Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on wrapping up a presentation in English.
Some people say that the start of a presentation is the most important part. That’s where you grab people’s attention and give them a reason to listen. But the end of your presentation is just as important. If you do a great job of engaging your audience but then have a weak finish, they’ll walk away with a bad last impression. And you want to avoid that at all costs.
So what exactly is involved in a good conclusion to a presentation? What do you need to do to make sure people walk away feeling that they learned something, they want to buy something, or they agree with you?
Today, we’ll learn some great ways to do just that. We’ll look at a variety of English presentation techniques such as summarizing key ideas, closing inspirationally, and opening up for questions. We’ll also learn how to connect your ideas with the big picture and wrap up at the end of the presentation.
In this lesson, we’ll hear how two different speakers finish their presentations. The first speaker is Nick, a recruiter for a medical supplies company. He’s been trying to convince potential recruits that his company is great to work for. In the second dialog we’ll hear Diane, who’s finishing up a report about her company’s third quarter financial statements.
Listening Questions
1. In his summary, Nick mentions several topics that he covered. What are they?
2. To inspire his listeners, what does Nick ask them to think about?
3. What does Diane say is the company’s larger vision?
Download: Podcast MP3