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BEP 102c – Signposting a Presentation

A2, Business English, Presentation in English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to use “signposting” language to connect the different parts of a presentation in English.

To understand signposting, think about the signs you see in the street. They tell you where you are going and what you are going to see next. In the same way, when we speak, we can use words and expressions that tell our listeners where we are going and what they’re going to hear. For example, at the start of a presentation, we might say “I’m going to talk about three main ideas.” Then your listener knows the organization of your presentation. And in the middle of your presentation, you might say “So, let’s move on now” – That tells your listener that you’re changing to a new topic.

In the dialog, you are going to hear part of a presentation by a man named David. The presentation is about a company’s sales “performance.” What do I mean by “performance”? Performance is how well a person or company does what it’s supposed to do. So if a person “performs” well in his job, he’s doing good work. And if a company is “performing poorly,” it’s not doing so well. So in this presentation, you’ll hear about “sales performance.” In other words, David is talking about how well the company is selling its products.

Listening Questions

1. How many parts is the presentation divided into?
2. What’s the first topic the presenter is going to explain?
3. What’s the second topic the presenter is going to explain?

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BEP 101c – Introducing a Presentation in English

A2, Business English, Presentation in English /

In this Business English Pod lesson, we’re going to learn how to introduce a presentation in English.

And if you think this topic sounds familiar, you’re right! This lesson is the start of a new series where we’ll take a fresh look at some of our older lessons. We’re going to keep the original dialog and record new explanations and practices with the aim of making these lessons more accessible to some of our lower level learners.

So what should we say to introduce a presentation? Well, how about starting with a greeting, like a simple “hello!” And what comes after a greeting? Your name! So, we’ve got something like “Hello I’m Tim.” Great, what’s next? Well, it’s a good idea to tell people who you work for and what your job is, like “And I’m a marketing manager at SwiftBuy.”

Now that you’ve introduced yourself, you can introduce your presentation. What do people want to know about your presentation? The topic is important of course. That might sound something like “I’m going to be talking about our advertising strategy.” And besides the topic, how about the organization and the goal of your presentation? Think about when you listen to a presentation. You want to know what you’re going to be hearing about and why, right?

Okay, now what about questions? People want to ask questions, right? So you should mention how you’ll handle questions, maybe like this: “At the end of the presentation we’ll have about 15 minutes for questions.”

So there you have the important parts of an introduction. And you can use these ideas in more than just presentations. I mean, you have to introduce yourself in many different situations, right? And introducing a topic and a goal is something you might do at the start of any meeting or discussion.

In the dialog you’re going to hear a presenter named Claude. Claude is presenting an “analysis” of sales data. When we talk about “analysis” or use the verb “analyze”, we’re talking about looking closely at something to understand it. So Claude is looking closely at sales information and explaining what he sees to a group of managers.

Listening Questions

1. At the beginning of the presentation, what language does Claude use to sound friendly?
2. What is Claude’s job?
3. What does Claude “hope to” do?
4. What is the “final” part of the presentation going to be?

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BEP 246 – Product Presentation in English (2)

Business English, Presentation in English, Sales English /

Product Presentation in English

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on giving a product presentation in English.

There’s no better way to show off a new product than talking to a group of customers directly. You can teach them about the product and gently persuade them that they need it. And you can adapt your presentation for specific audiences. Whether you’re at a trade show, a corporate event, a conference, or a customer’s office, you can learn to work the crowd in front of you.

Working the crowd during a product presentation is probably familiar to anyone who works in sales and marketing. But the techniques involved are useful for anyone in a company who has to talk about products or deliver presentations. In this lesson, we’ll cover many of these useful techniques, including relating changes to customer feedback, highlighting user benefits, and demonstrating a feature. We’ll also look at anticipating concerns and encouraging questions from the audience.

In the dialog, we’ll rejoin Jenny, who’s presenting a new software upgrade to a group of customers at a trade conference. She’ll also be joined by Tony, who works for a partner company called PaySys. Together, Jenny and Tony are explaining how their products work together.

Listening Questions

1. What does Tony say customers have asked for?
2. Tony mentions a few benefits of the recent product changes. What are they?
3. What does Jenny think that some people might be concerned about?

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BEP 245 – Product Presentation in English (1)

Business English, Presentation in English, Sales English /

Product Presentation English

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on giving a product presentation in English.

Okay, so imagine your company has just launched a brand new product, or a new and improved version of an existing one. Now it’s time to get the word out and show the world what this new product is all about. And how do we do that? Well, nothing beats a great product presentation. You can go to the customer directly and show off the item, talk about its features, and demonstrate how it works.

So how can we make sure our product presentations are effective? How can we talk to our customers in ways they understand? Fortunately, there are several key techniques you can learn to deliver a great product presentation. In this lesson, we’ll cover many of these techniques, including presenting the current situation, relating features to audience needs, and giving an overview of features. We’ll also look at how to call attention to something on-screen and deal with technical issues, which can mess up any well-planned presentation.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Jenny, who’s at a trade conference representing her company, ProBooks. They’ve just launched a new upgrade called ProBooks Fusion, and Jenny’s explaining what it’s all about to an audience of existing customers.

Listening Questions

1. What is the key concept behind the most recent ProBooks upgrade?
2. What feature of the software does Jenny want to demonstrate?
3. What is Jenny’s solution to the technical problem?

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BEP 233 – English for Conferences 1: Opening Presentation

Business English, Communication, Presentation in English /

Conference Presentation in English

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on hosting a conference in English.

If you’ve ever had to play host, for a conference, a meeting, a fundraiser, or any other type of event, you know it’s a lot of work. There’s months of planning and preparation, all for a single day or single weekend. And you want things to be perfect. You want the attendees to have a fabulous time. You want no problems or glitches.

Of course, it rarely works out that way. There are always problems to solve, but as the host, you can’t lose your cool. You’re the face of the event, and you’ve got to smile and make sure everyone has a great time. So, how can you do that?

Today we’ll look at some of the techniques you need to be a great host. In particular, we’ll focus on giving an opening address to kick off a conference or other event. We will learn how to officially welcome people, introduce the theme, outline goals and events, and introduce a speaker.

In the dialog, you’ll hear the official start to a conference that has brought together a company’s HR personnel from throughout the American midwest. The opening address is being delivered by Amy, the company’s VP of Human Resources in Chicago. You will hear the techniques Amy uses as host of the conference.

Listening Questions

1. What is the first goal of the conference that Amy mentions?
2. What are some of the events in Day 1 of the conference?
3. What kind of information does Amy give about the keynote speaker?

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