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FEATURE
Issues in Business
English teaching
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for Business English
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its second birthday
COLUMNS
Language Interference
Borrowing and false friends
between Greek and English
Focus on Language
Study:
Introduction
Word Formation
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prefixes and suffixes
UK version ¦ US version
New word of the month
New words in journalism
and the media
 Top Tips for Business English
Teaching presentation skills:
Presentation Essentials 1
Activities ¦ Teacher's notes
onestopenglish.com
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Top
Tips for Business English
by Rosemary
Richey
Activities
> Main article
> Teacher's notes
Good presentations in English require not only careful preparation and planning but special language too. These activities will help you learn and practise words and phrases you’ll need to give a presentation. Use the Macmillan English Dictionary when completing the exercises.
Activity 1
Read this overview on presentations.
Presentations have a certain purpose. People who give presentations aim to:
| • |
inform |
| • |
persuade |
| • |
sell |
| • |
teach or train |
Businesses commonly use presentations to improve their prospects and profile with clients or customers. For example, in the hotel industry, presentations are used for promotion of conference packages to potential corporate guests. Marketing and sales managers present their hotels as suitable venues for meeting facilities and overnight stay along with ideal entertainment. They offer special rates and benefits to persuade companies to hold their conferences at their hotels.
For a presentation to be effective for hotels or any business, organisation is essential. To deliver a good presentation, follow these important steps:
| • |
assess your audience beforehand |
| • |
prepare handouts |
| • |
utilize visual aids |
| • |
give a clear introduction |
| • |
explain your objective |
| • |
say the length of your talk |
| • |
state the main points |
| • |
emphasize the unique selling points (USPs) |
| • |
give a brief summary |
| • |
take questions |
By following these basic steps you’ll be able to build your confidence in giving enjoyable and successful presentations.
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Activity 2
Look up the underlined words taken from activity 1 in the dictionary. Write a synonym or short explanation for each.
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to aim
to intend or hope to achieve something |
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to persuade
_______________________________________________________ |
prospects
_______________________________________________________ |
profile
_______________________________________________________ |
promotion
_______________________________________________________ |
conference
_______________________________________________________ |
potential
_______________________________________________________ |
corporate
_______________________________________________________ |
venues
_______________________________________________________ |
facilities
_______________________________________________________ |
overnight
_______________________________________________________ |
rates
_______________________________________________________ |
benefits
_______________________________________________________ |
to hold
_______________________________________________________ |
to deliver
_______________________________________________________ |
to assess
_______________________________________________________ |
to utilize
_______________________________________________________ |
to state
_______________________________________________________ |
to emphasize
_______________________________________________________ |
summary
_______________________________________________________ |
Activity 3
The following sentences describe the presentation given by a sales manager. Complete each sentence with a word from activity 2. Make sure that you use the correct form of the word.
| The sales manager prepared by assessing
the people who would come to his presentation. |
| In his presentation he _________ to inform his audience
about new city tours. |
| He hoped to _________ the people to try the exciting
tour packages. |
| The sales manager clearly _________ the main benefits
to his audience. |
| He _________ the USPs of his tour company. |
| He didn’t forget to _________ visual aids during
his presentation. |
| Finally, he gave a _________ of the main points. |
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