商务英语·流利说文本笔记-Level4 Unit 1 Part 1
Part 1
Vocabulary
Creating a PPT
To brainstorm
To brainstorm means to discuss ideas or ways to solve a problem.
Before you create a PowerPoint you should brainstorm its main points.
You can ask yourself some questions like:
What are the main points that I want to present?
What information will my audience be interested to know?
We brainstormed some ideas to make our presentation more engaging.
They brainstormed their ideas and wrote them on a whiteboard.
To outline
To outline somethings means to roughly plan out the points or parts of it.
Once you brainstorm some ideas, you can outline your PowerPoint.
This will help you structure your presentation.
After outlining his PowerPoint, he decided to start his talk by introducing his company.
According to the outline of his PowerPoint, he will analyze possible threats at the end.
He outlined his PowerPoint in great detail.
She outlined five steps of the business strategy in her PowerPoint.
To structure
To structure something means to organize or arrange it in a particular way.
After you've outlined your PowerPoint, you need to structure it.
Structuring your PowerPoint allows you to list your main points clearly and logically.
He restructured his PowerPoint and deleted some unnecessary slides.
You need to structure your PowerPoint to connect your main points.
To design
To design something means to decide how it will look.
After you have structured your PowerPoint, you can begin to design it.
When designing a PowerPoint, you should consider its layout, visuals, and font.
People download PowerPoint templates when they design their slides.
The PowerPoint template is designed by a freelance designer.
To revise
To revise something means to change something to improve it.
Once you have finished your PowerPoint, you may want to revise it.
You may be able to make it even better before you present it.
He's almost finished his PowerPoint, but he still has a few slides to revise.
He made some minor revisions to his PowerPoint.
PPT Terms
Slide
A slide is a page in a PPT presentation.
If you have too much text on a slide, your audience can get bored.
So you should keep your slides simple with a few bullet points and images.
Layout
A layout is the way a PPT slide is designed or arranged.
In a layout, the font, color, and text size should be consistent.
Having a clear layout makes a PPT easy to understand.
Template
A PPT template is a model for creating a PPT.
It usually contains layouts and background designs.
Saving good PPTs as templates allows you to use them again.
Presenter notes
Presenter notes is a section below the main slide in a PPT.
If you have extra information you want to use, you can put it in the notes.
Design Principles
A good PPT should include not only text, but visuals as well.
Visuals in a PPT include images, graphs, animations and So on.
Without visuals, your audience may find your PPT boring.
Remember to make each slide in your PPT simple and clear.
The less you have on each slide, the more your audience can focus on what you're saying.
The focus of a presentation should be on the speaker, not the PPT.
So treat your PPT as a visual aid.
Think about how it can support and clarify your main points.
In a presentation, the structure of your argument should be logical.
There should be a clear connection between your points.
Design Tips
A visual theme shows the style or design of your PPT.
Having a consistent visual theme makes your PPT look professional.
High-quality graphics are clear and can be enlarged without becoming blurry.
When a PPT needs to be projected on a large screen, it should use high-quality images.
In a PPT, the color of the text should complement the color of the slide.
Not enough contrast between colors makes the text difficult to read.
But if your colors contrast too much, they can be unpleasant to look at.
A chart is a visual display of information.
It shows information or data as a graph or table.
If you have to include a large amount of information in your PPT, you should use a chart.
Dialogue
Perfecting the PPT
W1: Hey, Any. I've got a favor to ask.
W2: Sure Olivia, what is it?
W1: I'm giving a presentation next week, but my PPT looks horrible. If you could give me some advice, I will be so grateful.
W2: Sure, actually I wanna take a break now, let's take a look together.
W1: So, how does my PPT look?
W2: Well. It looks a bit messy, you should keep it simple and consistent. The simpler your PPT looks the easier it is to understand.
W1: Yeah. There's too much text on my slides.
W2: Right. If you only have a few key phrases in bullet points, it will engage the audience more.
W1: But it's hard for me to remember all my points.
W2: Then you'll have to be familiar with what you present in practice. Besides, try to use more images and graphics. They help support your points, and make your PPT more interesting.
W1: Emmm… Yeah, a picture is worth 1000 words.
W2: Exactly, you also need to have a clear style throughout your PPT, look at the difference between these slides.
W1: Emmm...Yeah, the amount of text on each slide changes a lot, and the size of the text is also different.
W2: Yeah, it's very important to keep your PPT consistent. Your presentation needs more structure.
W1: What do you mean? I've divided my presentation into several parts.
W2: But it's hard to figure out a logical connection between them.
W1: Do you have any suggestions?
W2: Well, before making a PPT you should outline your presentation, this means deciding your main points, and considering how they will flow together. Your audience needs to see where you're going.
W1: Wow, it seems I've got a lot of work to do, I should have paid more attention at the first time.
W2: Seriously, don't stress about it. The important thing is that now you know enough to make it better.
W1: Thanks so much Any. You're a life saver.