Presentation in English | Business English Presentation

BEP 378 – Videoconferences: Presenting Online (1)

Business English, Presentation in English, Videoconferences / September 12, 2021

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on videoconferences and presenting online. Today, we’re going to focus on how to get your presentation off to a good start.

Videoconferences are now a normal, everyday part of business life. And people have had to develop a new set of skills for this new reality. Consider giving a presentation online. It definitely brings some new challenges, especially technical ones. But virtual presentations also require many of the same skills as presenting in-person.

For example, you still need to be engaging and confident, especially at the start as you get people excited about your presentation. And besides getting them excited, you need to help them understand. So outlining your presentation clearly is also a good idea.

Now, how can you present information and data in a way that keeps your listeners engaged? Well, for one thing, you can talk about your own experience. And you can also relate the information to your listeners’ experience. That will help your presentation connect with your audience. And finally, one technical skill that you’ll need in the virtual format is sharing your screen.

In today’s dialog, we’ll listen to part of an online presentation given by Adam, who works as a business consultant. He’s presenting on the topic of sales to several colleagues, including Chris, Nancy, and his boss Heather. We’ll hear how Adam begins his online presentation.

Listening Questions

1. What is the last thing Adam will do in his presentation, according to his outline?
2. What experience does Adam talk about to ground his presentation?
3. What information does Adam present on his shared screen?

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BEP 366 – English for Startups 3: Addressing Investor Concerns

Advanced, Business English, IT and Tech, Presentation in English / November 1, 2020

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on addressing investor concerns during a pitch in English.

One of the greatest skills in business is the art of persuasion. Whether you’re running a startup and wooing a big investor or trying to convince your boss to give you a pay raise you need to be able to persuade.

Of course, we often use a pitch or presentation to persuade, especially when looking for startup investment. But the pitch alone won’t seal the deal. The real test is handling questions and concerns after your pitch. Can you anticipate these concerns and be ready to address them? Can you think and speak on the fly? Do you have the confidence to back up what you’ve said in your presentation?

There are several concerns you might have to address. For one, you may have to explain exactly why your idea is unique. And you might also have to show clearly that you’re committed to the idea. One common investor concern is the valuation, or how much you think the company’s worth. You’ll need to justify your valuation clearly, and explain what you’ll do with the investor’s money. And through it all, you’ll be trying to show why you are backable, or deserve the investor’s support.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Quinn, who is seeking investment for his online payments company called Moolah. In our last lesson, Quinn gave his pitch to the investor. Now he has to address some tough questions and concerns from a potential investor named Mason.

Listening Questions

1. What does Quinn believe shows that he’s fully committed to the company?
2. What exactly does Quinn plan to do with the investor’s money?
3. Why does Quinn believe he is backable on a personal level?

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BEP 365 – English for Startups 2: Pitching to Investors

Advanced, Business English, Persuasion, Presentation in English / October 20, 2020

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on pitching in English to investors.

The world of tech startups can be extremely exciting and rewarding. But success is certainly not guaranteed. In fact, 90% of new ventures that don’t attract investors within the first three years will fail. So if your company has made it through the valley of death, and you’re burning through cash but don’t have any revenue, then you’d better make sure you’ve got a great pitch to potential investors.

In just 10 to 20 minutes, you need to convince investors that they should risk their money on you. Or, more accurately, why they should risk their money on you instead of on the thousands of other companies they could invest in. It’s hard to think of a higher stakes presentation than a pitch to investors. So what will increase your chances of success?

Well, you need to talk about the problem that your product solves, and how your product is truly unique. Of course, in the startup world, timing is everything. So you need to be able to show there’s a market for what you’re offering. And a good startup isn’t just about a good idea, it’s about a solid revenue model. So you’ll need to explain that clearly. It’s also smart to sit down and think about what questions investors might have, and answer them before they have to ask them!

In today’s dialog, we’ll listen to a presentation by Quinn, who founded an online payments company called Moolah. In our last lesson, we heard Quinn preparing for his pitch with the help of a mentor. Now it’s showtime, as Quinn delivers his pitch in the hopes of attracting investment.

Listening Questions

1. What is the problem that Quinn identifies at the start of his presentation?
2. Who is Moolah’s target audience?
3. What question does Quinn anticipate the investors might have?

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BEP 321 – Project Management 6: Launching User Testing

Business English, IT and Tech, Presentation in English, Project Management / March 24, 2018

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English for project management and launching user testing for a software project.

At the heart of every software project is the user. If the user finds the software confusing, or if it doesn’t do what the user needs it to do, what’s the point? For this reason, user testing is an essential part of the development process.

User testing can involve a range of activities. You might watch how users interact with the software. You might track or monitor how they use it. And you might ask them for their opinions. In this way, you collect information and feedback that helps you create the best user experience possible. And just as the software itself needs to be user friendly, so does user testing. If people don’t have a clear idea of what they’re supposed to do during testing, you’ll be wasting an opportunity.

So when you launch testing, it’s important to outline what you’re going to be doing, and what kind of feedback you’re interested in. Because the software is new to the test users, you’ll need to give them clear instructions on how to use it and give them an overview of the main features. You might also find yourself emphasizing key points along the way. After all, it’s much easier to make sure everyone understands upfront than to deal with confused users during testing.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Jill, a developer with a software company called OptiTech. They’ve been developing software for a logistics company, and now they are ready to launch the first round of user testing. We’ll also hear Liam, the IT manager for the client, and Carla, one of the test users.

Listening Questions

1. What does Jill say will be the final step in this test?
2. What three aspects of the software does this test focus on?
3. What does Jill emphasize is absolutely necessary for the drivers to do?

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BEP 305 – Business English Collocations for Emphasizing (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Presentation in English / May 13, 2017

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English collocations for emphasizing a point.

Speaking English well isn’t just about speaking correctly. It’s about choosing words that make an impact, and about influencing people’s thoughts and feelings. And if you study the habits of great speakers, you’ll hear them use emphasis effectively. A great speaker won’t just say he “recommends” something. Instead, he might say he “strongly recommends” something. That word “strongly” triples the impact.

But how would you know that we say “strongly recommend” and not “heavily recommend” or “deeply recommend?” Well, “strongly recommend” is the natural combination of words that native speakers use. These natural combinations of words are called collocations. A collocation is just two or more words that native speakers commonly use together. And you can learn collocations of emphasis to sound more natural and increase the impact of what you say.

In this lesson, we’ll listen to the end of a presentation on the topic of leadership. Maria is summarizing her main points. During her presentation she uses several collocations to emphasize her ideas. Try to pick out these collocations, and we’ll talk about them later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. Maria asks her listeners to think of a person. What type of person does she ask them to think about?
2. What does Maria say about a great speech that isn’t supported by action?
3. What does Maria think about people’s search for meaning in work?

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