In this Business English Pod lesson, we look at how to bring your visuals to life in a presentation in English.
We’ve all sat through some pretty boring presentations. And in those presentations, we’ve all seen complex charts and graphs that tell us either way too much or nothing at all. For the most part, visuals aren’t naturally interesting or informative. It’s what we do with them that is important.
You can’t just put a graph on a screen and then explain each point on the graph. And you can’t put up a table of figures and then read out each column and row. What you really need to do is tell the story of the data and to bring the visuals to life. What should people focus on? What is the important number on the screen? What does the graph actually tell us?
Bringing visuals to life is necessary if you want to give effective presentations. We’ll look at how to do this today. In this lesson, we’ll cover several important functions, including using analogy, defining terms, using rhetorical questions, and highlighting key numbers.
You will hear David, an engineer in a manufacturing company. He’s giving a presentation to members of the finance department. His purpose is to explain a new plan that he hopes to get financed.
Listening Questions
1. Why does David ask the listeners about traveling to work?
2. Which important term does David define for the listeners?
3. What is David’s idea for shipping?
Download: Podcast MP3
