You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin and I'll be your host for today's lesson on bringing your visuals to life in a presentation.
Have you ever had to stare at a complicated chart and wish the presenter would just give you the main points?
Or have you ever had someone try to explain a chart and tell you exactly what you already see yourself?
There are better ways to handle visual information, and that's what we're going to look at in this lesson.
Charts and graphs are very useful for presenting information, especially numbers, but you must learn to use them carefully.
If you don't, your presentation might not have the effect you want.
That might mean it's seen as boring, but it could also mean that you failed to convince someone of your idea.
So how can we use visuals successfully?
How can we bring them to life?
Well, last week we looked at some ways to engage your audience using analogies and rhetorical questions.
This week we're going to introduce some more useful techniques, including using descriptive language and stating the gist of a graph.
We'll also learn how to set up a new visual, interpret a visual and state the implications of information.
In today's dialogue we'll rejoin David, a manager seeking support for his idea to consolidate logistics by building a new facility in China.
In our last episode, we heard David introduce his plan to the finance department.
Today, David will be presenting more information and visuals to support his plan.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
1.
Why does David talk about the cost of warehousing and shipping?
2.
What does the cost-benefit analysis chart show?
3.
What does Allison say about the future of the company?
That's right.
$22 million cost for $34 million benefit.
And that's mostly cost savings?
A lot of it is.
Let me pull up this next slide.
These are direct cost reductions from consolidated shipping and overseas warehousing.
In other words, our products are stored in Guangzhou.
We put them all on one boat.
They spend less time bumping down busy highways, and that's what we save.
Bingo!
Isn't shipping from Guangzhou more expensive than from Dalian?
I mean, can this really give us 12 million in savings?
It can, and here's one reason why.
Let's take a look at some of the key rates we're talking about.
So, here's what it amounts to.
The cost of warehousing in the U.S. is going up, and the cost of shipping is going down.
Turns out, there's just too many ships floating around.
Okay, David, you're talking about operating costs.
But there's a pretty big initial capital outlay here, isn't there?
Most definitely.
And we want to make that money back, right?
So let's see how this might work.
We've charted this cost-benefit analysis by month.
And here's what it looks like.
What's going on?
Well, here's the magic point right here.
Payback.
And those costs and benefits are cumulative?
Yes.
You bet they are.
So we're looking at two years to recover our investment.
But there's more to it than that.
Those benefits are all based on current operations.
But let's imagine the future for a minute.
We've got a strategic plan.
We're not going to be the same company five years from now.
So have a look at what we expect to happen to our core markets.
And what do we see?
Well, we're going to have more Asian customers, that's for sure.
Precisely.
And if this is true and we want to fulfill our strategic plan, we have to rethink our infrastructure and logistics.
So, we need a new plan.
And what that means is consolidating logistics in a new facility in Guangzhou.
It just makes sense.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at how David brings his visuals and his presentation to life.
That's right.
$22 million cost for $34 million benefit.
And that's mostly cost savings?
A lot of it is.
Let me pull up this next slide.
These are direct cost reductions from consolidated shipping and overseas warehousing.
In other words, our products are stored in Guangzhou.
We put them all on one boat.
They spend less time bumping down busy highways, and that's what we save.
Bingo!
David says that his plan will cost $22 million, but provide $34 million in benefits in return.
Alison asks whether these benefits are mostly cost savings.
Actually, she says, and that's mostly cost savings?
Notice that it's a statement with question intonation.
We do this to confirm something we already think is true.
David is ready to talk about cost savings.
He pulls up the next slide or shows the next visual on the screen.
The visual shows cost reductions or cost savings from consolidated shipping and overseas warehousing.
Those are big terms, and David wants to add some color to the ideas.
That's why he describes what happens to the products.
They are stored in one place, then put on a boat and spend less time bumping down busy highways.
Notice how this description makes it easier to picture in your head what is happening.
Descriptive language can add a lot to your presentations.
Let's run through a few more examples of this kind of colorful description.
Our retail outlets will be buzzing with activity and excited customers.
These places are sitting empty, collecting dust, just waiting for us to walk in and bring them back to life.
Just imagine every 15-year-old music fan bobbing his head with one of our devices.
So now you can actually walk through the showroom without thinking you're on an obstacle course.
David finished his description with the word bingo, which we use to highlight a positive outcome.
But his audience isn't too easily convinced.
Isn't shipping from Guangzhou more expensive than from Dalian?
I mean, can this really give us 12 million in savings?
It can, and here's one reason why.
Let's take a look at some of the key rates we're talking about.
So, here's what it amounts to.
The cost of warehousing in the US is going up, and the cost of shipping is going down.
Turns out, there's just too many ships floating around.
Kent wants more explanation.
He asks about the relative cost of shipping from Guangzhou and Dalian.
His real question is whether the plan can really save $12 million.
Again, David is ready, and his short answer, it can, shows confidence.
His next visual provides a reason for those cost savings that Kent has asked about.
David wants to take a look at or pay attention to some key rates.
Notice how he uses the word let's, as in let's take a look.
This makes it sound like they are examining the issue together.
When the visual appears, David wants to state the gist.
In other words, he wants to summarize the graph.
He does this with the expression.
Here's what it amounts to, as he explains where housing costs are going up and shipping costs are going down.
Notice how he presents two ideas with similar structures.
X is going up and Y is going down.
That really makes it easy to understand.
What are some other ways that we can state the gist of a graph?
Let's practice a few more examples.
Well, as you can see, sales have been flat for a year.
Have a look at this.
Our stock price has been fluctuating wildly.
It's pretty clear that these smaller branches are just not paying for themselves.
Apparently, our turnover rates are moving in one direction.
Up.
Now, it's Allison's turn to question the plan.
Okay, David.
You're talking about operating costs.
But there's a pretty big initial capital outlay here, isn't there?
Most definitely.
And we want to make that money back, right?
So let's see how this might work.
We've charted this cost-benefit analysis by month.
And here's what it looks like.
What's going on?
Well, here's the magic point right here.
Payback.
Alison understands the operating cost savings, but she wants to know about the cost of the plan.
More specifically, she wants to know about the capital outlay or what they'd have to spend on the new facility.
Earlier, she used a statement with question intonation.
Now she uses a statement with a tag question saying there's a pretty big initial capital outlay, isn't there?
Once again, David replies briefly and confidently, this time with most definitely, and he takes Alison's question one step further, saying that they want to make that money back.
That is, they want to earn their capital outlay back.
David has a graph that will show how.
He says they've charted the cost-benefit analysis by month.
A cost-benefit analysis shows a comparison between the costs and the advantages of the plan.
Listeners can see the graph, but David wants to interpret it for them.
He wants to tell them what it means.
And on this graph, he tells them that a particular point represents payback.
That means the time when the initial investment is earned back.
But simply showing charts is not enough.
Like David, we have to interpret them for our audience.
Listen to a few more ways to do this.
So the first quarter appears to be hard on us every year.
It certainly appears that higher web traffic has helped us immensely.
As you can see, it'll cost us more to train new people than to attract experienced talent.
If we continue like this, we should double our market share by next year.
Now, back to the dialogue.
And those costs and benefits are cumulative?
You bet they are.
So, we're looking at two years to recover our investment.
But there's more to it than that.
Those benefits are all based on current operations.
But let's imagine the future for a minute.
We've got a strategic plan.
We're not going to be the same company five years from now.
Kent wants to know if the costs and benefits are cumulative or the total of all costs and benefits added together.
And not surprisingly, David's initial response is short and confident.
You bet they are.
You bet is an informal way to say of course.
David emphasizes that it will take two years to recover or earn back the investment.
Then David starts leading into another idea by saying, but there's more to it than that.
This means that recovering the money in two years is not the only important thing.
The other important thing is the future, which David wants everyone to imagine.
And he mentions the company's strategic plan, which is a document that lays out the company's goals.
According to David, five years into the future, it's not going to be the same company.
What is David doing?
He's preparing listeners for the next idea.
And that means he's setting up a new visual.
Clearly, that visual is going to relate to the future in some way.
Let's hear some more examples of introducing an idea to set up a new visual.
This leads to the question, what's the total cost of the acquisition?
So if we don't have the most patents in the industry, who does?
Now if land prices keep rising like this, it creates an interesting situation in 20 years.
What we really need to know is where our customers are concentrated.
Now, David pulls up or reveals his next slide.
So have a look at what we expect to happen to our core markets.
And what do we see?
Well, we're going to have more Asian customers, that's for sure.
Precisely.
And if this is true and we want to fulfill our strategic plan, we have to rethink our infrastructure and logistics.
So, we need a new plan.
And what that means is consolidating logistics in a new facility in Guangzhou.
It just makes sense.
This new visual shows what the company expects to happen in their core markets or their most important markets.
David asks people what they see.
Alison sees that the company is going to have more Asian customers, but David isn't satisfied with that simple fact on its own.
He wants to understand and show the implications of that information.
What does it mean?
How does it affect the company?
This idea of having more Asian customers supports David's idea.
He uses a logical structure saying if X is true, then we have to do Y.
In this case it's about more Asian customers, meaning they have to rethink or consider and change the logistics strategy.
You can hear a logical structure for stating implications in the following examples.
If this is true, our costs will only climb even further.
Record high temperatures?
This can only mean we'll sell more AC units.
This is not going to help us win more projects in the future.
So, competition should start heating up at the start of next year.
David's conclusion from this entire line of thinking is that the company needs a new plan, and that plan should be to consolidate logistics with a facility in Guangzhou.
In his own words, it just makes sense.
That idea of making sense gives a great sense of logical completion.
And it's exactly the phrase he used at the beginning of his presentation, hammering home his key message one last time.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine that you were giving a presentation in a marketing meeting.
I'll give you a cue telling you what you need to do.
Then you'll hear a prompt.
Use the words in the prompt to make an effective statement during a presentation.
First, let's use some descriptive language to explain the company's recent success.
We have Now, state the gist of a graph.
You need to summarize the basic idea for your audience.
Clear Market share About 50% Answer It's clear that our market share is about 50%.
Next, you need to interpret a visual that you are showing in the presentation.
Looks like ad campaign.
Very effective answer.
It looks like our ad campaign was very effective.
Now you want to transition to a new idea.
You need to set up a new visual with an introductory statement.
Have to know How Customers Find us.
Answer, But we have to know how our customers are finding us.
Finally, state the implications of this information.
That is, what does the information suggest?
This means Website Better job Connecting Customers Answer This means that our website has to do a better job of connecting with customers.
Now let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, including the missing word.
For example, if you hear, UPS has delivery trucks down every major city street.
You can say, UPS has delivery trucks bumping down every major city street.
After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
Answer Before discussing the project, we need a cost-benefit analysis.
It is going to take us five years to... Our investment...
Answer.
It is going to take us five years to recover our investment.
RIM is trying to... The ways it attracts new customers.
Answer.
RIM is trying to rethink the way it attracts new customers.
We've reached the end of this episode, the second in our two-part series about bringing visuals to life in a presentation.
We've looked at, using descriptive language, stating the gist of a graph and stating the implications of this information.
We've also learned how to interpret a visual and set up a new visual.
These techniques should help you add life and power to your own presentations.
Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.
