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?
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