How to Ready a Business Presentation
（Daphne所属的公司，为 EarthSound 拟定了一份打入台湾市场的行销企划。待众人坐定之后，Daphne带着从容和悦的神情，起身上台开始了这场presentation。）
Good afternoon and thank you for coming today. My name is Daphne Fu, and I'm the Project Manager in Taipei for Jackson&Wang. I'm here today to present our firm's marketing plan, which is designed to introduce EarthSound's products to the wealthy Taiwan market. Our research shows that there are big profits waiting in Taiwan, so we're excited at the opportunities we see for EarthSound. I hope that some of our excitement will rub off on all of you.
I'll start with a few facts and figures about the health and beauty products market in Taiwan. Next, I'll go over the standard types of advertising that have been successful for these products in Taiwan. Finally, I'll analyze current opportunities and give a few recommendations. A booklet of the marketing plan will be handed out after the presentation, and it will give you all the details.
Because we all have tight schedules, I'd like to introduce the first point, the current state of Taiwan's health and beauty market...
句型总结
● 说明简报目的
1. I'm here today to present our firm's marketing plan.
2. My purpose today is to present our firm's marketing plan.
3. My goal for this meeting is to present our firm's marketing plan.
4. The aim of this presentation is to present our firm's marketing plan.
5. The reason why I'm here today is to present our firm's marketing plan.
Presenter一站上讲台，不论下面的听众是否知道今天的主题，都要先介绍presentation的目的，这样不仅可以帮助听众了解下面要讲的内容，也是一个最普遍、正式的开场白。"I am here today to..."就是个非常简洁实用的句型。
● 逐项说明大纲
1. I'll start with... Next,... Finally,...
2. First,... Second,... Third (and last)
3. To begin with... Moving right along,... To close,...
4. I'll open with... Then I'll... And I'll wrap up with...
5. Step one is to... After that we'll... And our final step is to...
说明presentation的目的之后，接下来应该把presentation的大纲按照顺序告诉听众，帮助听众掌握内容的架构。而介绍大纲的关键是要条理分明、次序清楚。例如文中所用的"I'll start with...（一开始是??）Next,...（接下来是??）Finally,...（最后是??）"，就是一个很好的例子。
● 进入正题
1. I'd like to introduce the first point - the current state of Taiwan's health and beauty market.
2. Now I'll go over the first point - the current state of Taiwan's health and beauty market.
3. Now I'll review the first point - the current state of Taiwan's health and beauty market.
4. Now I'm going to consider the first point - the current state of Taiwan's health and beauty market.
5. It's time to discuss the first point - the current state of Taiwan's health and beauty market.
在开始讨论不同的主题之前，还是要把该段内容的重点提一下，这样可以帮助自己和听众有条理地听和说。I'd like to introduce... 是个很普遍的句型，可以清楚的告知观众，就要进入某个主题了。
特别提示
讲台之于演说者有如舞台之于演员。舞台上有些位置会使您成为观众瞩目的焦点；而有些位置却会让观众视而不见。聪明的演说者应学习站在正确的角度上，以适当的位置面对您的观众。
当演讲者做presentation时，讲台放置的位置以中央优于左右两旁，前方（靠近观众）胜于后方，左方又胜过右方。
在presentation时，若是以演讲者为主，则屏幕位置应放置在演讲者的右后侧，这就构成了"人为主，屏幕为辅"的效果。
在presentation时，无论是您的右半边脸较好看，或是左半边脸较迷人，正面整个面对观众是最强势的位置，其次是正面75度角，再而半侧面，背对则最弱
做presentation时，若能提供看得见的数据，再给观众一些具体可及的线索，那么这场presentation就成功一半了。现在，Daphne就准备了一些醒目有力的幻灯片来增强presentation的效果。
I have prepared a short slide presentation to give you a picture of the Taiwanese market. Please direct your attention to the screen behind me while I dim the lights.
The Taipei area, with a population of six million people, is the trendsetter for Taiwan As you can see from these photos of people in the business area, both men and women are very style-conscious. They have an eye for glamour and good looks, and are willing to spend money to get the look they want. This next slide shows the beauty section of a typical drugstore; lots of famous brands from Japan, Europe, and the United States, plus a broad range of domestic brands. Gentlemen, this is without a doubt a competitive market.
Moving on to Taipei's hairstyling salons... hmm, that slide seems to have been placed upside down. I'm sorry for the delay; it will only take a moment to flip the slide... There, that's better. As I was saying...
句型总结
● 请观众注意某处
1. Please direct your attention to the screen behind me.
2. Please focus on the screen behind me.
3. Now let's take a look at the screen behind me.
4. I'd like you to look at the screen behind me.
5. Could you please look at the screen behind me?
在开始放幻灯片或投影片等视听辅助器材之前，必须提醒在场的观众，请他们注意。Please direct your attention to...是个直接又常用的说法。
● 说明幻灯片的内容
1. As you can see from these photos of ... both men and women are style-conscious.
2. These photos of ... Indicate that both men and women are style-conscious.
3. These photos of ... Show that both men and women are style-conscious.
4. These photos of ... Prove that both men and women are style-conscious.
5. These photos of ... Highlight the fact that both men and women are style-conscious.
放幻灯片时，应该同时说明幻灯片的内容，帮助观众了解，但只要间歇说明即可，让观众也有时间自己看。
● 为失误道歉
1. I'm sorry for the delay; it will only take a moment to flip the slide.
2. I apologize for the technical difficulties; it will only take a moment to flip the slide.
3. Please pardon the error; it will only take a moment to flip the slide.
4. I'm sorry for the inconvenience; it will only take a moment to flip the slide.
5. I hope you will excuse the delay; it will only take a moment to flip the slide.
Presentation中使用视听辅助器材时，偶尔会发生些小问题，如果那个问题是在场者都察觉得到的，就应立即大方道歉。
特别提示
您相信“一张图胜于千言万语”吧?!事实上，图片不但和人一样能说话，有时还更具有说服力。因此presentation时如果能适时地佐以适当的视听媒体，必能将说明烘托得更精彩。
演讲者的presentation内容若较着重于文字、重点、标题或草图的交代时，较适合选择以白板作为presentation媒体。
在presentation时，演讲者以投影片作为presentation媒体的优点为可以不关灯，在室内正常光线下展示投影片，但无法投射不透明的图片，而且放映的影像常有变形的现象
一般来说，统计数字可以增加presentation的可信度。Daphne早就准备好以一连串的数字来说服她的观众；她成功的主要因素之一就是能有效地运用各种统计数字与数据。
Most of Taiwan's hair salons are full-service shops that have a regular customer base. Taken as a group, the salons have moderate buying power when it comes to beauty products. The money they spend makes up 13.5% of the total yearly sales for the industry.
And the size of this market? Taiwan's twenty million people spent five-point-four billion U.S. dollars on beauty products last year or two hundred and fifty dollars per capita. Salons accounted for four-hundred million of this total. Breaking the figures down even further, five out of every eight dollars were spent by women. One half of the total was spent by people between the ages of nineteen and thirty-five. The last and most surprising statistic shows that teenagers spend the highest per capita total; at three-hundred twenty-three dollars, this is one-point-three times the total of the young adult market.
Notes:
1. make up 组（合）成；造成
make up这个动词词组有相当多的意思，如“弥补、修护、造成”，在本文中则指“造成”，可以用 compose 或 form 来代换。
Teenagers make up 30% of the market in Taiwan.
青少年占了台湾百分之三十的市场。
2. account for 占（花费的）部分
Account 的意思是“计算”。account for 可以做“解释；说明??的原因”，但在此处引申的意思则是“说明金钱是怎么花的；占花费的多少”，譬如每月开销的一半花在房租上，你就可以说：“Rent accounts for half of monthly expenditures.”
Taiwan accounts for 12% of all sales in Asia.
台湾占了整个亚洲地区销售额的百分之十二。
3. breaking (the figures) down 分析；分类
当你将一大堆数字分成小部分来分析，就是将它们break down -“分析；分类”。譬如把生活费区分为食、衣、住、行、医药费等，就是break down the figures on living expenses into food, shelter, education, medical bills, etc.。这个词组也可以用来指“毁损”、“故障”。另外，figures通指经统计、计算而得到的数字。
After breaking the figures down, we found that the company wasn't in such poor financial shape.
分析这些数据之后，我们发现这家公司的财务状况并没那么糟。
句型总结
● 庞大数目的说法
1. 100 百 hundred
2. 1,000 千 thousand
3. 10,000 万 ten thousand
4. 100,000 十万 hundred thousand
5. 1,000,000 百万 million
6. 10,000,000 千万 ten million
7. 100,000,000 亿 hundred million
8. 1,000,000,000 十亿 billion
9. 10,000,000,000 百亿 ten billion
10. 100,000,000,000 千亿 hundred billion
11. 1,000,000,000,000 兆 trillion
12. 1,800 - Eighteen-hundred
13. 90,000 - Ninety thousand
14. 200,000 - Two-hundred thousand
15. 85,600,000 - Eight-five-point-six million
16. 7,000,400,000,000 - Steven-trillion four-hundred million
用英文说庞大的数字时，为避免绕口，有两个简便的办法。第一，当详细数目字不是那么重要时，可使用整数来表达，譬如：two million ninety-three thousand and two（二百零九万三千零二）可以 two million 代替，把零头删除不说。另一种方式是以最大的单位做基准，用小数点的方式来表达，譬如把 five-billion four-hundred million（五十四亿）说成 five-point-four billion，这样的表达方式比较简洁。另外请您注意：billion，美语用法是指“十亿”，而英式英语则为“兆”；trillion，在美语中为“兆”，而英式用法为百万的立方，即为“十万兆”。
● 小数点和百分比
1. 0.32 - O-point-three-two
2. 0.7% -Zero-point-seven percent
3. 89% - Eighty-nine percent
4. 300% - Three-hundred percent
表达数据时，可尽量采用小数点 (decimals) 和百分比 (percentages)，听者比较容易掌握。前面提过可以用 point 这个词来简化庞大的数目。但需注意的是，小于1的数目应该在 point 之前加上 zero（零），譬如0.90念成 zero-point-nine；若大于1，就直接读出该数字，然后接 point，例如 two-point-three (2.3)。百分比则大都用来表示比例关系，而且通常只有二位数，所以听者易记易懂。譬如 thirteen-point-five percent (13.5%)，书写时数字后一定要加 % 这个符号。
● 分数和比率
1. 5/8 - Five eights
2. 1/6 - A sixth
3. 2/3 - Two thirds
4. 4:5 - Four in five
5. 9:10 - nine out of ten
6. 10:1 - ten to one
7. 1000:1 - a thousand to one
分数和比率的用法在强调数据的对比时相当重要。用英文来表示分数时：分子以数目读出，分母则以序数读出；分子若大于1，分母则须加 s，例如：1/2念成 one second或 one-half，2/3念成 two-thirds，3/4则念成 three-quarters。复杂的分数通常可用关键词 over来表达，如 123/456 要读成：a (one)hundred twenty-three over four hundred fifty-six。谈到比率时，若是要表达"某个数目之中的多少个"，有两种表达方式：out of和in，譬如presentation中的five out of eight (5：8)，或 one in three (1：3)。而若单纯强调"几比几"，则经常用 to。
特别提示
投影片 (overhead transparencies) 虽是最常使用的视听媒体之一，但是一些制作上的基本原则未必人人懂得，因此不合标准的投影片处处可见。不良或字体过小的投影片，彷佛对台下观众实施酷刑；或因为信息过多，使人抓不住重点。以下提供一些投影片制作上的基本原则。
投影片宜采用横式，勿用直放的格式。这是由于投影机放映台的尺寸，使得直式投影片有截头去尾之虞。
一张投影片，尽量表达一个概念，图样尽量不要超过三个。
运用关键词或标题作提示。整体的文字越短越好，谨记KISS的原则（Keep it simply simple.--简洁扼要），一张投影片勿多过6行字，若为英文则每行不应超过6个词。
投影片投射在屏幕上的文字不宜太小，视与台下观众的距离而定
图表就像是“数字地图”，可以让看的人一目了然。成功的演说者应该就这些数字、图表加以诠释，让听众即刻掌握这些数字之间的关系。
The statistics I've just given show that Taiwan is definitely a youth-oriented market, and will remain so for another ten years. The companies that successfully target this segment have higher sales and larger market shares year in and year out. I've prepared a few diagrams showing which companies dominate the market, and the types of advertising they use to keep their sales.
This bar chart shows the top four companies and their market shares: the American Jonny&Jammy Company leads the pack with 29%, followed by the domestic firm, V08, at 21%. The Japanese MARUMI is next with 17%, and the French company, La-Rose, is last with 12%. The next chart, a pie graph, shows a breakdown of their advertising: the largest wedge at 62% represents TV commercials; a quarter of their budget goes to magazine and newspaper ads, and the remainder is for purchasing advertising and posters placed in shops where their products are sold.
句型总结
● 图表的说法与用途
1. What we have here is a bar chart showing...
2. Our monthly sales are shown on this X/Y graph.
3. These three pie graphs each present...
4. The next diagram illustrates...
基本的图表通常有chart、graph 和 diagram。这三个词在意义上原本有细微的差异，但现已互相通用了。图表的种类有很多，最常使用的几种是 bar chart条形图，line chart曲线图（又称 X/Y graph，X/Y坐标图），以及 pie graph圆形百分比图。条形图使人容易看出单一方面的数目，譬如业绩；圆形百分比图则可以看出每一方面占整体的比率。X/Y坐标图能让人清楚地看出两个因素之间的关系，譬如"每月"的"业绩"。每提到一个图表时，要先说出该图表
的种类或名称。
● 指出图表某部份
1. The longest bar is...
2. This group of thin wedges shows...
3. The lowest point on the graph is…
解释图表内容时，将每个部份所代表的数字或比率说出来即可。但解释百分比图时，也可加入每个项目彼此或与整体之间的关系，譬如 the largest（最多的??）及 the remainder（其余的??）。另外，在圆形百分比图中的每一部分都可以称为 wedge（扇形）或 slice（片），如 "the smallest wedge / slice shows..."。至于X/Y坐标图就比较复杂，并行线称为 X axis（X轴），垂直线称为 Y axis（Y轴），图上的任何 (X，Y)坐标都是一个 point（一点）。通常要指出曲线上某一点时，最好能明确地指出来，不然就要把X与Y轴所代表的事物明白讲清楚。
● 说明图表的意义
1. This bar chart shows the growth in our sales.
2. Here is a graph showing the growth in our sales.
3. Each bar on the chart represents the growth in our sales.
4. The wedges on this pie graph illustrate the growth in our sales.
5. This diagram focuses on the growth in our sales.
说明图表的意义要简单明了，一句话就能让听众明白。例如文中提到条形图时，立刻表明这张图分别代表the top four companies 和 their market shares（这些称为图表的 factor(s)）；而看到圆形百分比图时，就表示这张图 "shows a breakdown of their advertising..."。注意，表示整个图所代表的意义用动词 show，而表示图中各部分的要用 represent
Daphne提供观众所需的背景数据后，便进入presentation的核心阶段。她必须以专业者的眼光指出天籁在美国成功的销售经验与在台湾所需的行销企划之间所存在的重要差异。
I know EarthSound has used all of these advertising methods successfully in the United States, and you may feel that what works in the States will work in Taiwan. This is definitely not the case. There are important differences between EarthSound's advertising and the advertising of successful companies in Taiwan.
EarthSound's slogan is, "EarthSound - the healthy alternative for you and the environment," while V08's slogan is, "Thank you, V08, for making me beautiful." Why the difference? My calculations show that 85% of the American public believes they can do something to help the environment,
but only 30% of Taiwan's people feel the same. America's politicians and its media have made people aware of this issue. This has created a market for EarthSound's products. If Taiwan's politicians and media would do the same, then the people of Taiwan would be ready for EarthSound's advertising. This hasn't happened yet.
Notes:
1. (be) aware of 注意；察觉；意识到
aware是个形容词，原意为“知道、晓得”，与of一起使用。be aware of的意思是指感觉到或注意到某一种情况或气氛。同义的词组有become aware of。
We should be aware of the financial risks before committing ourselves.
我们承诺之前应先注意财务上的风险。
2. be ready for... 准备好的；可以（做??）了
ready是形容词，意思为“准备好的”。be ready for即“有准备要做??”，引申有“对??是适合的”之意。presentation中，Daphne认为台湾人的环保意识还不够普遍，故 not ready for accepting（还不能接受）天籁的广告词。
We should be ready for strong competition when we move into the Taiwan market.
开拓台湾市场时，我们应该做好迎接激烈竞争的准备。
3. work 有效；成功；达到目的
work 一般的意思是“工作”（动词；名词）；在这里是个口语用法，“有效；发挥功能”的意思，例如它在文中就是用来描述美国的广告词若原封不动搬到台湾就没办法“产生效果”。要注意的是，“work”用做“有效”的意思时，其主词一定是某事、物或某个办法，而不是人。
If your training program works in Hong Kong, it will work in Singapore.
你们的训练课程如果在香港适用，在新加坡也会适用的。
句型总结
● 比较差异
1. There are important differences between (A) and (B).
2. There are great distinctions between (A) and (B).
3. There are obvious contrasts between (A) and (B).
4. We can see discrepancies between (A) and (B).
5. We find great differences between (A) and (B).
presentation中要做一些比较时，最好提醒观众的注意，例如先说“There are important differences between...and...，??（之间）有很大的不同”，然后再说出不同之处。这个句型可以直接指出某两项事物有极大的差异；differences，“差别”在此为复数，表示有多项不同点，并以 important 来形容，有强调差异性的作用；介词 between 之后加相比较的事物，并注意要用 and 来连结这两者。如果差异并不复杂，你甚至可以接着把它们列出来。
● 提出因果关系
1. If (the cause), then (the effect)
2. When (the cause) happens, (the effect) happens
3. When we do (the cause), (the effect) occurs
4. (The cause) caused (the effect)
5. (Effects) were all due to (the cause)
有果必有因，presentation中尤其要说明结果的来由，以服众人。“If..., then...”就是经常用来说明因果的句子。If 后面接表示原因的句子，then 后面接表示结果的句子。通常都是先说明原因再提到结果，这样比较合乎逻辑又易懂。但有时候为了强调，也可以先列出一连串的结果再说明造成的原因