Episode 196 Presentations When English Isn't Your First Language

This week we're continuing our series on Interview English and we're focusing on Presentations. There are videos about this in the Business English and Dream Job playlists on YouTube so instead I'm focusing here on the challenges as an international speaker of English when giving presentations in English. From the blog: As I mentioned on the podcast, in the context of presentations during interviews, there are specific terms and phrases that might be commonly used: Presentation Structure: Introduction Section: "Today, I'll be discussing..." "Let's begin by..." Main Points: "Firstly, I'd like to talk about..." "Moving on to the next point..." Transition Phrases: "Now, let's delve into..." "This leads us to..." Summarizing: "To sum up..." "In conclusion..." Describing Visuals (if using slides): Charts and Graphs: "As you can see from this graph..." "The chart illustrates..." Bullet Points: "I'd like to highlight..." "One key point to note is..." Fielding Questions: Inviting Questions: "I welcome any questions or comments." "Please feel free to ask if you have any queries." Responding to Questions: "That's an interesting question. Let me explain..." "I'm glad you asked that. From my perspective..." Expressing Confidence: Confident Statements: "I'm confident that..." "Based on my experience..." Assurance Phrases: "I'm well-versed in..." "I have a solid understanding of..." Closing Remarks: Thanking the Audience: "Thank you for your attention." "I appreciate your time and consideration." Reiterating Interest: "I'm enthusiastic about the opportunity to..." "I'm looking forward to contributing to..." Episode Vocabulary Enormously - adverb of 'enormous' meaning very big, the adverb is usually used to emphasise that something had a big impact. Don't get hung up on/don't get too hung up on it - getting hung up on something is when we focus and worry about it. Get rid of the bits you don't like. - get rid of, means to throw something out or discard it. speech impediment - a physical disability of the mouth or vocal chords that makes speech or some particular sounds difficult. Can also occur out of anxiety. leave it - Forget about it, don't use it. don't try and force the issue - 'force the issue' usually used in the negative like this is a phrase meaning don't insist on something when it's not necessary. Incorporate - bring together certain things comprehend - understand You're on the right track - idiom, you're doing something correctly, you're going the right way. controversial - not commonly accepted, perhaps because of the society, cultural norms or current political situations. steer clear - idiom - avoid lighten the mood - idiom - make a serious situation less serious. not dissimilar stuff - dissimilar means not the same. This is a double negative, which is rare in English but I used it to emphasise that the topics I were teaching were similar and sometimes identical. Disconcerting - makes you feel uncomfortable and unsettled Baffling - very confusing My jokes did not land. - 'didn't land' means were not received as I expected them to be. It's really easy for us to get tied down/bogged down - In this case I used the phrasal verb 'tied down' which usually means difficult to change. In fact, correctly, I should have used the phrasal verb 'bogged down' which means not able to move on and preventing us from progress. boastful - to speak confidently (or over confidently) about your skills and abilities.