UNIT

12

Giving a Successful Business Presentation

When giving a presentation, it is important that you engage your
audience. You need them to pay attention to you, or you are just
wasting time.

Objectives

1. Technical Problems
2. Useful Phrases
3. Grammar : Modals, Certainty, Possibility and Probability
4. Prepare a powerful presentation

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 Vocabulary

Useful Phrases
A When giving a presentation, you need to make sure your
content flows smoothly. To do this, you need to link your
ideas together. Read the list of
phrases and try to fill in the
missing words.

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 Vocabulary

on

slide

look

shows

points

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 3 Vocabulary

Earlier

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 Vocabulary

U7-T26 script

Moving to the Next Point Next, I will cover 3 points…

Moving forward… Next, I will cover 3 points about…
Moving on… Regarding xyz, there are 3 points to consider
Moving ahead… First,…
Continuing on… Firstly,…
Giving an Overview of the Next Slide or Topic Second, …
In the next slide, we will see… Secondly,…
In this slide, we see… Third,…
Next, let’s look at… Thirdly,…
Next, we will see how… Finally,…
The next slide shows… Lastly, ...
The next slide illustrates… To sum up,…
The next slide discusses… Connecting Two Points
This slide shows our recent sales in Europe. Previously I mentioned that…
Introducing Sequences Earlier we saw how…
I have 3 points to add. You’ll recall that earlier…
I have 3 points to discuss You’ll recall how earlier…
I have 3 points to cover. In the slide about xyz, we saw that…
I have 3 points to share.

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 Vocabulary

Of course you won’t always be able to prevent interruptions. If

you get off track, use these phrases to return to your prepared
material.

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 Sentences

Wrapping Things Up
A At the end of the presentation, you should include a very brief
summary of the topics covered. To introduce this part of your
presentation, use the phrases below.

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 Sentences

After your conclusion, you should ask the audience for

questions. You will need to be prepared to respond to these
questions. Your response will depend on the type of question
you were asked. Separate these responses below into the
three groups in the table.

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 Sentences

Unnecessary
Good Questions Difficult Questions
Questions
I’m glad you asked Sorry. I don’t As I mentioned
that. follow you. earlier, …
That’s a very good Interesting. What Well, as I said, …
question. do you think?
I think I answered
Thank you. I’ll I wish I knew. that already.
explain that in
more detail now.

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 Listening Comprehension

Listen to the dialogue again, and then answer the following questions

U7-T27

c 1. Who does Kelly work for?

a. Mr. Preston b. Not mentioned c. TechPro Consulting
b 2. Why has Kelly gone to see Mr. Preston and his colleagues?
a. To apply for a job b. To seek investment c. She works for them.
a 3. How long was kelly’s presentation supposed to last?
a. Ten minutes b. Two minutes c. Not mentioned
c 4. What was on Kelly’s first slide?
a. A list of services b. A model of a new office
c. A model of how companies can work together
a 5. What can TechPro do as it gets bigger?
a. Offer more services
b. Pay money to Mr. Preston c. Reduce costs
c 6. What is TechPro’s biggest running cost?
a. Salaries b. Investment c. Unknown
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 Listening Comprehension

U7-T27 script

Kelly: Good afternoon, Mr. Preston, ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to begin by introducing myself. My
name is Kelly Richards. One year ago, I founded a small company with three coworkers called
TechPro Consulting. Today I am here to seek investment from you to increase the scale of the
company. My presentation will last about ten minutes. I will start by introducing the concept
behind the company, and then move on to our running costs and the amount of investment we
need. At the end of the presentation, I will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
TechPro aims to offer a broad range of consulting services. In this first slide, you will see…
Mr. Preston: Sorry, Kelly. What services will you be offering?
Kelly: That’s a good question; I will be coming to that point later. As I was saying, in this first slide,
you can see our model of how companies can work together for their mutual benefit. We call
this the networked model of consulting.
Lady: Is that how you will offer services?
Kelly: Yes, I was just coming to that. The next slide illustrates how this model allows us to offer the
following services: 1. Web design, 2. Manufacturing, and 3. Logistics.
Because different companies work together, as we increase the size of the company, we will
also be able to increase the range of services we offer.
Moving on to the next slide, we can see our total running costs. These have been kept as low
as possible. Unfortunately, I don’t have any more information about them.
Mr. Preston: Kelly, it seems you are not fully prepared for this presentation. Please schedule another
appointment with my secretary once you have all the information we need.
Kelly: Sorry. Thank you for your time.

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 Grammar Check

Modals of Certainty, Probability

and Possibility

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Grammar Check

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Grammar Check

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Grammar Check

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 Grammar Check

A Work with a partner and make a logical conclusion in the

present tense, but with varied degrees of certainty.
Examples: Linda was exercising for two hours. How does she feel?
→ She must feel exhausted. (Positive verb with a high degree of
certainty)
Sandy just ate a lot of food.
→ She can’t/couldn’t be hungry now. (Negative verb with a strong
assumption)

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 Grammar Check

Sample Answers

1. Belinda has a cold today. Will she go to work today? (Positive or negative
verb with 50% certainty)
She might go to work today.
→ _________________________________________________________
2. Randy has a good chance to receive a promotion. How does he feel?
(Positive or negative verb with a high degree of certainty)
He must feel very excited.
→ _________________________________________________________
3. That notebook has Barry’s name on it, but Roger is holding it. (Negative
verb with a high degree of certainty)
Roger must not take notes in class.
→ _________________________________________________________
4. My colleague is not well prepared for his presentation. How does he feel
about his presentation? (Negative verb with a strong assumption)
He must not be satisfied with his presentation.
→ _________________________________________________________

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 Grammar Check

Sample Answers

Statements
1. My boss wants to talk to me about the information in my presentation. He
doesn’t seem too happy.
You must be very nervous.
→ _________________________________________________________
2. I just received my electric bill. It’s very high, but I wasn’t even home last
month.
Someone may be stealing your electricity.
→ _________________________________________________________
3. I wonder what happened to Robert. He didn’t answer my phone call last
night or this morning.
His phone might have run out of power.
→ _________________________________________________________
4. I don’t see my car in the parking lot. I’m sure I parked in that space over
there.
You may have moved it after lunch.
→ _________________________________________________________

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 Guided Writing & Speaking

Company Presentation
Read the information provided about each of the companies
below. Choose one of them and write a brief presentation to either a
group of investors or a potential client for one of the companies
above. Use the phrases and grammar that you’ve learned to guide
you.

Use the phrases and grammar that you’ve learned to guide you

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Guided Writing & Speaking

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 References
Cotton, David; Falvey, David; Kent, Simon .(2004). Market Leader. Elementary Business
English. Edinburg Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2 JE, England, Pearson Education Limited.

Cotton, David; Falvey, David; Kent, Simon .(2007). Market Leader. Pre-Intermediate
Business English. Edinburg Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2 JE, England, Pearson
Education Limited.

Murphy, Raymond. (1998). English Grammar in Use. A Reference and practice book for
intermediate students. Second Edition. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.

Shearn, Richard; Ferris, Andrew; Tackett Greg. (2015). English at Work. Singapore:
Cengage Learning Asia.