BEP 129 ADV – Presentations: Pitching an Idea

This is the first in a three-part Business English Podcast series on pitching, or presenting, your ideas persuasively² and convincingly.

Business people often come up with ideas about how to do things better, or how something can be changed to provide greater cost benefits to the company. Being able to present an idea to your peers and persuade them to support your proposal is a crucial skill for all business managers.

So in today’s lesson, we’ll introduce phrases for organizing and structuring your ideas, supporting your points and using other people’s comments to lead into the next part of your presentation. We will show you how to make coherent, persuasive¹ arguments, and use language effectively to support your arguments. It is your colleagues’ task to find the weak points in your argument and you will have to predict their objections and deal with them before or when they come up.

We’ll be listening to Jill, a manager at an industrial supply company, who’s meeting with other managers and department heads following an announcement of 20% staff cuts across the board. Jill is concerned about the impact these layoffs³ will have on the sales department, especially because sales have been poor for the last two quarters.

Jill has had an idea about how the company can make use of the Internet to increase sales and allow sales staff to focus more on “value-added” product sales. She has already pitched the idea to her boss and he has agreed to allow her to present it to her colleagues. As the dialog starts, Jill’s boss introduces her and her proposal to the participants at the meeting.

Listening Questions:
1) What is the problem that Pylon⁴ was having even before the staff cuts?
2) What are the “value-add” products Jill would like sales staff to focus on?
3) What does Jill say can be done with $5,000?

1 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。

2 persuasively   

adv.口才好地；令人信服地

参考例句：

• Students find that all historians argue reasonably and persuasively. 学生们发现所有的历史学家都争论得有条有理，并且很有说服力。 来自辞典例句
• He spoke a very persuasively but I smelled a rat and refused his offer. 他说得头头是道，但我觉得有些可疑，于是拒绝了他的建议。 来自辞典例句

3 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

4 pylon   

n.高压电线架，桥塔

参考例句：

• A lineman is trying to repair the damaged pylon.线务员正试图修理被损坏的电缆塔。
• Erection of the pylon required a crane of 1000 ton capacity.塔架安装需用起重量达1000吨的吊机。