Ö vii.7. CREATING RAPPORT iii Using a fe simple words and phrases which do not mean very much in themselves will change the whole tone of your presentation and make it less formal and more friendly. ITASK Look at the following extract from a presentation on the advantages of setting up a business in Dubai. Complete the gaps with the phrases you hear. actually(2x) , you see, then, OK (2x), you know, well (2x), as a matter of fact, now, so (2x) 1_______________, over the past four years more than five hundred international companies have __________ set up in Dubai. 2___________ , it´s a rapidly developing market. True, it´s only a small member state of the UAE. But it´s also the gateway to a vast geographic area that´s worth well over a hundred billion dollars in annual imports. 3_____________________, in the last four years Dubai´s imports have more than doubled. And it currently enjoys economic growth of around 6%. 4________, that´s about the same as the USA, Japan and Germany put together. 5 Clearly, ________, Dubai has enormous potential. 6 But what are the immediate benefits?_______, for one thing, it´s a totally tax-free zone. 7_______, no corporation or income tax to worry about. 8 And for another, it´s ___________ an extremely liberal trading nation with no trade barriers, no foreign exchange controls and low or zero import duties,_______? 9 __________ ,________ what about telecommunications and travel? 10___________, Dubai Telecom is state-of-the-art. The country has a first-class infrastructure. And a hundred shipping lines and sixty-five airlines connect it with the outside world. Ö viii.1. USEFUL EXPRESSIONS iv. TASK 1 1 The market situation´s not all bad news. A _____ the most, we´ll have to upgrade the hardware we´ve already got. 2 We enjoy tremendous customer loyalty. B _____ the whole, brand recognition was high in the survey we carried out. 3 We started to run into difficulties last year. C _____ some respects we´ve actually improved our position. 4 We don´t have a product visibility problem. D ____ a direct result, we´ve had three years of sustained growth. 5 Major investment is not necessary. E ___ until then everything was fine. Short phrases (in effect, on the other hand, at a guess) help you to qualify your arguments and organize your presentation better. Learn these by heart, so that you can use them when you need them. TASK 2 1 The company´s worth no more than $75m. A ____ a matter of fact, they´re still on the increase. 2 Interest rates aren´t coming down. B ______ the circumstances, we have no option but to close it down. 3 Productivity is up by over 85%. C _____ any rate, that´s what the banks are saying. 4 The Scottish plant is simply inefficient. D ____ no account should we pay the asking price of a hundred. 5 Growth in Eastern Europe will be slow. E ____ effect, output has almost doubled. TASK 3 1 It´ll take time to win any business in Tokyo. A ______ the face of it, this seems this seems to make sense, but it does mean lay-offs. 2 Profits are not looking good. B ____ a general rule, the Japanese like to get to know you first. 3 Yes, we do need to keep prices down. C ______ any case, they´re more than offset by the gains we´ve made in Italy. 4 Production´s been halted for the time being. D _____ no circumstances, though, should we get ourselves into a price war. 5 Low profits in Spain aren´t a major concern. E ____ best, they might reach 9 million. TASK 4 1 We´ve heard nothing now for over a month. A ____ first glance, they look pretty good, but there are hidden costs. 2 Is a joint venture good idea? B ____ the other hand, turnover is slightly down. 3 On the one hand, sales are up on last year. C ____ other words, it looks like the deal´s off. 4 Here are the prices we´ve been quoted. D ______ the right conditions we should be able to do the same in Germany. 5 We´ve always made money in the UK. E ___ far as we´re concerned, no. Ö IX.5. DEALING WITH QUESTIONS vi When people ask you questions, listen carefully. Avoid the temptation to interrupt. Take a moment to think about and then comment on each question before you actually answer it. ITASK Read and listen to the following presentation extract. Imagine that you are going to give this presentation. You want to be prepared for any question which may come from the audience. Make a list of possible questions and think up what you would say in reply. I think it would be true to say that throughout the late 1970s and early 80s our company was the classic American success story. We started from nothing and we built a billion-dollar business on product innovation. We enjoyed a virtual monopoly. No-one could touch us. We were the defining force in an industry which, for almost fifteen years, we dominated. But by the mid 80s we had begun to lose our way. First, we lost a large slice of our business to Rand Reprographics, the Canadian start-up which grew into a major competitor almost overnight. That came as a shock. And second, we found ourselves facing some very still competition from Japan. It´s an indication of just how much we´d lost touch with the market that we didn´t even realize the sheer scale of the Japanese threat until it was almost too late. In one year, 1989, our earnings were slashed by more than 60%. We´d hit rock-bottom. But 1990 was the year in which a new corporate strategy began to unfold, as we reinvented ourselves to become a total quality company. And over the next three years manufacturing costs were cut in half; supply lines cut back to minimum; product development cycles pushed to the limits. The improvements were modest at first. And nobody expected us to make a full recovery. But, little by little, since 1992 we´ve won back three-quarters of the market share we lost. Suggested Questions and Answers: Q1. You mentioned 1989. Do you have precise profit and loss figures for that year? A1. I´m afraid I don´t have that information with me. Q2. One question. How do we plan to regain market leadership? A2. That´s a very good question. Q3. I´d be interested to know how our improved performance will be reflected in salaries. A3. To be honest, I think that raises a rather different issue. Q4. How, in fact, did we manage to win back business from the Japanese? A4. Well, as I said, by introducing total quality throughout the company. Q5. You talked about quality, but you didn´t talk about product diversification. Why not? A5. I´m afraid I don´t see the connection. Q6. Why do you think we were so slow to respond to the competition in the 80s? A6. A good point. What do you think? Q7. How does our current position compare with the situation in the early 80s? A7. I think I answered that earlier. Q8. What nobody said so far is that the market itself is declining. Doesn´t this offset most of the gains we´ve made? A8. I´m glad you asked. I´ll be dealing with current market trends later. Q9. You´ve said a lot about market share, but you haven´t told us what it´s cost us. We must have eaten into our reserves. A9. I´m afraid I don´t have that information with me. Can I get back to you on that?