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Section 1 / 8
Warm-up
Lesson 4
Presentations & Public Speaking
Business English B1Lesson 48 sections42 exercises
1.1
Presentations & Public Speaking
Today is about standing up (literally or on a video call) and delivering a clear, confident presentation — structuring your talk, signposting where you are, and handling tough questions afterwards without freezing.
1.2
After this lesson you'll be able to...
- Structure a presentation clearly from open to close
- Use signposting language to guide your audience
- Describe trends and data confidently
- Handle difficult questions from the audience
1.3
Get to know each other (3 minutes)
- Do you give presentations often at work?
- Are you comfortable speaking in front of a group?
- What usually makes you most nervous — the talk itself, or the Q&A?
1.4
Say it out loud
Practise a confident opening line. → Good morning everyone, thanks for making time for this.
1.5
Fact worth knowing
Audiences remember the first and last 30 seconds of a presentation far more than the middle — a strong opening and closing matter more than a perfect slide deck.
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Section 2 / 8
Vocabulary
2.1
Presentation vocabulary
2.2
Signposting phrases
| Today I'll be covering three things… | Сьогодні я розгляну три речі… |
| Moving on to my next point… | Переходячи до наступного пункту… |
| As you can see from this slide… | Як бачите на цьому слайді… |
| To sum up… | Підсумовуючи… |
| I'll leave some time for questions at the end. | Наприкінці залишу час для запитань. |
2.3
Try out the new words
Describe a trend going up. → Sales have steadily increased since … .
Describe a trend going down. → Costs have sharply declined because … .
2.4
Which word is it?
A sharp, sudden increase in a graph
a spike
A steady, gradual increase over time
a gradual rise
The main message the audience should remember
the key takeaway
A period where a number stays flat, without much change
to plateau / a plateau
A rehearsal of a presentation before the real thing
a dry run / rehearsal
2.5
Fill in the missing word
Revenue ____ sharply in the last quarter. (increased)
Let me ____ up what we've covered so far. (sum)
I'll leave time for ____ at the end. (questions)
2.6
Translate the phrase
ключовий висновок →
різке падіння →
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Section 3 / 8
Grammar
3.1
Describing trends: verbs and adverbs
| Verbs (up) | rise, grow, increase, climb, surge |
| Verbs (down) | fall, drop, decline, decrease, plummet |
| Adverbs (describe HOW) | sharply, steadily, gradually, slightly, dramatically |
| Pattern | subject + verb + adverb — "Profits rose sharply in Q2." |
3.2
Choose the right verb
Costs ____ dramatically after the new supplier deal. (fell/rose)
User numbers have ____ steadily all year. (grown/dropped)
3.3
Fill in the adverb
Sales rose ____ — almost 40% in one month! (sharply/slightly)
3.4
Describe this trend
"revenue / up 15% / Q1 to Q2" →
3.5
Say it about your own work
Describe one real number or trend from your own job, using a trend verb + adverb.
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Section 4 / 8
Reading
4.1
Read: a presentation opening
"Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining. Today I'll be covering three things: our Q3 results, what drove the biggest changes, and what we're planning for Q4. Let's start with the headline number — revenue grew by 22% quarter-on-quarter, which is our strongest growth in two years. As you can see on this slide, most of that growth came from our new product line. Moving on, let's look at what drove this. I'll leave plenty of time for questions at the end, so feel free to jot things down as we go."
4.2
True or false?
Revenue grew by 22%.
True
The growth mostly came from an old product line.
False — it came from the new product line.
Questions will be taken throughout, not at the end.
False — questions are saved for the end.
4.3
Find the signposting language
List every signposting phrase used in the opening.
"Today I'll be covering three things", "Let's start with", "As you can see on this slide", "Moving on", "I'll leave plenty of time for questions at the end."
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Section 5 / 8
Practice
5.1
Picture the structure
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Open (hook + roadmap) → Body (signposted points) → Close (takeaway + thanks) → Q&A. This is the shape of nearly every good business presentation.
5.2
Match the phrase to its function
"Moving on to my next point…"
"To sum up, the key takeaway is…"
5.3
Put the words in order
covering / today / three / I'll / things / be
5.4
Fill in the missing phrase
________ (As you can/Like you) see from this chart, growth has slowed.
5.5
A presentation fact
Pausing for two full seconds after a key number lets it sink in with the audience — most nervous speakers rush straight past their most important data.
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Section 6 / 8
Speaking — Deliver the Talk
6.1
How to use this section
Stand up if you can. Your tutor is your audience today. You'll build and deliver a short presentation piece by piece, then face a round of tough audience questions at the end — exactly like the real thing.
6.2
Deliver the opening
🎙️ Task: open a 2-minute talk about a project from your own work.
Starter: "Good morning everyone. Today I'll be covering [topic] — specifically, [point 1], [point 2], and [point 3]."
6.3
Present a number confidently
🎙️ Task: present one real number from your work with a trend verb + adverb.
Starter: "As you can see here, [metric] has risen/fallen [adverb] since [time period]."
6.4
Signpost a transition
🎙️ Task: move from point 1 to point 2 of your talk smoothly.
Starter: "Moving on — let's take a look at what actually drove that change."
6.5
Close with a takeaway
🎙️ Task: close your mini-talk with a clear takeaway.
Starter: "So, to sum up, the key takeaway here is [one sentence]. Thank you — I'm happy to take questions."
6.6
Q&A — a question you don't fully know
🎙️ Audience: "What about the impact on the smaller markets — do you have that data?"
Starter: "That's a great question. I don't have that breakdown in front of me right now, but I'll follow up with the exact figures after this call."
6.7
Q&A — a challenging/skeptical question
🎙️ Audience: "Honestly, these numbers seem too good to be true. What's the catch?"
Starter: "Fair challenge. The main caveat is [X] — it's a real factor, but even accounting for that, the underlying trend still holds."
6.8
Q&A — redirecting an off-topic question
🎙️ Audience asks something completely unrelated to your talk.
Starter: "That's an interesting question, but it's a bit outside today's scope — let's take that offline afterwards so we don't lose time."
6.9
Buying time under pressure
If you're caught off guard: "That's a good question — let me think about that for a moment." / "Can I come back to you on that after checking the exact numbers?" Never just go silent — a short bridging phrase keeps you in control of the room.
6.10
Full mock presentation — no stopping
FULL RUN-THROUGH
Now deliver your entire mini-presentation, start to finish — opening, one number, one signposted transition, and a closing takeaway. Then take three audience questions from your tutor in a row, without switching to Ukrainian.
6.11
Let's talk — reflection
- Which part felt more comfortable — the talk itself, or the Q&A?
- Did you manage to pause after your key number?
- What's one signposting phrase you'll use next time?
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Section 7 / 8
Cool down
7.1
Now I can...
- Structure a presentation clearly
- Use signposting language
- Describe trends and data confidently
- Handle difficult audience questions
7.2
One more thing before you go
Say your closing takeaway line one final time, with confidence.
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Section 8 / 8
Homework
How to do your homework
- Do the exercises below and press Check in each one. Green = correct. Red shows what was expected.
- Do the writing and speaking tasks and tick them when they are done.
- Write your name and press Copy my result, then send the text to your tutor.
8.1
Words to remember
| to signpost / key takeaway | позначати структуру / ключовий висновок |
| a spike / a plateau | різкий стрибок / період без змін |
| rise / fall / surge / plummet | зростати / падати / різко зростати / різко падати |
| sharply / gradually / steadily | різко / поступово / стабільно |
| a dry run / caveat | репетиція / застереження |
8.2
Fill in the trend verb
Costs ____ sharply after the new contract. (dropped)
8.3
Translate the phrase
переходячи до наступного пункту →
8.4
Write it yourself
Write a 3-point outline for a real presentation you might give, with a signposting phrase for each transition and one closing takeaway line.
8.5
Practise out loud
Deliver your 3-point outline out loud, alone, timing yourself — aim for under 2 minutes.
Tick what you have done
- 8.4 Write it yourself: Write a 3-point outline for a real presentation you might give, with a signposting phrase for eac…
- 8.5 Practise out loud: Deliver your 3-point outline out loud, alone, timing yourself — aim for under 2 minutes.