Dexway English Magazine: C1 – Edition 3
Professional Communication – Giving Presentations
So you need to give a presentation to the board of directors and you don’t like speaking publicly, what do you do?
Make sure you get to the meeting room early and greet the people as they arrive. If it is a video-conference presentation make sure you are in the virtual meeting room early and you greet the people as they log in, before the meeting actually starts.
Only use PowerPoint as a visual aid. Do not do your whole presentation through PowerPoint or it will get boring. Talk to the people in the room, show them graphs and statistics on PowerPoint, but let them see that you know what you are talking about and you’re not just reading it off a screen.
Make sure you do not use too many abstract phrases. The board of directors will want to hear specific results and see hard evidence. They don’t want to hear you saying “things are coming along nicely.”
As well as using hard evidence and statistics, use stories to get your point across. Putting something in context makes it much easier to remember. – Make eye contact with the attendees of the meeting. You want to connect with the people you are speaking to.
Do not apologize for any mistakes you make, simply carry on. You do not want to bring attention to any mistakes and apologizing will only disrupt the rhythm of your presentation.
Don’t be afraid to pause during a presentation to let your audience think about what you have said. It also gives you a chance to breathe and collect your thoughts before moving onto the next point.
If you can get the attendees involved in the presentation then they are more likely to remember it. Perhaps they could write suggestions on the whiteboard.
– Do not end with a Q&A session. Schedule the Q&A session for just before the end of your presentation, that way people can get involved but you can finish the presentation with your own personal climax.
And here are tips for using PowerPoint in your presentation. Remember to use contracting colours, either a dark blue background with yellow lettering, or a lighter background with darker writing.
Don’t use any moving text, we want the reader to read the text as soon as it comes on screen and then to focus back onto the presenter this is very hard if the test is flying or spiralling around the screen.
Make three copies of your last slide, just in case you advance to far and as already mentioned, PowerPoint is visual aid don’t overload your slides with text instead use graphs or pictures to illustrate your point.
Technology
Swiss author Max Frisch has said: “Technology is the knack of arranging the world so we don´t have to experience it”.
The more advanced our technology gets, the more it starts to substitute our reality. Look at the next generation of kids, they spend their time endlessly playing videogames, updating their statuses on Facebook and Twitter, posting blogs, texting and countless hours in front of the TV.
That is not to say all modern technology doesn´t perhaps have more purposeful uses. Natural gas or electricity heats your home, turn on a light switch and instantly illuminate your home, drive to work in air conditioned comfort, pop in bread in a toaster and 2 minutes later a perfectly toasted snack, microwaves heat up everything and just a few taps on your smartphone and you have broadcast and connected yourself to the world.
All of these things have greatly revolutionized our daily life. We can research and have thousands of sites about every topic you can think of using a computer. Look back at even the time of our grandparents, conveniences that we take for granted didn´t even exist for them. But I guess on the flip side, they did send a man to the moon… so I guess they were a little busy…
How has technology enhanced your life?
New Zealand
DOWN-UNDER, ALMOST!
Learning English opens up your world.
You can travel and learn about different cultures in countries where English is a national language.
New Zealand is one of those countries. It is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be inhabited on Earth. It is home to many endemic specific or animals and vegetation.
A citizen of this country is called a New Zealander or informally a “Kiwi”. It is home to many famous people such as Sir Edmund Hillary who climbed Mount Everest in 1953 and Baron Ernest Rutherford, the first person in the world to split the atom in 1919.
New Zealand has a rich heritage of Māori heritage, Polynesians settled there in 1250–1300 and European settlers in 1642.
There is a traditional Māori war dance called the Haka that the New Zealand national rugby team performs at the start of each match. Rugby is the national sport and they are called The New Zealand All Blacks. Tourism and adventure sports have always been huge industries in thanks to the incredibly beautiful scenery.
New Zealand was the country that invented bungee jumping and Zorbing.
(*Zorbing is rolling down a hill in a huge inflatable balloon).
Three love poems
Below are three love poems written in English but during different centuries
Love’s Secret by William Blake: Never seek to tell thy love, Love that never told can be; For the gentle wind doth move Silently, invisibly. I told my love, I told my love, I told her all my heart, Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears. Ah! she did depart! Soon after she was gone from me, A traveller came by, Silently, invisibly: He took her with a sigh.
Meeting in Sunlight by Aiden Andrew Dun: “A sunlit pavement, dust illuminated, her shadow, mine. Sublime, since love is subtle. Just her outline stated, silhouette-trace, that consecrated curve of her face, where in desire sunlight sheds joy hot across the world.
Philosophers, think her two-dimensional shadow touching mine. One glance makes the sun of love shine. Imagine other rays from that divine fire of her eyes travelling being. Lovers, cosmologers, look in this direction. See a man seeing truth for the first time”.
A Special World by Sheelagh Lennon “A special world for you and me A special bond one cannot see It wraps us up in its cocoon And holds us fiercely in its womb. Its fingers spread like fine spun gold Gently nestling us to the fold Like silken thread it holds us fast Bonds like this are meant to last. And though at times a thread may break A new one forms in its wake To bind us closer and keep us strong In a special world, where we belong.”
What is the last thing you learn when learning a foreign language?
You could argue that it’s practically impossible to fully learn any language, that there will always be antiquated or specialised words which you won’t know. Language itself is an organic mass that is constantly evolving according to age, location, social class and a whole variety of intricate factors.
When you are speaking your mother tongue in another country that speaks a language with the same name, as in the case of an English person speaking English in America, you have to be aware that cultural references, pronunciation and many of the words themselves will actually be different. No problem, really?1
The real problem arises when you actually are trying to make people react. When you’re trying to be funny in another language, you’re trying to make people laugh, or at the very least, provoke them to acknowledge that what you’ve said was mildly humorous. But being funny in another language is probably the last string that you add to your bow when learning that language, not only do you have to consider the culture, society and political correctness of the foreign country Comedy is all about timing, and when what you say doesn’t roll off your tongue as fluidly as it would if you were saying it in your mother tongue sometimes you miss the chance to say something amusing.
So, to answer the question: in my opinion, being funny is the last thing you learn in a foreign language.
Communication skills
What is the most sought after skill when employers are looking for employees?
Obviously you need to have the technical skills and qualifications to be able to carry out the job in the first place. You can’t go and work as an aeronautical engineer if you have a degree in dentistry! But apart from the necessary technical skills, what is it that employers really want in an employee?
Communications skills!
The ability to listen, write and speak clearly and professionally are the most valued extras in an employee. As an employee you may be asked to write missives for internal and external uses. Internal documents may include memos, reports, and proposals that will be for use only within your organization. External proposals, letters and reports can be sent to clients, customers, suppliers, stockholders, media, the Government or even to the general public. Strong communication skills are critical to any business regardless of size, location and its mission. For both the internal and external environment, good communication will assist the organization to achieve objectives by informing and building good will. What if a company only runs operations in one country, would foreign language skills benefit that company?
Research has shown that learning foreign languages actually improves communication in your mother tongue. It strengthens your comprehension of grammar and makes you aware of culturally significant factors by being able to look in at your own language from an outsider´s point of view. By learning a foreign language you are improving your knowledge of your own language but you are also breaking down the barrier that might be stopping your company from running operations in foreign countries. If there is a demand for your product or service in your country, then surely there will be a similar demand for it in another country.
Many studies lists the following as transferable and required skills for effective business communications:
A) Self-management
B) Team working
C) Business and customer awareness
D) Problem solving
E) Literacy and numeracy
F) Good interpersonal skills
G) Application of information technology
H) Good initiative and able to follow instructions but most importantly a positive attitude.
How do we prepare potential employees with the skills necessary to take an active role in the workplace?
Can you think of any other really important skills to boost employability?
