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Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod for today's lesson on how to finish a presentation with a summary and a call to action.
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An effective presentation is one that you remember.
And an effective presenter is one who knows how to get information to stick and how to make a lasting impression on the audience.
But for many people, that's easier said than done.
So how can you get your ideas to stick?
Well, there's a simple structure that you can follow.
That structure involves signaling that you're going to end your presentation.
Next, you can provide a summary of what you've discussed.
Then you can make a call to action.
And finally, you can thank your audience and invite questions.
With this structure, you can make a strong finish to your presentation and a lasting impression.
Today, we'll listen to a presentation by Nick, a sales director for a steel company.
Nick is giving a presentation about ideas for increasing sales, which have been rather disappointing.
He uses several techniques to summarize and emphasize his key points and he provides a strong finish to his presentation.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One, what does Nick say to introduce the final summary of his main ideas?
Two, what does Nick tell people he wants them to do near the end of the presentation?
Three, what does Snake do to end his presentation?
Product and industry knowledge are important, but the crux of the matter is that we simply aren't aggressive enough in our approach to selling.
To sell, you simply have to push, and push hard.
So, as we can see, a first-class CRM strategy and a great marketing plan aren't worth the paper they're written on if we don't have qualified staff to push them through.
Okay, that's all I have to say on this topic for the moment.
Now, I'd like to recap the main points of my presentation before I open it up for questions.
To sum up, first, I analyzed the sales results for 2006.
I talked about how our drive to increase brand recognition through a surge in advertising has failed because of mediocre initiative and inconsistent follow-up from our salespeople.
I explained how our special task force found major deficiencies in our sales training system and in our staff's basic sales skills.
Finally, I proposed a recovery plan for 2007.
I stressed that the most important thing at this stage is not advertising or technology, but the way that we train our salespeople.
Let me leave you with one thought.
What I'd like to stress is and I can't emphasize this enough that it is absolutely essential to have an effective sales team, and effective salespeople must have effective training.
So what I'm asking from you today is a commitment to increase the training budget by 25, so that we can address this training shortfall.
Then, by this time next year, instead of scratching our heads, we'll be cracking the champagne.
Many thanks for your attention.
And now, I'm very interested in hearing your comments.
When we join the presentation, Nick is coming to the end of his final section before the big finish.
Let's hear what he does as he ends the last section.
Product and industry knowledge are important, but the crux of the matter is that we simply aren't aggressive enough in our approach to selling.
To sell, you simply have to push and push hard.
Nick is talking about the crux of the matter or the most important idea.
Finishing strong isn't just about the presentation overall.
You should think about how to conclude each section well.
And as Nick demonstrates, that often involves emphasizing your key point.
Nick's key point is about being more aggressive or forceful when selling.
He emphasizes this point not just by calling it the crux of the matter, but also by repeating it in different terms.
Let's practice some more ways to emphasize a key point at the end of a section of your presentation.
If there's one thing you should remember, it's to take time to learn as a team.
The critical lesson here is that we have to be adaptable.
So, if nothing else, just remember to keep it simple.
Now let's listen as Nick finishes this section by reinforcing the importance of well-trained salespeople.
So, as we can see, a first class CRM strategy and a great marketing plan aren't worth the paper they're written on if we don't have qualified staff to push them through.
Okay, that's all I have to say on this topic for the moment.
As you can hear, Nick is signaling that he's done with the topic and he's about to begin his summary.
Signaling a transition can be done in a few ways.
Often we just use a simple word like okay, or alright, or so.
These are simple signals that you're moving on to a new section.
Next, Nick says very directly that he's finished with the topic.
Audiences like clarity, and it's a good idea to be direct and clear about when you're moving between parts of your presentation.
Let's run through some more ways of signaling the end of a presentation or a section of a presentation.
All right, that brings us to the end of my talk.
So that about does it for this topic.
At this point, I think it's about time we wrapped up.
And so we've gone over the main points you need to understand.
I can see that we're nearing the end of our time together.
Now that Nick has finished with his last topic, what does he say next?
Now, I'd like to recap the main points of my presentation before I open it up for questions.
To sum up, first, I analyzed the sales results for 2006.
I talked about how our drive to increase brand recognition through a surge in advertising has failed because of mediocre initiative and inconsistent follow-up from our salespeople.
Nick uses a couple of useful expressions to introduce a final summary of his key ideas.
For one, he says he wants to recap his main points.
Then he uses the expression to sum up, which means to restate the main ideas of a presentation.
You'll notice that when Nick begins to sum up, he uses the word first.
This kind of sequencing word helps to create a very clear and concise summary.
In this case.
Nick's first point is all about how their attempts to increase brand recognition, or how well the public recognizes the company, hasn't been supported by sales efforts.
What are some other ways we can introduce a summary of our presentation?
Let's try some more key expressions.
So, I've covered three main points today.
To conclude, the key takeaways are... Let's just recap the main ideas.
Now let's hear Nick complete his summary.
Notice the sequencing words such as second and finally.
Second...
I explained how our special task force found major deficiencies in our sales training system and in our staff's basic sales skills.
Finally, I proposed a recovery plan for 2007.
I stressed that the most important thing at this stage is not advertising or technology, but the way that we train our salespeople.
Once again, Nick is emphasizing or stressing the most important ideas.
This will help them stick in the audience's memory.
But in many cases, we don't just want our listeners to remember something.
Rather, we want them to do something.
Let's listen as Nick makes what we refer to as a call to action.
Let me leave you with one thought.
What I'd like to stress is and I can't emphasize this enough that it is absolutely essential to have an effective sales team, and effective salespeople must have effective training.
So what I'm asking from you today is a commitment to increase the training budget by 25, so that we can address this training shortfall.
Then, by this time next year, instead of scratching our heads, we'll be cracking the champagne.
We heard some more language to help emphasize or stress key points, and this leads Nick to ask people to do something.
He wants them to show a commitment or make a promise to increase the budget for sales training.
The whole point of his presentation is not just to analyze the situation, but to propose a change.
This kind of call to action or recommendation is an important part of a presentation's conclusion.
It's a way of inspiring people to act, rather than just learn or listen.
Let's run through some more ways of making a strong call to action at the end of a presentation.
So, here's what I'd like you all to do.
Now all this leads me to one key recommendation.
It should now be clear that we need to take action.
What does all this mean for you?
Well, it means you should...
Alright, there's one more thing that we often do right at the end of a presentation.
Let's listen.
Many thanks for your attention.
And now, I'm very interested in hearing your comments.
The final step in delivering a presentation is showing appreciation.
It's a good idea to thank your listeners for their valuable time and attention.
This helps solidify the personal rapport you've built through your presentation.
And once you've thanked people, you can, if it's appropriate, invite questions and comments.
Notice how Nick says he's very interested to hear people's comments.
This interest helps an audience feel like they're part of a dialogue, not just consumers of information.
Let's practice some more ways of showing our appreciation and inviting comments and questions.
Thanks so much, everyone.
Now, are there any questions?
All right.
I appreciate your time.
Now, let's open it up for questions.
You've been a great audience.
Now, is there anything you'd like to ask me about?
We've heard Nick do a great job of concluding his presentation with a strong summary and a strong call to action.
He hopes to make an impact on his listeners and drive change in his company.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine you're coming to the end of a presentation to your management team.
You've been talking about the importance of investing in technology.
I'll ask you to make statements that help to bring your presentation to a close.
We'll guide you through each step in the practice and provide an example answer for each response.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Start off by saying that the important thing to remember is to stay up to date with technology.
So the important thing to remember is to stay up to date with technology.
Now say that this brings you to the end of your presentation.
And this brings me to the end of my presentation.
Now introduce a summary by saying that you've covered three main ideas today.
To sum up, I've covered three main ideas today.
Next, say this leads you to one key recommendation, and that is to focus on technology.
Answer.
And this leads me to one key recommendation.
Focus on technology.
Finally, thank everyone for listening and ask if there are any questions.
Answer.
All right.
Thanks for listening.
Now, are there any questions?
That's all for this lesson on concluding a presentation.
We've learned how to emphasize a key point at the end of a section of a presentation.
We've also covered how to signal the end of a presentation and introduce a summary.
And finally, we looked at making a strong call to action and finish by thanking people and inviting questions.
For more practice.
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Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.
