- •I Background oral presentation
- •Visual aids
- •II Practice and Experience
- •1. Match the objectives of a presentation introduction with the corresponding vocabulary:
- •Read the phrases in the box and define their purpose. Complete the presentation introduction with the given phrases.
- •Find in the table below the phrases which are aimed:
- •Write a script of your presentation according to the model:
- •1. The Tell - Me Game
- •2. Debate
- •3. Extemporaneous Speech
- •4. Give an oral presentation using visual aids and ask your groupmates to evaluate it according to the given criteria: Oral Presentation Evaluation
- •III Over to You
- •1. Consultancy Presentation
- •2. Panel Discussion/ Forum/ Talk show
- •I Background
- •Preparation for the Conference
- •Structure of Meetings
- •Meeting Vocabulary
- •Introductions
- •II Practice and Experience
- •A. Match words and word combinations that will help you register at a conference with their meanings:
- •Match the objectives of an introduction with the corresponding vocabulary:
- •3. Find in the table below the phrases which are aimed:
- •4. Define the objectives of the following vocabulary (consulting the background) and rearrange it in the correct order. Finishing the Meeting
- •5. Review useful phrases of the unit. Translate the following phrases into English:
- •1. Writing an Agenda. Imagine that you are the chairperson in a meeting. It is the start of the meeting and you are telling your colleagues about the items on the agenda. What phrases might you use?
- •2. The following sentences are in the wrong order. Re-arrange them in the correct sequence to introduce the agenda. Meeting - Agenda Setting
- •3. Look through the extracts from the website of the International Conference, find the main elements of the website and comment them. The main points of the conference website are:
- •4. Read the text below and fill in the gaps with the phrases below. Conference Speech
- •1. A. Imagine you need to register at a conference. You are a delegate, not a visitor. Make up a dialogue answering conference assistant's questions.
- •2. Imagine that you are in the legal conference on one of the following topics:
- •Phrases of politeness:
- •Language for interruptions:
- •Expressing agreement
- •Expressing disagreement
- •Conceding to Make a Point
- •5. Roleplay a plenary session of the legal conference, using the language from the unit.
- •I Background Negotiation
- •Legal Negotiation
- •Negotiation Styles
- •Five Phases of a Negotiation
- •The language of negotiations
- •II Practice and Experience
- •Match the objectives of opening negotiations with the corresponding vocabulary:
- •Find in the table below the phrases which are aimed:
- •Read the dialogue. What negotiation style is used here? How do the speakers maintain an atmosphere of respect? Find in the dialogue phrases which mean:
- •I’ll be frank about it.
- •4. Fill in the correct word from the list below:
- •5. Match the direct speech sentences in column a with the appropriate introductory verbs in column b.
- •6. Role-play one of these situations with a partner. Consider your negotiation style(s).Use as many phrases for negotiating from the table below as you can.
- •III Over to You
- •I Background
- •II Practice and Experience
- •1. How do you answer the phone? Tick what you do.
- •3. Read these telephone numbers.
- •5. Find in the table below the phrases which are used to
- •6. Read the dialogue. Is the language of it formal or informal? Tick phrases used in telephone English and define their objectives:
- •7. Match the phrases typical for telephone English and everyday English expressions
- •Complete it with suitable words
- •Fill in the table with the phrases from the message above
- •Complete the dialogues and dramatize them in pairs.
- •2. Act out the role-play
- •3. Here are some situations. You are to work in pairs. Take the role of the student a or b and compose a dialogue.
- •III Over to you
- •I Background
- •II Practice and Experience
- •Write the addresses correctly and complete them with the names of organizations, add postal codes where necessary, etc.:
- •Read the following letter of congratulation and write proper sender’s and receiver’s addresses:
- •Match the objectives of parts of a letter with the corresponding vocabulary:
- •Find in the table below the phrases which are aimed:
- •Match the beginnings (1-8) with the endings (a-h)of sentences
- •4. Complete the following letter of appointment with suitable words and word combination. Pay attention to the formal tone of the letter.
- •Read the following letter. Explain, in which circumstances a person may write such a letter. Complete it with a correct salutation and complimentary close:
- •Read the following four emails (a–d) and write the correct letter(s) next to the explanatory sentences (1–7).
- •2. A) Read the emails a-d above and decide which is the most formal and the least informal.
- •3. Read these people’s ideas about writing emails. Then complete sentences 1–6 below with the first name of the correct person.
- •3. Match the beginning and ending pairs in ex 2 with the descriptions (1–8) below.
- •4. Read the following sentences. Decide whether they are beginnings or endings. Then decide whether they are neutral or informal.
- •5. Look back at the examples in ex 13. Find:
- •6. Look at the paragraph structure below for two emails: an inquiry (request for information) and the reply. Then write the correct paragraph reference next to each sentence (a–j).
- •Inquiry
- •6. Reschedule a Meeting Voicemail. Prepare a voice mail message cancelling and rescheduling a meeting.
- •7. Prepare a voicemail message to a hotel.
- •I Background
- •In order to get the job you have found you have to know how to navigate the application process.
- •It should:
- •Interests and activities:
- •II Practice and Experience
- •Try to identify the stages in the job application process. Put the stages (1 – 8) into the most logical sequence.
- •Read Silvia’s statement from her cv and find words and phrases which demonstrate the following points
- •Each sentence in Silvia’s personal statement has a different main function. Find the answers to the following questions in her personal statement then write the answers using your own information.
- •Write your profile
- •Read and complete the following cv using the necessary form of the verbs in the box.
- •Write your cv
- •I Background
- •What is a cover letter?
- •II Practice and Experience
- •In pair discuss the following questions:
- •Read the letter. Match the opening phrases to the paragraphs of the cover letter
- •It will be a great experience…
- •I have a bachelor’s degree in law…
- •Imagine that you are applying for the job, fill in the gaps in the sample letter with the information of your own
- •I Background
- •Show Positivity and Drive
- •Do Your Homework Before the Interview
- •II Practice and Experience
- •Match the personal characteristics (1 – 6) to the questions (a – f).
- •In pairs ask and answer questions about your personal strengths and weaknesses, discuss them giving specific evidence.
- •Complete the sentences using the correct form of the verbs in the box. You will need to use some verbs more than once.
- •Read the interview questions and tick the answer that you think is best.
- •III over to you
- •In pairs, discuss the following questions:
- •Match the transferable skills (1 – 8) to the examples of professional behaviour (a – h).
- •2.Using the advertisements below and the cv samples presented above write your cv and a cover letter for a chosen imaginary job. Solicitor - The next step in your career
- •Innovating and forward thinking
PART 2 Business English
UNIT 1 ORAL PRESENTATION
I Background oral presentation
An oral presentation (or an oral report) is generally a speech or vocal performance, occasionally accompanied by visually based presentations such as a slideshow, audio, video, etc. Presentations come in nearly as many forms as there are life situations. There are informational and motivational presentations, sales presentations, first encounters, interviews, briefings, status reports, image-building, and of course, the inevitable training sessions. Making a good oral presentation is an art that involves attention to the needs of your audience, careful planning, and attention to delivery.
The audience
Some basic questions to ask about an audience are:
Who will I be speaking to?
What do they know about my topic already?
What will they want to know about my topic?
What do I want them to know by the end of my talk?
By basing the content and style of your presentation on your answers to these questions, you can make sure that you are in tune with your audience. What you want to say about your topic may be much less important than what your audience wants to hear about it.
Planning your presentation
In an effective presentation, the content and structure are adjusted to the medium of speech. When listening, we cannot go back over a difficult point to understand it or easily absorb long arguments. A presentation can easily be ruined if the content is too difficult for the audience to follow or if the structure is too complicated.
As a general rule, expect to cover much less content than you would in a written report. Make difficult points easier to understand by preparing the listener for them, using plenty of examples and going back over them later. Leave time for questions within the presentation.
Give your presentation a simple and logical structure. Include an introduction in which you outline the points you intend to cover and a conclusion in which you go over the main points of your talk.
Delivering your presentation
People vary in their ability to speak confidently in public, but everyone gets nervous and everyone can learn how to improve their presentation skills by applying a few simple techniques.
The main points to pay attention to in delivery are the quality of your voice, your rapport with the audience, use of notes and use of visual aids.
Voice quality involves attention to volume, speed and fluency, clarity and pronunciation. The quality of your voice in a presentation will improve dramatically if you are able to practise beforehand in a room similar to the one you will be presenting in.
Rapport with the audience involves attention to eye contact, sensitivity to how the audience is responding to your talk and what you look like from the point of view of the audience.
Spoken v. written language
There are both subtle and significant differences in speech and writing, and it's good to know what they are when preparing an oral presentation. For one thing, a speech should sound more like natural speech.
First person
One of the most obvious ways in which to achieve this is to speak sometimes in the first person - you can refer to yourself in an oral presentation, for example, "I'd like to start by..." or "Let me give you an example...", whereas in written projects it is best to keep the use of the first person to a minimum.
Terminology and nominalisation
Because your audience needs to be able to follow you without being able to refer back to written text, try to unpack your language somewhat - don't be too academically dense or use too much terminology.
Signposting
You will be accustomed to signposting in essays, where you foreshadow or guide your readers through your argument with phrases such as "The focus of this paper will be..." or "I'd like to move on to..." This technique is crucial in oral presentations, where the audience does not have the luxury of referring to the writing in front of them.