Presentation in English | Business English Presentation

BEP 274 – English Presentation Skills 1: Getting Started

Advanced, Business English, Popular Lessons, Presentation in English / September 20, 2015

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on getting your English presentation off to a good start.

We all know a skilled presenter when we see one. It’s a person who catches our interest right away and connects with the audience. He gives us the information we need without droning on and putting us to sleep. He’s clear about his purpose, he’s organized, and he answers our questions.

But most skilled presenters weren’t born with those skills. They learned to be good presenters. And you can learn the same skills in order to inform, persuade, or motivate any audience. In today’s English presentation lesson, we’ll take a closer look at some great techniques you can use at the start of a presentation. We’ll learn how to get started, build rapport with the audience, and introduce a single key idea that can run throughout your presentation. We’ll also cover how to state your purpose and headline your key ideas.

Of course, your approach to a presentation might be different depending on your audience. So today we will hear two short dialogs from the start of two different presentations in English. In the first, we’ll hear a recruiter named Nick, who works for a medical supplies company. He’s giving a presentation to a group of potential recruits at a university. In the second dialog, we’ll hear a finance manager named Diane giving an internal presentation about her company’s third quarter financial statements.

Listening Questions

1. What question does Nick ask his audience at the start of his presentation?
2. What is the key idea that Nick says his company is all about?
3. What does Diane say is the purpose of her presentation?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Practice | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 267 – Presenting Numbers in English (Part 2)

Business English, Presentation in English / March 29, 2015

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on presenting numbers.

In the course of your work, you’ve probably had to sit through a dull English presentation in which the speaker reads out numbers from a chart or PowerPoint slides. And maybe you thought that your time would have been better spent just reading a report with all the data.

Sure, numbers are important. However you don’t need to give a presentation just to report the numbers. But you may need to give a presentation to explain which numbers are most important and what the numbers mean.

In today’s lesson, we’ll look at some great techniques for presenting and interpreting numbers. We’ll learn how to show causation and correlation, how to group data, and how to highlight important numbers. We’ll also look at drawing conclusions from data and making predictions.

In the dialog, we’ll rejoin Toni, who works for a large grocery chain. Toni is giving a presentation in English about recent promotional activities targeting the young singles market. We’ll also hear two company executives, Ellen and William.

Listening Questions

1. What does Toni say was the reason for increased footfall on Sundays?
2. Which key number does Toni want to highlight?
3. What does Toni feel confident will happen in the future?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 266 – Presenting Numbers in English (Part 1)

Business English, Presentation in English / March 22, 2015

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on presenting numbers in English.

In business, numbers are everywhere. Whether you work in sales, marketing, finance, or management, you deal with them all the time. You’ve got data, metrics, projections, and results, all expressed in numbers. We read about numbers, we discuss numbers, and we often have to stand up in front of our colleagues, our clients, or our bosses and present numbers.

Giving a presentation in English about anything can be challenging. Giving a presentation about numbers and data can be especially difficult. You have to describe those numbers, to interpret them, and to connect them to ideas and decisions. In today’s lesson, we’ll begin looking at some techniques for this situation. We’ll learn how to approximate and how to describe change. We’ll also learn how to talk about increases and decreases, as well as how to compare and contrast numbers.

In the dialog, we will hear Toni, who works in marketing for a large grocery chain called Foresters. Toni is giving a presentation about the outcomes of a new promotional campaign targeting the young singles market. We’ll also hear Ellen and William, two executives with Foresters.

Listening Questions

1. What does Toni say has improved as a result of the company’s national campaign?
2. What decreased as a result of the national campaign?
3. What two things does Toni say increased at the test stores?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

English for Presentations Mobile App

Announcements, Mobile Learning, Presentation in English / January 11, 2015

We’re pleased to announce our new mobile iOS app English for Presentations is now live in the Apple App Store: Download

Business English Pod brings you English for Presentations – an eCourse app packed with quality English lessons to help you get your English language skills in shape for your next presentation in English.

In this Business English Pod mobile app, you’ll learn essential English language and vocabulary you need to deliver clear, compelling and successful presentations in English. By the end of the course you will have a solid foundation in business English for presentations – language you can use to be more effective in any type of presentation.

Learn English for Presentations:

> Listen and learn Business English in real business contexts.
> Improve your English language and vocabulary skills with clear explanations and examples.
> Practice English as it is used in everyday business situations.
> Study the transcript as you listen – easily sync to the audio using the time codes in the transcripts.
> Test your knowledge of the lesson by completing a progress quiz.
> Download and save MP3s and lessons for offline learning.
> BEP premium members can login to the app to access all the lessons.

BEP 102c – Signposting a Presentation

A2, Business English, Presentation in English / September 21, 2014

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?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3