What can you say if things go wrong?

You think you’ve lost your audience? Rephrase what you have said:

- Let me just say that in another way.

- Perhaps I can rephrase that.

- Put another way, this means…

- What I mean to say is…

 

Can’t remember the word?

If it’s a difficult word for you – one that you often forget, or one that you have difficulty pronouncing – you should write it on your index card. Pause briefly, look down at your index card and say the word.

Using your voice

Don’t speak in a flat monotone – this will bore your audience. By varying your speed and tone, you will be able to keep your audience’s attention. Practise emphasizing key words and pause in the right places – usually in between ideas in a sentence. For example:

 "The first strategy involves getting to know our market (pause) and finding out what they want. (pause) Customer surveys (pause) as well as staff training (pause) will help us do this."

Don’t forget – if you speak too fast you will lose your audience!

 

5. Now study the text of the presentation about Tara Fashions.

a) Answer the questions that follow the text.

b) Analyse the structure of the presentation.

c) Note the ‘presentation vocabulary’ the speaker uses and define its function.

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming to my presentation. My name’s Marta Rodriguez. I’m Personnel Director of Tara Fashions. I’m going to talk to you today about our company. First, I’ll give you some basic information about Tara Fashions. Then I’ll talk about our overseas stores. After that I’ll outline the strengths of the company. Next I’ll talk about career opportunities with Tara. And finally I’ll mention our future plans. I’ll be pleased to answer any questions at the end of my talk.

Let me start with some basic facts about Tara. The company started in 1978. We are a family-owned business and our head office is in Cordoba, Spain. We sell clothes for men and women, and our customers are mainly fashion-conscious people aged 20 to 35. We have 15 stores in Spain. All of the stores are very profitable.

Right, those are the basic facts.

Let me add a few figures. We have an annual turnover of about?260 million. Our net profits last year were approximately?16 million. We have a workforce of just over 2,000 employees. So those are the numbers. Now about our overseas stores. We have 4 large stores in France and another 10 in other European countries. We are planning to open 5 new stores next year.

What are our strengths? We keep up with fashion trends. If we spot a trend, we can bring out a new design in 15 days. And we get it to the stores very quickly. We deliver to stores twice a week. And we sell our designs at the right price.

OK, now what about career opportunities? It’s quite simple. If you are ambitious and fashion-conscious, we have opportunities in all areas of our business. We will welcome you with open arms.

Finally, a few words about our new project. We are planning to open a new store in New York next year on Fifth Avenue. This will give us a foothold in the US market. We’re very excited about this new development.

Well, thanks very much for listening to my talk. Are there any questions?

(From Market Leader Business English)

 

1. What’s Marta Rodriguez’s position in the company?

2. What is Marta’s presentation about?

3. When did the company start?

4. Is Tara Fashions a joint-stock company?

5. Where is the company’s head office situated?

6. What does Tara Fashions sell?

7. Who are the company’s customers?

8. What is the company’s annual turnover?

9. What are the company’s net profits?

10.  How many people work for Tara Fashions?

11.  How many stores does Tara Fashions have in Spain? In other European cities?

12. What are the company’s strengths?

13. What are the company’s future plans?

 

Three human resources directors make presentations about their companies at a business school recruitment day. You are one of the HR directors. Use the notes below to make a presentation about your company.

	Futuropolis Pa r ks	Austro Insurance	Smart-mart Stores
Head office	Toulouse, France	Vienna, Austria	Atlanta, Georgia
Activities	Theme parks about the future	All insurance products: life, property, car, etc.	Everything from food to clothing and furniture
Customers	Europeans, mainly middle class families with children aged 5 to 15	Businesses and consumers around the world	Consumers of all classes, all incomes
Annual turnover	? 1 billion	?11 billion	? 250 billion
Annual ne t profits	? 250 million	?1.5 billion	?7 billion
Operations	2 parks in France, 1 each in Spain, Italy and Germany	Thousands of brokers (= independent insurance sellers) in Europe, the US and Asia	200 stores in the USA, 55 in Europe, 30 in Latin America, 20 in Asia
Strengths	Good future for leisure industry in general, especially theme parks	Insurance has seen 10% growth a year over last 10 years. Growth set to continue	Very low prices – other stores find it very hard to compete. 10-15% annual growth expected to continue
Future plans	Opening a park in Florida next year - English-speaking managers needed. Great career prospects!	Developing Latin American activities – Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking managers required. Great career prospects!	Developing further in Asia, especially China. Chinese- and English-speaking managers required. Great career prospects!

Trade Conference.

There going to be an Annual World Trade Conference in London next week. The CEO of your company wants you to attend the conference and attract potential investors from abroad to your company. Prepare a presentation about your company and give it to your fellow students (who act as investors). At the end of ‘the conference’ ‘investors’ are to choose a company they would like to invest in. ‘Investors’ should justify their choice.

You can make a presentation about the company you really work in or choose any existing company you like.

                  

 

NEGOTIATIONS

‘During a negotiation, it would be wise not to take anything personally. If you leave personalities out of it, you will be able to see opportunities more objectively.’

Brian Koslow, prominent American businessman