Presenting for Success

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2007 All rights reserved: businessenglishpod.com

Presenting for SuccessA complete study program in the language and skills of presenting in English.

Written by

James Moss, Clayton Lee & Peter Atkinson

Audio produced & recorded by

Paul Meredith

Online activities by

James Moss

Copyright 2007 Business English Pod Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without writtenpermission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Published 2007
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Table of Contents

(Click a unit title to jump to the start of that unit)

1. Introduction pg 4-62. Unit 1 Making your Introduction pg 7-143. Unit 2 Signposting your Presentation pg 15-224. Unit 3 Describing Charts and Trends (Part 1) pg 23-325. Unit 4 Describing Charts and Trends (Part 2) pg 33-446. Unit 5 Describing Charts and Trends (Part 3) pg 45-557. Unit 6 Voice Technique and Emphasis pg 56-658. Unit 7 Closing Down and Summarizing pg 66-749. Unit 8 Question and Answer (Part 1) pg 75-8410. Unit 9 Question and Answer (Part 2) pg 85-9411. Example Phrases by Function pg 95-10212. Audio & Online Activities (Click here to go to the webpage)
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Presenting for Success


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Introduction

This is an e-book brought to you by Business English Pod, the leading provider of

on-demand audio and study tools for business English communication skills at

www.businessenglishpod.com. My name is Clayton and Ill be your host for this

series.

Is giving presentations important to you career? For most of us, the answer is

yes. Presenting our products, success stories, challenges and solutions this is

the heart of business communication, where money is often made or lost. And,

in todays globalizing business environment, we are increasingly called to give

presentations in English.

In this nine-chapter series, we will be looking in detail at the fundamentals of

giving presentations in English. The goal is for you to create a basic repertoire or

toolbox of phrases, structures and strategies so that you can give presentations

in English more fluently, more confidently and more successfully.

In the first chapter, titled, Introducing your Presentation, well look at how to

make a good start as well as at the overall structure of a presentation.

Then, in Signposting and Signaling, well be learning strategies for making the

organization of your talk strong and clear.

In the next three chapters on

Charts and Graphs, well be

studying in more detail language

you can use to organize yourthoughts, highlight key points, and

relate your ideas to each other.

Well also focus on a key area of

presentations, how to deal with

visuals, charts and graphs and how

to describe trends and change.

Next, in chapter 6, Voice and

emphasis, well take a look at how

to deliver your presentations more

fluently and clearly so that yourwords have greater impact.

Finally, in the last three chapters of

the bookClosing Down and

Q&A 1 and 2well study how to

finish presentations effectively in

order to leave the audience with a

strong impression. In addition to

summarizing your talk, well be

practicing a series of specific

strategies for successfully dealingwith questions.
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In all, this e-book has over two hours of information-packed audio lessons.

Together with our phrasecasts recordings of key phrases and expressions for

study on the go theres over 180 minutes of skills development and listening

practice. In addition, the accompanying study notes contain a completetranscript of each chapter, vocabulary definitions, extra practice questions and

study strategies. And by upgrading to the online version of this e-book, you can

get access to a variety of additional language development exercises on the

Web.

In each chapter, I introduce the topic, then play a listening that demonstrates

the key concepts. Afterwards, in the debrief section, I take you through the

main points and explain important vocabulary and idioms. For each skill, we

practice a variety of example phrases that you can use. Finally, in the practice

section of each debrief, you have an opportunity to use some of the language

you just learned.

Learners often ask me how to study more

efficiently and effectively. I have some

suggestions. Listen to each chapter multiple

times. Rewind and practice the example

phrases many times. Make a note of anything

you dont understand. First listen to the

chapter without the transcript; then, when

you have time, go back and listen again with

the transcript. Underline and look up words

you dont understand. Its important to studywords in context, paying attention to

collocations, or word partnerships, and words

in whole sentences, with their accompanying

prepositions and other grammatical

characteristics. For example, its not enough

to know the word presentation; to use this

word, you also have to know the verbs,

adjectives and prepositions that go with it

for example, to deliver or to give an

effective presentation tosomeone.

Another important study strategy is to do the practice section of each debrief

where you actually get to practice what youve learned by speaking out loud. Try

rewinding and substituting different language the second time your practice.

Substitution helps you increase your fluency, that is, your ability to say the same

thing in many ways. Also, after youre finished, you can write out examples

using your own presentations and record yourself speaking. Work together with

a learning partner so that you can get feedback from a friend. These and many

more study strategies are covered in the study notes for each chapter.

Last dont forget to review the vocabulary and do the practice exercises in the

study notes.


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And you can check the website for additional online activities to give you extra

targeted practice of key language and strategies. If you have not already

upgraded to the online version of the e-book, the online exercises are available

for purchase at www.businessenglishpod.com.

Presenting for Success is targeted for learners at or above Common EuropeanFramework (CEF) level B2, upper-intermediate. This corresponds to a BULATS

score higher than 3 or IELTS higher than 5. The materials are designed to be

useful to students at a variety of levels: Intermediate learners will focus initially

on language development whereas advanced learners can zoom in on skills

development, high-level vocabulary, fluency, confidence and enhancement of

overall professionalism.

All right, now its on with the show! That means, lets get started. I am confident

that the skills and language you will learn over the next nine chapters will help

you greatly improve your fluency, confidence and effectiveness in the delivery of

presentations. On behalf of all of us here at www.businessenglishpod.com, Iwish you great success with your studies!

Presenting for Success is an official publication of Business English Pod Ltd.,

copyright 2007, all rights reserved.
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Unit 1 (BEP 101) Introducing Your Presentation

Today we look at some of the language used during internal presentations.

To start off this episode, Ive asked some of my colleagues what tips they might

have for making a good introduction. Following that, we have the main dialogand then the debrief. So heres me putting me colleagues right on the spot

Clayton: Okay, were talking about presentations, and in particular introductions

to presentations. Jeff, do you have any guidelines you use when youre writing,

preparing or actually doing an introduction. Is there something you always keep

in mind, and say, Well this is what I always do and must do?

Jeff: Well, in English we talk about something called an elevator pitch which

is like a summary of a proposal or idea, which takes maybe no more than 10 to

15 seconds to explain. The idea is that its something short enough that you can

actually give it to someone in an elevator, just in that very brief period of timewhen you actually have their attention.

Now I think when youre beginning a presentation, in some ways youre in the

same situation: You may be planning to give a very long speech it could last

30 to 45 minutes but youve only got that first minute or so to convince people

that they should be listening to what youre going to say. So youve got to give

them some good reasons to listen to everything else that is coming up give

them an idea of what youre going to say and why they should be listening.

Clayton: Do you have a formula Peter? I do.

Peter: Er, well, please tell me! Let me get my pen!

Clayton: Well I got this formula from a certain school a long time ago. Its

pretty good. Its has all the elements I think should be in every presentation

whether its formal or informal.

Peter: Well tell us!

Clayton: Your name - well first of all a greeting you have to say

Peter: I think you should always start with a Thank you!

Clayton: Or Welcome or Hello.

Peter: I think Thank you.

Jeff: Or Hello.

Peter: Thank you and welcome.

Clayton: Well why dont we put them all together, Hello, thank you and

welcome to what-do-you-call-it.

Jeff: You can put them all together.
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Clayton: Put them all together one package. And then a name I think its

kind of rude not to tell people exactly who you are and your title or what your

job is and why you are qualified to speak on the subject.

Peter: And thats a good point you know a lot of internal presentations these

days are done over telephone conference or video conference and youve gotpeople from different international locations. They might of heard your name but

they might not know your face. And so when you get up to speak, even within

your company and even maybe your division or your department it is, as you

say good manners, but it is also important (to identify yourself).

Clayton: Yeah, I think a lot of listeners to these podcasts they themselves are

very accomplished speakers in their own language and so Im sure they know

how to make a speech, or presentation, but hopefully though, this podcast will

give these speakers, and others, the ideas of the types of language we use in

presentations, and in particular introductions in this particular podcast.

Vocabulary

elevator pitch: In this context, a pitch means a short speech used to sell

something. An elevator pitch is a pitch so short that you could give it to

someone, for example a senior manager, just in that 10 to 15 seconds you have

his or her attention in an elevator ride. Last week I saw our marketing VP in the

coffee room and I gave him an elevator pitch about my new sales strategy.

accomplished speakers: Accomplished is an adjective that means skilled or

expert. So accomplished speakers are people who are very good at giving talks,

presentations, etc. Even if youre not an accomplished speaker, there are a few

tips you can follow to give a professional presentation.

signposting: Signposting (or a signpost) is language that helps us follow the

structure of a talk, such as First, second, third, or Now Im going to talk

about Theyre called signposts because they show the way, just like a rode

sign. Also can be used as a verb. Its important to signpost your talk well so

people can follow what youre saying.

videoconference: A conference held through a video connection so that people at

distant locations can see each other on the monitor. We had a videoconference

with Shanghai last week.

consumer products: Products whose end customer are normal people instead of

companies. Consumer products include food, soap, clothing, etc. anything that

people use. We have been looking for ways to expand from purely consumer

product oriented approaches to more B2B or business to business oriented

approaches.

kickoff meeting: Kickoff (from sports) means to start; so a kickoff meeting is the

first in a series of meetings or the first event at a conference, etc. At our annual

sales meeting, Jenny chaired the kickoff meeting this year.

visual aids: Visual aids are anything people can look at to understand yourpresentation better, such as charts, graphs, pictures, models, handouts, etc.


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Dialog

Perry: Okay, everybody, lets all

take a seat and get things started.

We have a long day ahead of us,and we need to keep to the

schedule So lets see how our

videoconference line is working.

Hello Sydney and New York! Can

both of you all hear and see us ok?

Sydney: Yes, Perry, we have our

whole sales group here.

Everything is working ok, and

were ready when you are.

New York: Loud and clear here in

New York too, Perry.

Perry: OK then..leading off this morning is Claude Dautry from the consumer

products division, who will be presenting some of the latest sales figures and

trends for our product lines in this very key sector. Claudeif youre

readyplease take it away.

Claude: Thank you, Perry. And Good morning everybody. A warm welcome

from our Paris office, whether you are here in person or here via video from

Sydney or New York. For those of you who dont know me, Im Claude Dautry,senior sales analyst from our Consumer Products Division, and Ill be presenting

our analysis of recent sales data. We will then examine some important trends

and conclusions we can make about the growth of our product lines. After that,

we plan to look at some forecasts and proposed sales strategies to adjust to the

trends we see developing.

During this kickoff meeting, we hope to arrive at some recommendations to

forward to senior management, before their next shareholder meeting. (pause)

And finally, we will open it up to any questions you might have about sales in

general, whether it concerns the EU, the Americas or the Asia-Pacific region. I

estimate my prepared remarks will cover about 30 minutes, and the next 30minutes will be dedicated to answering your questions. Hopefully, youve all

received the handout material I sent, but Ill also be showing the charts in

PowerPoint, in case you dont have your handouts with you. So, lets take a look

at our first topic, which uh yes, you have a question?

Questioner: Yes, sorry to interruptbut I was wondering if you planned to talk

about global marketing efforts and how they tie in to regional sales promotions.

(fade out)


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Debrief

Building up a spirit of teamwork in an internal meeting is very important,

especially during the introduction stage of a presentation. Personality plays a

part, but some simple language patterns help. Use pronouns such as: we, all,

us, our, ours, and everybody as much as possible. For example, when starting a

meeting, we can say:

Well, why dont we all get started. Lets all take our seats, if we could. Is everybody ready to start? Ok, lets kick this meeting off.The introduction phase sets the tone and expectations of a meeting or

presentation. Although very often the presenter will introduce him or herself to

the audience, sometimes another person may introduce the speaker, as in our

example where the presenter was introduced by the chairperson of theteleconference. A complete introduction for a presentation includes the following

parts:

A greeting

your name and position

the title and subject

the objective of the presentation

the main parts of your talk

a mention of the visual aids that you will use

the time you will take

when you would like questions

a reference to the audience

and a link to the first section of your presentation

Not all presentation introductions will have every one of these elements, and not

all will follow this sequence. However, most proper introductions will use a

majority of these elements in some form, and in this general sequence.


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Lets start with some greetings:

Good morning, everybody. Good afternoon, and welcome to the North American division. Welcome, all of you, to the Smith Center. I thank you all for coming this evening, to our first employee benefits review.The name and position of the presenter usually follows. If the presenter is well

known amongst the audience, he may not even mention his own name. If most

of the people know the presenter, then he may precede his self-introduction with

For those of you who dont know me. However, when presenting in front of

large or widely separated departments, it is customary to introduce oneself with

not only ones full name, but with a title and area of responsibility. This tells

audience members who you are, what your position is, and what sort of

knowledge or duties you have concerning the presentation subject. Lets try

some names and titles:

My name is _______, and Im the HR manager for our UK operation. Im ___________, and Im a test engineer for the QC Department.(Repeated with example names)

My name is Alison Wright,and Im the HR manager for our UK operation. Im Chuck Yeager, and Im a test engineer for the Quality Department.When introducing ones duties, or areas of knowledge, we usually use the words

I am responsible for. Or, I am in charge of. Lets try some of these:

Im responsible for new employee training Im in charge of test data collection Im responsible for designing new electrical switches I manage regional sales promotions in South AmericaNow, try combining the previous phrases into complete introductory statements

that include name, title and area of responsibility: After the beep, introduce

yourself and state your responsibilities at your company. Then listen to an

example answer to compare. Of course, the details of everyones answer will be

a little different:

Learner:


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Example answer: Good morning everybody, my name is Alison Wright. Im an

HR manager at our London division, and Im responsible for new employee

training.

After the presenter introduces himself and his position, the subject of the

presentation is then usually stated, along with the purpose of the presentation.A well-designed presentation will then include a guide to the rest of the talk.

The presenter will tell the audience what is to come, and what parts of the

presentation will be presented in which order. This is called signposting, like the

signs on street corners that tell a traveler where he is, and where he is going.

Signposting helps to focus the audiences attention.

Well cover signposting in the next podcast.


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Language Review

A. Put the parts of the introduction of a presentation into a likely order. Note

that in some cases, more than one order is possible.

1) the objective of the presentation

2) your name and position

3)and a link to the first section of your

presentation

4) A greeting

5) the title and subject

6) the main parts of your talk

7) when you would like questions

8)a mention of the visual aids that youwill use

9) the time you will take

10) a reference to the audience

B. Match the following phrases with the language functions above. The first one

has been done for you.

a. Hello, my name is Ravi Chatterjee and I am in charge of the IT team here inChicago. 2. Name and position

b. The main purpose of my talk today is to outline the implementation of ournew security policies over the last quarter.

c. My presentation is entitled Titanium Bridge: Sharing Information Securelywith our Customers.

d. Ive divided my talk up into three parts. First, Ill give you some backgroundon the new policy. Second, Ill tell you about the implementation. And finally,

well look at the performance of the new system.

e. I know you are all busy, so I want to respect your time. The wholepresentation should take about 15 minutes.

f. Okay? Are you with me? Many of you look like youve heard this all before;dont worry, Ill be focusing more on the results end, which should be new to

you.

g. All right, that covers the introduction to my presentation. Now, lets start withthe first topic, background on the new policy.

h. Because Id like to keep this short, please hold your questions until the end.Then we can discuss whatever aspects of the project are of particular interest

to you.

i. And Ill be using PowerPoint.j. Good morning. Is everybody here? Can we get started?


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Study Strategy

Using the structure and the phrases highlighted above, build an introduction to

your own presentation, either one you have actually given or one that you head

someone else give. Make some notes about what you want to say, but dont

write everything down. Then, record yourself speaking. Afterwards, play it back

to see if you missed anything. How do you sound? Get some feedback from a

friend. Then try it again. Practice makes perfect.

Language Review Answers

Language Review A and B

Note that especially for numbers 6 through 10, the order may vary from

presentation to presentation.

1) A greetingj.2) your name and position a.3) the title and subject c.4) the objective of the presentation b.5) the main parts of your talk d.6) a mention of the visual aids that you will use i.7) the time you will take e.8) when you would like questions h.9) a reference to the audience f.10) and a link to the first section of your presentationg.

Links(click a link to open the exercise)

BEP 101e Making your Introduction - Quiz

BEP 101e Making your Introduction - Gap-fill

BEP 101e Making your Introduction - Dialog & Vocabulary Definitions

BEP 101e Making your Introduction - Language Review 1

BEP 101e Making your Introduction Language Review 2


BEP 101e Making your Introduction Vocabulary Flashcards
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Unit 2 (BEP 102) Signposting Your Presentation

Today we are looking at signposting during presentations. Signposting is

language such as, My presentation is divided into three parts, or Thats all for

point 1, lets move on to point 2, or, Moving back to what I was saying earlier,

or even, That concludes the main part of my presentation.

These phrases help your audience keep engaged and interested by showing

them the structure of your presentation. Because they show the way, we call

them signposting or signaling phrases: They are the signs along the road of

your talk that signal to the audience where we are, what we are doing, and why

this is important. They can also help you remind yourself of the structure of your

presentation so that you dont get lost.

Lets listen to a short excerpt or part from the middle of a presentation about

sales performance. As you listen focus, on the phrases the presenter uses to

signpost the structure of his talk.

Vocabulary

To wrap something up: To conclude

something. We wrapped up the

presentation in time for lunch.

Market sector: This term describes a set of

businesses that are buying and selling such

similar goods and services that they are indirect competition with each other. There is

a lot of competition in the sports car market

sector.

Market niche: A small market with highly specialized products. In order to

survive in the steel business, we were forced to focus on a niche market where

the competition wasnt so extreme.

To come of age: To grow up, reach maturity. Our business really came of age in

the 1990s during the period of fast growth in the high-tech sector.

Theme: The subject, topic or general feeling of your presentation. The theme ofmy talk was that we have to increase sales to survive.

Handy: Useful. Let me give you a few handy tips for finding a job.

Overburdened: A burden is a weight that you carry. It is usually something

heavy that slows you down. To be overburdened is to have too much weight to

carry. During the project launch, staff were overburdened they had to work

overtime every day, and morale decreased.

Absorb: To take in or suck in fluid, as a towel takes in water. To absorb

information is to learn. There was too much information to absorb in my

presentation, so I think the audience started to fall asleep.
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Dialog

(fade in) and that about

wraps it up for the detailed

sales figures. Now, lets

see what we can conclude fromthe sales data. Ive divided

this section of the presentation

into three parts. First, were

going to review historical sales

in this market sector. Next,

we will discuss developing

sales trends, and finally we will

compare our performance with

our chief competitors. So, lets

talk about some of the history

of our particular market niche.Our whole industry came of

age in ... (fade out)

(fade in) ok, that covers the history of sales in the marketplace. Now, lets

move on to some of the trends in recent sales that we have observed. First, Ill

give a detailed analysis of industry sales trends by region. Then, were going to

examine our own sales in these same regions. And well finish this section by

going over our sales trends for new products. Everybody with me? Well, then

lets turn our attention to this first chart, which shows overall sales trends

(fade out)

Debrief

Any presentation requires a clear strategy or plan to help you reach your

objectives. The aim is not to pass away twenty minutes talking non-stop and

showing a lot of nice pictures. It is to convey a message that is worth hearing to

an audience who want to hear it.

However, how many speakers really hold an audience's attention? What is the

secret for those who do?

First, find out about the audience and what they need to know. Plan what you're going to say. Say it clearly and concisely. And make sure to signpost throughout the presentation.

Well, what is signposting? The term signposting comes from signs posted on

street corners, which tell travelers where they are and where they are going. In

presentations, Signposting is informing the listener as to what things are going

to be talked about, and when sections have been completed and new sections

are opened.

This helps to focus the audiences attention. Once the audience knows what

subjects and sections are to come, they can listen to the information from the


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right perspective, and know how to file this information away in the proper

places in their minds. One does not want the audience wondering what subjects

you are talking about, or how the information currently being presented fits into

the larger theme of the presentation. Make it simple for the listener. Lead the

listener through the presentation with signposting.

How does one signpost? A good speaker uses various signposting signals to help

hold the audience's attention and make the parts of the presentation very clear

he does this as he introduces them, and as he moves through them.

One type of signal is to introduce a list.

This could begin with a phrase like

Ive divided this section of the presentation into three parts.

The speaker then says what the three things are and talks about each one at therequired level of detail. For example:

'There are three types of price that we have to think about - economic price,

market price and psychological price. Let's look at each of these in more detail.

First, economic price. This is based on production costs and the need to make a

profit ... (and the speaker goes on to describe this type of price in more detail.)

After that, he goes on to talk about the market price and so on.

Another signaling technique is to give a link between parts of the presentation.

Tell the listeners where one part of the talk finishes and another starts. For

example, a well-organized presentation usually contains different parts and

progression from one part to the next part, with clear phrases like:

That's all I want to say about the development of the product. Now let's turn to the actual marketing plan. Lets now take a look at sales resultsThis technique is very helpful to the audience, including those who are mainly

interested in one part only.

Another type of signaling is sequencing of information.

This usually follows a logical order, usually based on time. So a project may be

described in terms of the past, the present and the future.

Key words in sequencing information are:

first, then, next, after that, later, at the end, finally, etc.

Still another technique, which helps to emphasize key points, is careful repetition

of what has been talked about.


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Examples are:

As I've already said, there is no alternative but to increase production by 100

per cent.

or

I'd like to re-emphasize the main benefit of the new design it achieves twice asmuch power with half as much fuel.

Here are some other examples of emphasizing points which have already been

talked about:

As we saw in part 2 As we covered during our discussion of weight savings Recalling our look at sales projections for the next decadeHere are some useful signposting phrases that should be used to guide listeners.

To move on (to go to the next subject):

Lets move on to the situation in our overseas markets.

To expand on (to give more information on a point):

Could you expand on the issue of pricing?

To digress (to change to another subject):

If I can digress for just a moment, what about the plans for our new office?

To go back (to go to a point earlier in the presentations):

Lets go back to the first item on the agenda.

To recap (to repeat/summarize a previous part of the presentation):

So, to recap, our sales for the third quarter have been strong in all regions.

To conclude (to bring to an end):

Id like to conclude by discussing the future of our company.

To summarize (to give the main points):

Next, Peter is going to summarize our marketing strategy.

To turn to (to move on):

Id like to turn to the question of hiring new staff.

To elaborate on (to give detailed information on):

The next presentation will elaborate on our sales plans for next year.

Although many phrases can be used to indicate the end of a section and the

beginning of another, there is one single word that can be used in almost all

cases to signal ends and beginnings. This word is so, most often followed by a

pause. We encourage our podcast listeners to use other phrases to make your

presentations more interesting, but when one cannot think of a signposting

phrase quick enough, the word so is a very handy replacement.


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Listen and practice these examples, and pay special attention to the pauses:

So, what can we conclude from this data? So, lets move on for our market for air conditioners. So, lets take a look at this chart. So, what can we expect from the future? So, what can the past teach us?Great, now its your turn to practice some of the phrases and skills weve learned

today. Imagine you are giving a presentation about your company to a group of

visitors. What would you like to include in your introduction? Think of three

points: Perhaps you want to mention the history, the products and the people.

Or perhaps there are other points you want to make. Then, after you hear the

beep, begin by signposting your three main points: You can say, There are

three main points Id like to introduce or Ive divided my introduction into

three points. First.; second.; third. Afterwards, signal that youre starting

the first part by saying something like, Great, lets first take a look at thehistory or Lets turn to the history. Are you ready? First take a few seconds

to think.

Example Points:

1. Company history2. Products3. People

Learner:

How did you do? Now, lets listen to an example answer. But remember, there

are many possible correct answers.

Example answer: Ive divided my introduction into three points. First Ill say

something about the 100-year history of our company. Second, Ill talk about

what makes our products so special. And finally, Ill tell you a little bit about the

people that make it all possible. Okay? Lets start on the first point, the history.

Its always a good idea to rewind and try the practice again. Try substituting

different language this time. Remember that this language can be used inside

your presentation to signpost points within points, as well as during the overall

introduction.


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Also, there are a lot of phrases covered in this episode today that we didnt get

to practice. Remember to listen to the phrasecast of this and other episodes for

focused practice of all the expressions that we look at.

Now, a final point concerning signposting and structuring of information.

Psychologists have suggested that concentration is reduced after about thirty

minutes without a break or a change in activity. Furthermore, audiences should

not be overburdened with technical details or given too many facts to remember.

It is claimed that to ask people to remember more than three things in a five-

minute talk is way too much. Some say that seven points is the maximum

number of things anybody can remember in any presentation. Any such

calculations are probably not very reliable, but every speaker needs to think

about exactly how much information of a particular type a specific audience is

likely to absorb and to plan accordingly.

And, in keeping with our own advice, we are going to conclude this Podcast well

inside of thirty minutes, just to make sure you absorb all of what weve just

covered. And our final signpost is Thanks for listening!


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Language Review

A. Useful language

Match the language functions on the left with the language on the right. The first

one has been done for you.

1)to give detailed

information on GA.

Id like to turn to the question of hiring new

staff.

2) to move on B.So, to recap, our sales for the third quarter

have been strong in all regions.

3) to review the main points C.Id like to conclude by discussing the future

of our company.

4) to go to the next subject D. Lets go back to the first part of the agenda.

5) to change to anothersubject

E. Could you expand on the issue of pricing?

6) to bring to an end F.Next, Peter is going to summarize our

marketing strategy.

7)

to repeat/summarize an

previous part of the

presentation

G.The next presentation will elaborate on our

sales plans for next year.

8)to go to a point earlier in

the presentationH.

If I can digress for just a moment, what

about the plans for our new office?

9)

to give more information

on a point I.

Lets move on to the situation in our

overseas markets.

B. Signposting strategies

To review some key signposting language, match the first half of each phrase on

the left with the second half on the right. The first one has been done for you.

1) Ive divided this section of B A. our discussion of weight savings2) Let's look at B. the presentation into three parts.

3) That's all I want to say C. about sales projections for next year

4) As we covered during D. each of these in more detail.

5) Recalling our look E. at the development of the product.


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A.

2)A. 3)F. 4)I. 5)H. 6)C. 7)F. 8)D. 9)E.

B.

2)D. 3)C. 4)A. 5)E.



BEP 102e Making your Introduction - Gap-fillBEP 102e Making your Introduction - Dialog & Vocabulary Definitions

BEP 102e Making your Introduction - Vocabulary Review




http://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102VOC.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102LAN3.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102LAN2.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102LAN1.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102LAN1.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102TRS.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102CLZ.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP102QIZ.html


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Unit 3 (BEP 103) Describing Charts and Trends 1

Clayton: This is the first of three episodes on charts and trends. Over these

three shows, well be learning language for dealing with visuals, describing

trends, analyzing and comparing data, and making predictions. Visuals refers

to any visual element of your presentation charts, graphs, pictures and so on.A trend is the general directionupward or downwardof some metric, that is

measurement, such as price or revenue. For example, when we say, The price

of oil has risen 30% in the last three months, thats a trend.

Peter: Clayton, just before we get going, can you tell us why dealing with charts

and trends is so important for presentations?

Clayton: Well, every presentation contains a visual element, whether it is a few

words written with a marker on the board or a high-tech PowerPoint

presentation with movies and animations. As the old saying goes, A picture is

worth a thousand words. So pictures charts and graphs they can do thetalking for you. But you need to be able to highlight the main points clearly,

effectively and logically. That way, your carefully prepared visuals are going to

have the maximum impact on your audience.

Now, in todays episode were focusing on the basics of how to deal with visuals

in your presentation: That is, how to attract attention to them, how to

emphasize the key parts, and how to relate points about different visuals as you

move through your slides. A slide is just one picture in your PowerPoint

presentation.

By the way, youll see that a lot of the language we cover continues on ourdiscussion of signposting during the last episode.

Peter: Great, now tell us about the listening today.

Clayton: Okay,the listening comes from a presentation at the Central European

head office of Ambient, an American mobile phone manufacturer. Ambient has

regained market share after a couple of bad years and has now taken over the

number two place behind market leader Sirus and just ahead of the third player,

CallTell.

Youll hear Pat, the new finance director in the Central Europe region, in themiddle of a presentation to the sales team. As we join them, he is bringing up a

slide on revenue trends among the top three players in the business.

As you listen, pay attention to the language that Pat uses to call attention to his

points and to relate them to each other.
http://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/presentations/podcast/BEP103e-Charts1.mp3


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Vocabulary

Visual Any visual element --

such as a picture, chart, graph

(see below), movie, etc. that is

used to communicate informationin your presentation.

Graphic An image or a picture,

usually part of a visual.

Distinguish from graph below.

Chart This is any visual that

contains information: There are

pie charts (charts that are round

and represent numbers in terms

of slices of the pie,organizational charts (the family

tree of your organization), flow

charts (show a process, such as a production process) and so on. Graphs (see

below) may also be counted as a kind of chart, but chart usually refers to the

above basic types.

Metric This refers to any number such as customer satisfaction, productivity,

revenue per unit, etc. that a company uses to measure success.

Trend The general direction of some metric upward or downward. For

example Oil prices have risen steadily over the last year is a trend.

Graph A chart with a x and y or horizontal and vertical axes that shows one or

more trend lines, usually a metric changing over time. Bar graphs are a specific

kind of chart where each data point each number is represented by bar, that

is a long rectangle. (Bar graphs look like a row of buildings.)

Quarter Refers to a period of three months. There are four quarters in a year.

You can also call them by number: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4.

to make a play for An idiom that means to try to acquire or to control.

3G Short for third generation, this refers to the newest mobile phonenetworks that support much higher rates of data transfer, measured in

megabytes per second (mbps), for applications other than voice, i.e., video

telephony, download of movies and so on.

Roll out Similar to product launch, this usually refers to the bringing on to

market of manufactured items. It can also be used as a verb, such as, We

rolled out our new 3G (see above) phones in 2005. Also, sometimes processes

or policies can be rolled out, in which case this word means something like

implement or implementation. For example, We rolled out the new customer

data management system in March.


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I 25

Dialog

Pat:

Everybody ready? Okay, Ill lead into our discussion today with a quick look at

sales over the last five quarters. Im going to bring up our competitors one by

one so we can have a look at how theyve been doing in contrast to our ownperformance.

Okay, well first theres CallTell. As Im sure you all know, theyve been making a

play for the low-end market since they sold off their network division. We can

see the boost in sales they reaped in Q4 of 2006 when they brought out their

new budget price points. But, thats only part of the story, as well see a little

later.

Next we have everyones favorite - Sirus [crowd boos] - okay, no love lost there

but let me just draw your attention to the plateau in sales theyre facing at the

moment with their disastrous 3G rollout. As you can see, its really put pressureon their revenue in the last two quarters.

And that brings us to Ambient. As I said at the beginning, its been a great

couple of quarters and Im sure youll be pleased to hear Central Europe now

accounts for over 25% of our European sales thats a 34% year-on-year

increase. But were actually projecting a fairly flat second half as we focus on

the higher value product lines something well look at in more detail later.


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Debrief

Pat has clearly signposted all of his points and used some very effective

language for highlighting key trends. Lets take a closer look at how he does

that.

Listen again to the beginning.

Im going to bring up our competitors one by one so we can have a look at how

theyve been doing in contrast to our own performance.

This is Pats introduction to his slide. He is giving us the background on what he

plans to say so that we can follow him and keep everything in context: He says,

Ill lead into our discussion today with. From this, we can tell this is the first,

or lead, slide in his discussion.

Now, lets look at some of the vocabulary. A quarter refers to a period of threemonths. There are four quarters in a year. You can also refer to them by

number: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. When Pat says he is going to bring up their

competitors one by one, he doesnt just mean mention them: He means he is

going to shows us a graph where each competitors revenue figures are brought

up onto the picture one at time, building up until we have three trend lines to

compare. You can refer to the study notes for this episode to see the actual

graph Pat is using. This is called a bar graph because it is composed of a series

of bars or thick vertical lines that look like chocolate bars standing on end.

Okay, lets practice some more language we can use to introduce a point.

Well kick off the discussion today with an analysis of our revenue figuresover the past three years.

First, well be focusing on return on investment in the real estate area. Id like to begin by going over some of the key concerns that the marketing

department has voiced on this plan.

Lets start off with a quick look at our sales.Now, what does Pat do next?

He calls attention to the first trend he brings up on his graph: Okay, well first

heres CallTell. What is some other language he could use to call attention to avisual?

Have a look at this. As you can see Take a look at this, Okay, well first here are our total profits in 2006.All right, what happens next? Remember, Pat is talking about one of Ambients

competitors, CallTell.

As Im sure you all know theyve been making a play for the low-end market

since they sold off their network division.


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I 27

As well see again and again, competition between companies is often described

in terms of war or sports metaphors. To make a play for is an idiom that

means to try to acquire or to control. Pats sentence literally means that CallTell

is trying to improve their sales in the low-end, that is low-price, market.

Now heres an important point: Remember that Pat is what we call the new kidon the block. That means he has not been working for Ambient very long,

whereas many people in his audience will have been with the company for years.

At this stage in his presentation, Pat is making some fairly simple points because

they provide important background for his later analysis, but everyone already

knows what he is talking about. So, especially as a newcomer to Ambient, its

important for him to show respect for his audience. As Im sure you all know

is a great way to do this. Lets learn some other ways to respect your

audiences knowledge.

As you are all aware, we are facing some difficult choices over the next sixmonths.

The past year has obviously seen some tough challenges from ourcompetitors.

Most of you are familiar with our productivity figures, but for the benefit ofthose who arent, let me briefly bring them up on screen.

All right, now lets take a look at how Pat highlights a key point. He is still talking

about CallTell.

We can see the boost in sales they reaped in Q4 of 2006 when they brought out

their new budget price points.

Budget price points refers to inexpensive, low-end products, in this case mobile

phones. We can see is a way of drawing attention to the point you want to

make. Pat probably has a laser pointer, and he is pointing out the part of the

graph he wants everyone to focus on. Later, he highlights another point by

saying, Let me just draw your attention to"

What other kinds of phrases can we use for this?

One thing youll immediately notice is a marked increase in Q4. Id particularly like to draw your attention to the sharp fall in investment here

in Q2 of 2007.

Id also like to point out the strong growth in the luxury sector. And perhaps I should mention the slight drop in customer satisfaction

reported in Western Europe.

Since highlighting is such an important part of getting your message across, why

dont we practice this skill. Are you ready? Its your turn to give it a try. In a

moment, youll hear a series of points, such as fall in sales, Q1. After each

point, youll hear a beep. That means its your turn to start talking: Use the

phrases we just practiced to draw attention to each point. For example, if you

hear fall in sales, Q1, you can say something like, One thing youll

immediately notice is that sales fell dramatically in Q1. Are you ready? Lets

begin.


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Prompt: sharp increase in revenue, 2006

Learner:

Prompt: Strong profit performance, Q1 2007

Learner:

How did that go? Listen to some example answers.

Example answers

Id particularly like to draw your attention to the sharp increase in revenue in2006. One thing youll immediately notice is the strong profit performance in Q1 of

2007.

After telling us that CallTell has improved revenue by selling more low-end

phones, Pat does something very interesting: He foreshadows a point to come.

Foreshadow means anticipate or give a hint about something.

But thats only part of the story, as well see a little later.

Pat is essentially giving us a hint about a key point he is going to make later inhis presentation, which we will see in the third episode of this series.

Foreshadowing is a great way of keeping the audience interested, and also of

relating the structure of your presentation internally, so that audience members

will be able to think back clearly to a point that you made earlier when it

becomes important for your analysis later. Are there any other examples of

foreshadowing in todays listening? Yes, this is something Pat does again at the

end when he saysBut were actually projecting a fairly flat second half as we

focus on the higher value product lines something well look at in more detail

later.

By the way, project means to predict and flat refers to little growth a flat trendline.

All right, how else can you foreshadow a point?

And that indicates reasonable growth in this sector, which well come backto in a moment.

As Ill point out later, weve only seen limited success with this strategy. Fornow, lets keep talking about marketing channels.

This is a key issue, which well be dealing with a little later in the presentationwhen I go over departmental structure.

What happens next? Pat brings up the trend for the second competitor on to the

chart. Lets listen:


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I 29

Next we have everyones favorite Sirus [crowd boos] okay, no love lost there

but let me just draw your attention to the plateau in sales theyre facing at the

moment with their disastrous 3G rollout.

It doesnt sound like Sirus is very popular, does it. As the idiom goes, its thecompany that everyone loves to hate. Thats what Pat means by theres no

love lost there, which is another great idiom to add to your vocabulary.

As we looked at earlier when we reviewed highlighting, Pat says Let me just

draw your attention to in order to draw attention to a point: That is, after the

disastrous rollout (or launch) of their 3G technology (which means third

generation advanced cell phone technology) Sirus is facing a plateau in sales. A

plateau is simply a mountain with a flat top. So to face a plateau means to

remain level no movement, a flat trend line. This kind of language for actually

describing trends well be looking at in greater detail in the next episode in this

series, Charts and Trends 2.

Now, before Pat is able to highlight this point about Sirus, he has to signpost

that he is moving on to another part of his slide. He says, next we have

everyones favorite Sirus, then he puts the trend line for Sirus on the screen

so that his audience can compare it to CallTells. And then again after he finishes

talking about Sirus, Pat has to signpost the last point as he brings Ambients

figures up on to the screen: He says And that brings us to Ambient.

What is some more language we can use to signpost the next graphic or next

slide? Well, you can use some of the ways we learned earlier for introducing a

point. In addition, here are some phrases that are specifically designed formoving between points:

Thats all for sales growth, now lets have a look at profit margins. And that brings us to the next point Id like to make. Great, thats all for 2006. Lets now turn to the figures for 2007. That concludes the first slide. Lets bring up the next. Now here we see the

current state of the market.

Okay, theres just one more point to cover in todays episode. Weve practiced

introducing a point, moving between points, highlighting a point, foreshadowing

or anticipating a future point. And the only thing left is how to refer to a previous

point. Listen to Pat talking about Ambient during the last section of todays

listening.

As I said at the beginning, its been a great couple of quarters and Im sure

youll be pleased to hear Central Europe now accounts for over 25% of our

European sales thats a 34% year-on-year increase.

As I said at the beginning is a way of calling back to mind a previous point,

perhaps something that you foreshadowed earlier. In this case, Pat is giving

more evidence to one of his main comments, which is that the Central Europe

region is doing quite well: By a 34% year-on-year increase, Pat means a 34%

rise compared with last year.


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Now, what are some more ways to refer to a previous point?

As I mentioned earlier, we really need to keep coming back to our defect rateas a key quality indicator.

Returning to what I said earlier, this is definitely an area of concern for us inthe future.

To go back to what I was saying about our overall growth, I dont really thinkwe have much reason to be worried.

Well, that does it for todays episode. Youve practiced a variety of signposting

language for emphasizing or highlighting important messages and relating the

points of your presentation to each other. These are very important skills to

have. Practicing this language will help you prove the old saying true by making

each of your pictures truly worth a thousand words.

Now, just a little foreshadowing here in the next episode, well be dealing in

detail with describing trends: Well be learning a variety of lively and vividlanguage and structures for concisely describing the main trend lines in your

charts and graphs.

In the meantime, be sure to carefully go through the study notes for this

episode. There youll fine vocabulary definitions, a full transcript, practice

questions and some study suggestions. Also, if you havent done so already,

check out the online exercises, which will give you further focused practice in

key language and structures. These are available for purchase at

www.businessenglishpod.com.
http://www.businessenglishpod.com/


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Language Review

A) Fill in the gaps in the following phrases with the words in the box.

dealing bring up benefit look

mention kick off earlier attention

1. Id particularly like to draw your __________ to the sharp fall ininvestment here in Q2 of 2007.

2. Well ________ the analysis today with an analysis of our revenue figuresover the past three years.

3. This is a key issue, which well be ________ with a little later in thepresentation when I go over departmental structure.

4. Returning to what I said _______, this is definitely a key area of concernfor us in the future.

5. Most of you are familiar with our productivity figures, but for the _______of those who arent, let me briefly bring them up on screen.

6. Take a _______ at this.7. That concludes the first slide. Lets ________ the next. Now here we see

the current state of the market.

8. And perhaps I should ________ the slight drop in customer satisfactionreported in Western Europe.

B) Now, match each of the phrases above with its function. Choose from the box

below. The first one has been done for you.

Highlighting a point1 Foreshadowing

Returning to a previous point Calling attention to a slide/graphic

Introducing a point Respecting your audience

Moving to the next slide/ graphic Highlighting a point

Study Strategy

A great way to practice the language we learned in this episode is to work withsome charts, graphs or visuals from your own company or one of your own

presentations. Practice introducing each visual, and using the phrases we

learned in this show to highlight key points and relate them to each other.

Remember to clearly signpost each main message because that helps your

audience (and also you!) follow and understand exactly where you are in your

series of ideas. Heres a great tip: Record yourself speaking with video if its

available or with a MP3 or tape recorder. Then go back and listen to how you

sound. What kind of impression do you make? How fluent is your language?

What are the strong points? Can you catch any mistakes or areas for

improvement? With regular practice such as this, youll be fast on your way to

an English presentation expert.


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A)

1. attention; 2. kick off; 3. dealing; 4. earlier; 5. benefit; 6. look; 7. bring up

B)1. Highlighting a point 2. Introducing a point; 3. Foreshadowing; 4. Returning to

a previous point; 5. Respecting your audience; 6. Calling attention to a

slide/graphic; 7. 8. Highlighting a point.



BEP 103e Making your Introduction - Gap-fill

BEP 103e Making your Introduction - Dialog & Vocabulary Definitions




http://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP103VOC.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP103LAN3.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP103LAN2.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP103LAN1.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP103TRS.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP103CLZ.htmlhttp://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/BEP103QIZ.html


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Unit 4 (BEP 104) Describing Charts and Trends 2

In the last episode, we learned how to present your visuals clearly and logically

by signposting your points and highlighting key areas. Now that youve gotten

these basics, you need to get into the details and deal with the numbers. So in

this episode, well be focusing on describing trends. Remember a trend is a thegeneral direction or tendency of a metric or measurement upward, downward,

flat, fluctuating, peaking, bottoming out, and so on.

So, youll be learning how to use these and many more terms for describing your

charts and graphs in fluent, vivid sentences so that you can present your data

with maximum impact.

Todays listening continues on from last time. Pat, Ambients new Central

European finance director, has just finished talking about sales revenue and is

now moving on to discuss market share, which he often just refers to as share.

The visual he will be talking about is a line graph that compares the trends in

market share over the last six quarters from Q1 2006 to Q2 2007. His discussion

centers on the top three players in the mobile phone business his own

company, Ambient, and their two top competitors, CallTell and Sirus. Youll find

the graph that Pat is actually referring to in the study notes for this episode.

As you listen, pay attention to the trend language that Pat uses to describe the

recent changes in the market.
http://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter/ebook/presentations/podcast/BEP104e-Charts2.mp3


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Vocabulary

Vertical axis The vertical or Y-axis on a graph.

Horizontal axis The horizontal or X-axis on a graph, which often shows time.

Slice of the pie The idiom slice of the pie comes from pie charts, round

graphs that are traditionally used to represent market share as slices of the

circle or pie. Capacity is also conveniently represented by pie graphs. When a

companys share of the pie is large, you can say, They have a big slice of the

pie.

Fluctuation This refers to up and down movement, like a wave. The verb is to

fluctuate.

That said At the beginning of a sentence in oral English, this means Despitethis fact. For example, I like sweets a lot. That said, I eat a lot of them

because I care a lot about my health.

At someones expense If a trend goes up at someones expense, it means

the increase corresponds to subtraction in their share of the pie (see above.) For

example, Our market share increased 5% at Company Bs expense, means

that our share went up 5% while Company Bs went down by the same amount.

To hold ones ground This is a idiom that is based on a war metaphor: In

competition, opposing companies are like enemies on the battleground. To hold

ones ground means you do not retreat. So we can say, We held our ground inmarket share despite repeated attacks from Company B.

To fend off competition This is another idiom based on an underlying war

metaphor (see above). To fend off means to fight off.

To bring something online This is similar to to roll something out (see the

vocabulary explanations for Charts and Graphs 1). It can refer to products, but

often also it refers to production capacity or policies: Last month we brought

two more assembly machines online, boosting our capacity by 25%.


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Dialog

Pat: All right, lets leave sales there and move on to market share. Now this

graph shows us the trend in market share starting in the first quarter of 2006

moving up to the present. The vertical axis represents billions of U.S. dollars.

Looking at the figures for 2006, Sirus had the biggest slice of the pie. After

remaining unchanged at around 30% for the first half, their share started

fluctuating in Q3 and 4.

Meanwhile, we were struggling to catch CallTell as their budget models came

online. That said, we were still we able to hold our ground thanks to some hard

work on your part.

Things get interesting when we compare the latest IDG figures for Spring 2007.

Recently, as you know, Sirus has taken a hit on the release of their problematic

G3 rollout. Actually, their share has slipped back a couple of points to about27%. Meanwhile, CallTell has grown largely at their expense.

Our own position has been further consolidated this year as we successfully

fended off competition from CallTell on the bottom end and gained on Sirus in

the prime multimedia segment.

And let me just draw your attention to the effects of new Asian players entering

our market, as we see their growth reflected in the 5% increase of the combined

others group, which now accounts for over a quarter of the entire European

market.

All things considered, the Exec team is fairly pleased with the overall picture on

market share and the underlying trends for 2007


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Debrief

In very few words, Pat has called attention to all the key trends in his visual. He

hasnt gone into great detail after all, the graphs are right there in front of his

audience for everyone to see rather, he has used some strong, vivid language

to briefly draw attention to the main points in his analysis.

The first thing he does, which youll recognize from last time, is signpost the

change from his first slide, revenue, to his second slide, market share.

All right, lets leave sales there and move on to market share.

Next, he needs to tell us what were looking at. This is introducing the theme or

main idea of a chart.

Now this graph shows us the trend in market share starting in first quarter of

2006 moving up to the present. The vertical axis represents billions of U.S. $.

Vertical axis of course means the Y axis in the graph. Pat doesnt say so,

because it is so obvious, but the X axis is called horizontal and shows time, in

this case starting in Q1 of 2006 and moving up to the present, which is Q2 of

2007. Starting in and moving up to are useful for talking about a range of

time.

Now, lets study some more ways we can introduce the basic theme of a chart.

This graph presents a general picture of recent developments in the high-strength steel market during the last five years.

This chart gives you a general overview of the organizational structure in ourdepartment.

Here we see a chart analyzing the relationship between investment andprofitability.

Great. Now that youve practiced those, lets move on to how Pat next focuses in

on a specific part of the graph everyone is looking at.

Looking at the figures for 2006 Sirus had the biggest slice of the pie.

The idiom slice of the pie comes from pie charts, round graphs that are

traditionally used to represent market share as slices of the circle or pie. Inthis case, however, Pat is using a line graph because he is looking at change in

market share over time, but he still can refer idiomatically to Sirus have the

biggest slice of the pie.

Looking at the figures for 2006, draws our attention specifically to one part of

the graph. What are some other ways that we can use to do this?

Examining the developments at the beginning of the year, we can see aninteresting trend.

Lets focus in on Q2. As we break down the numbers in the automobile sector, a startling trend

emerges. Notice the strong relationship between price per unit and revenue.


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So after Pat focuses our attention in on one part of the graph Sirus share in

2006 what is the first trend he describes? Lets listen again.

After remaining unchanged at around 30% for the first half, their share started

seeing some fluctuations in Q3 and 4.

There are actually two trends here, arent there? First, Sirus share remains

unchanged for the first half the first two quarters of 2006. What are some

other ways to say remain unchanged?

Our growth essentially remained steady throughout 2003. You can see that the stock price really flattened out in April and May. The price of oil has stayed level for the past two weeks. Trading volume stagnated near the end of the day.To stagnate means to show no movement. The adjective, stagnant describeswater that has been still for too long.

Youll also remember from last time we learned two other ways to describe

remaining unchanged flat, as in a fairly flat second half of the year and

plateau, as in facing a plateau in sales.

Around remain unchanged, three more trend verbs are important: Level off,

drop off, and pick up. The first, level off means a trend goes flat after

rising. The second, drop off (or sometimes fall off) means a trend goes down

after being flat. The third, pick up, means a trend increases again after a

period of falling or being stagnate.

Lets listen to an example of some of this language:

After a steady increase throughout 2003 and 2004, demand for new houses

leveled off in 2005, plateaued for a while, then dropped off in 2006 before

picking up again in 2007.

Did you catch all that? Lets review. Think of a kind of N shape (N as in

Nancy): First the trend increased, next it leveled off (the top of the N is flat),

then it dropped off or fell, and finally it picked up again or rose. Note how

plateau is actually used as a verb here.

All right, after remaining unchanged at around 30%, Pat says that Sirus share

started seeing some fluctuations in Q3 and 4. This is another trend, in effect

kind of opposite to remaining unchanged: To fluctuate means to move up and

down, like a wave. The noun is fluctuation. Listen to some more ways to

describe fluctuation.

The year 2000 was a period of intense fluctuation. This is a period of flux. Hits on our webpage have fluctuated a lot in March. Over the last few weeks, our share price has being going up and down. New orders have experienced serious fluctuations in the last few months,

with the results ranging from a low of 15 in February to a high of 27 in June.


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What happens next? Pat talks about Ambients performance in 2006.

Meanwhile, we were struggling to catch CallTell as their budget models came

online. That said, we were still we able to hold our ground thanks to some hard

work on your part.

Bring online is similar to roll out, which we covered last time: It is another

way to say launch or release on to the market. Budget models refers to

those new budget price points Pat mentioned last time: Low-end, inexpensive

products.

Now, lets take a look for a moment at the language Pat uses here. As is very

common in business, he describes competition between companies with sports

and war metaphors: We were struggling, or fighting, to catch CallTell, as in a

race. That said, or despite this fact, we were able to hold our ground, as in

a war.

We should study these war and sports metaphors to make our description of

trends more vivid: Note that Pat doesnt mention a single number here, but he

manages to paint a very colorful picture and tell an interesting story in just a

couple sentences thanks to these great metaphors.

Okay, lets move on to the next trend in Pats description of this slide.

Things get interesting when we compare the latest IDG figures for Spring 2007.

Recently, though, as you know, Sirus has taken a hit on the release of their

problematic G3 rollout. Actually, their share has slipped back a couple of pointsto about 27%.

Things get interesting, is another way to highlight a point, which is something

we looked at in the first episode of this series.

To take a hit continues the war metaphor: Sirus is like a ship that got hit by a

rocket or a missile, which causes their share to sink or slip back a couple of

points. To slip literally means to fall down when you step on something slick or

wet. So to slip back vividly describes the trend of falling or going down. Now,

lets study more phrases we can use to describe a downward trend.

Turnover went down slightly in August. Overall, prices have decreased sharply over the last year. Activity fell off dramatically in May from 3000 hits per day to 1900 hits by the

end of the month.

After 2000, stock prices plummeted by 30%. Calls per day have plunged recently. Production capacity has contracted by 30%, hitting a low of one million units

in March.

Share has shrunk 5.5% in the last six months, bottoming out in May at18.5%


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Pay attention to how you can use the prepositions from and to to describe a

range, for example in Activity fell off dramatically in May from 3000 hits per day

to 1900 hits. Plunge and plummet mean to fall rapidly. A low just

describes one low point, whereas bottom out refers to the lowest point.

Also, take note the following structure: Production capacity has contracted,(that means shrunk) hitting a low of one million units in March. Hitting a low,

is a participial phrase. This use of participial phrases is a great way to liven up

and add variety to your trend descriptions.

By the way, shrink and contract are used specifically to describe capacity or

share, anything that you would use a pie chart for.

Now that weve dealt with shrinkage or falling, we need to talk study growth or

rising. Listen to Pat again. Remember, he has just talked about how Sirus share

slipped back a couple points in the second half of 2006.

Meanwhile CallTell has grown largely at their expense.

At their expense means in a way that Sirus has paid for CallTells growth. In

other words, the couple points that Sirus has slipped CallTell has picked up.

What are some other ways to talk about increase or growth? Lets go through

several examples.

Then turnover went up a little in September. Activity has increased dramatically in the last 30 days.

Sales posted strong growth throughout 2005, rising from 30 million in Q1 to45 million in Q4.

Stock prices soared to a new high of $157 per share on news of the merger. Customer satisfaction is on the increase. Consumer confidence took off in 2005 on the news that lending rates would

be lowered, reaching a peak of 69% in June.

Lets take a quick look at some of the vocabulary that was just used: Stock

prices soared means that they flew high, like a bird. Continuing the flying

metaphor, Consumer confidence took off means that they launched like an

airplane.

Before we go on, lets also take a moment to review some of the common

adverbs we can use in trend descriptions: Sharply or dramatically are often

used to show rapid change, whereas slightly or moderately are used for slow

change.

Now its your turn to practice describing trends. In a moment, youll hear a

series of hints or cues. Based on these hints, make sentences. For example, if

you hear, Price of oil, go up, 2002 to 2005, you can say, Starting in 2002 and

moving on to 2005, the price of oil soared, or The price of oil rose dramatically

from 2002 to 2005. Make up any details you like, but remember to put the verb

into the correct tense. Do your best to use a variety of language and structures.

Are you ready? Lets give it a try.


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Cue 1: Revenue / remain unchanged / in Q1 and Q2 of 2006

Learner:

Cue 2: Our competitors stock price / go up and down / recently

Learner:

Cue 3: Customer satisfaction / go up 15% / May to June this year

Learner:

Cue 4:Costs / go down 4% in 2006 / rise 3% so far in 2007

Learner:

Now listen to some example phrases. Remember, there are many possible

correct answers for each question.

Answer 1:

Revenue essentially remained steady through Q1 and Q2 of 2006.

Answer 2:

Recently our competitors stock price has been fluctuating

Answer 3:

Starting in May and going to June, customer satisfaction really took off, rising by

15% in just two months.

Answer 4:

After dropping 7% in 2006, costs have picked up again. So far in 2007 they have

risen 3%.

So, how did you do? Its a good idea to go back and try the practice again,

substituting different language and structures each time to exercise yourfluency. Also, you can listen to the phrasecast for this and the other episodes for

focused practice on all the new phrases and expressions weve learned.

All right. Weve covered all the basic types of trends flat and fluctuating,

upward and downward. Now lets turn to something Pat does at the end of

todays listening.

Moving on to talk about his own company, Ambient, Pat says that their position

has consolidated, that is stabilized, after fending off, or fighting away,

competition from CallTell on the bottom end and Sirus on the prime or high

end. Then he goes on to make a final point about this slide:


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And let me just draw your attention to the effects of new Asian players entering

our market as we see their growth reflected in the 5% increase of the combined

others group, which now accounts for over a quarter of the entire European

market.

The combined others group Pat is talking about refers to all other players inthe market outside the three main competitors, CallTell, Sirus and Ambient. Pat

makes the point that this group now accounts for over a quarter of the entire

European market. Over a quarter is a way of using vague or unspecific

language to maximize a point: Pat chooses to emphasize that large size of the

others group, but he could also have minimized its significance by saying

something like, only just over a third, or well under a half. Lets study more

ways to use vague language in order to maximize or minimize a point.

This could mean as much as a 20% drop in sales. Layoffs will result in no more than about a 20% drop in productivity.

Im afraid that the new policy could result in employee turnover of as high as12% if we dont act now.

Were probably only looking at a 2 or 3% drop at most, if not a lot less. Id expect at least a 20% increase in price or something in that

neighborhood.

Great, well, that about covers todays show. Weve studied introducing the main

point of a graph and weve learned all the basic language for describing trends

flat and fluctuating, upward and downward. In addition, weve seen how using

vivid metaphors borrowed from sports and war gives your trend descriptions

impact. Finally, weve practiced a variety of language for maximizing or

minimizing the significance of the data you using so you can skillfully control itsimpact on the audience.

During the last episode in this three-part series on charts and trends, well turn

to another important aspect of describing change, that is talking about future

trend lines and predicting change.

After youve finished looking at the study notes for this episode, another way to

further sharpen your skills is by doing the online exercises for this and the other

episodes. All these are available at www.businessenglishpod.com.
http://www.businessenglishpod.com/


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Language Review

A) Under each mini graph, write several expressions that can be used to

describe the trend. Where appropriate, add adverbs such as dramatically,

sharply, or steadily.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. 9.


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B) For each of the cues below, write a sentence describing a trend. The first one

has been done for you. Practice using a variety of structures and vocabulary.

1. Consumer confidence, go up by 5%, 1998 to 2000From 1998 to 2000, consumer confidence increased by 5%.

2. Price of wheat, go down $3, Q2 and Q3 2006; go up $2, Q4 2006.

3. BioClones stock price, remain unchanged, Q1 2007; go up by 50%, Q22007.

4. Employee turnover, go down by 3%, 2004; go up by 5% 2005; go up by10% in 2007, reach peak in 2007.

5. Revenue, go up 3m, Q4 2005; level off, Q1 2006; fluctuate, the rest ofthe year.

Study Strategy

What kind of trends do you use or come across in your work? Taking a fewexamples, sketch out some trend graphs on a piece of paper or on your

computer. Then, make some cues for yourself like the ones above in Review

Exercise B that outline the key points you want to make. Practice using the

language we learned in last episode for calling attention to and highlighting your

points, then, based on your cues, briefly describe the key points you want to get

across with each graph. After youve practiced a couple times, you can make the

presentation into a small PowerPoint

Presenting for Success

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