…. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 35.

(36) Presenting for Success Debrief In very few words, Pat has called attention to all the key trends in his visual. He hasn’t gone into great detail – after all, the graphs are right there in front of his audience for everyone to see – rather, he has used some strong, vivid language to briefly draw attention to the main points in his analysis. The first thing he does, which you’ll recognize from last time, is signpost the change from his first slide, revenue, to his second slide, market share. All right, let’s leave sales there and move on to market share. Next, he needs to tell us what we’re looking at. This is introducing the theme or main idea of a chart. Now this graph shows us the trend in market share starting in the first quarter of 2006 moving up to the present. The vertical axis represents billions of US$. “Vertical axis” of course means the Y axis in the graph. Pat doesn’t say so, because it is so obvious, but the X axis is called “horizontal” and shows time, in this case starting in Q1 of 2006 and “moving up to the present,” which is Q2 of 2007. “Starting in” and “moving up to” are useful for talking about a range of time. Now, let’s study some more ways we can introduce the basic theme of a chart.   . This graph presents a general picture of recent developments in the highstrength steel market during the last five years. This chart gives you a general overview of the organizational structure in our department. Here we see a chart analyzing the relationship between investment and profitability.. Great. Now that you’ve practiced those, let’s move on to how Pat next focuses in on a specific part of the graph everyone is looking at. Looking at the figures for 2006 Sirus had the biggest slice of the pie. The idiom “slice of the pie” comes from “pie charts,” which are round graphs that are traditionally used to represent market share as slices of the circle or “pie.” In this case, however, Pat is using a line graph because he is looking at change in market share over time, but he can still refer idiomatically to Sirus having the biggest slice of the pie. “Looking at the figures for 2006,” draws our attention specifically to one part of the graph. What are some other ways that we can use to do this?   . Examining the developments at the beginning of the year, we can see an interesting trend. Let’s focus in on Q2. As we break down the numbers in the automobile sector, a startling trend emerges.. © 2010 All rights reserved: www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. 36.

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