Episode 0286

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we have the continuation of our series about giving a presentation.

That's right. Today it's part six and on this occasion we're going to address the audience. So we're going to talk to the audience and and explain a couple of things.

All right, so let's take a listen to today's speech and we'll be back in a moment to talk about what's going on.

We have spent two years listening to and responding to feedback from customers and staff alike.

On the subject of the campaign, let me ask you all a question. How do we define the perfect laptop?

Is it about affordability, quality, speed, reliability?

What do you look for in a consumer? Well, I believe the answer lies in a combination of all of these elements.

With our television campaign, we hope to really reach out to a huge audience.

We've hired one of the best PR companies to work with us on the campaign and have already completed three separate TV adverts, all focusing on one key feature of the X420.

All right, we're back and now let's take a look at five keywords on Language Takeaway.

All right, so first up, Marco, we have a verb. The verb is to devise.

That's right. So we devised a campaign.

Okay, so to devise in this case means to create or to come up with.

That's right. I think in many movies you will hear that someone will devise a plan to destroy the world, for example.

Right, or to devise a scheme.

So that's to create or to come up with a plan or come up with something.

And uh talking about the computers, he mentioned a couple of words that describe it, especially the affordability of the laptop.

Okay, so yeah, there's this string of nouns that uh Mr. Ford thinks are very important relating to the perfect laptop.

And in this case, affordability is the first one. So something that is affordable is something that you can have the money to buy. It's not too expensive.

Let's the adjective affordable. Affordability means whether or not something is expensive.

That's right. So if you think of the if you think of the adjective affordable, the noun would be affordability. So this is just the way that you can transform an adjective into a noun.

Right, so this is something that comes up a lot when we're talking about buying things. For example, Marco, I could say, what do you look for when you're buying a car?

Right, so I can say affordability.

And you could also say our next one, which is reliability.

That's right. So if you look for a car, you are also looking for reliability. And this comes from the adjective reliable.

All right, so something is reliable if you can depend on it. It means, you know, in the case of a laptop or a car, it won't break easily.

That's right. So a person can also be reliable. You can trust that person to help you, for example.

Or I could trust that he'll never be late or never forgets that we have an appointment.

That's exactly right.

Well, moving on to the next part of uh Mr. Ford's speech, he talked about uh the television campaign and how he really hopes to reach out to a huge audience with this television advert.

All right, so the reason we've chosen this is because it's important to remember this as a phrase, to reach out to. Uh that means to connect with.

And I think your example of television is a really great one because television allows people to reach out to many, many, many people.

That's right. Also, for example, with internet, you are able to reach out to many people all over the world.

So to reach out to is to connect with.

Okay. And for our last word, when he was about to show everyone the TV advert, he said that tonight for the first time we will unveil the first of these advertisements.

All right, so to unveil something is actually very exciting because to unveil something is to show it for the very first time.

That's right. So maybe you've seen in car shows where they have a car under a big white sheet and on that night they're going to unveil the new model of the I don't know, the Ford car. So that's what it means to unveil, to take away this veil and show everyone.

To unveil.

All right, so a lot of good keywords there. Why don't we go back and listen to Mr. Ford again, and when we return, we'll talk about fluency builder.

We have spent two years listening to and responding to feedback from customers and staff alike.

On the subject of the campaign, let me ask you all a question. How do we define the perfect laptop?

Is it about affordability, quality, speed, reliability?

What do you look for in a consumer? Well, I believe the answer lies in a combination of all of these elements.

With our television campaign, we hope to really reach out to a huge audience.

We've hired one of the best PR companies to work with us on the campaign and have already completed three separate TV adverts, all focusing on one key feature of the X420.

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at these four key phrases we've picked out for you today.

So in the beginning, Mr. Ford is talking about this exciting X420 and he says that, you know, he would like to say that without the help of each and every one of you, the campaign could not have been created.

So each and every one of you.

That's right. This is just a phrase where you emphasize that everyone helped you or that you are thanking everyone.

So in a speech you can say, I want to thank each and every one of you. So I want to thank everyone is basically what you're saying.

And it's it's interesting because it's kind of like you're saying every single person was important.

It's not just like, hey guys, thank you. It's like, no, thank you, and you, and you, and you. So each and every one of you, it really emphasizes that each person has helped.

That's right. And it's a really nice way of, for example, thanking someone, saying, I want to thank each and every one of you, it sounds a lot more personal.

Definitely.

Okay, and uh he also used another very interesting phrase uh when he said, I'd like to take my hat off and really thank you all for your wonderful work.

So this makes me think of a a person actually back when people used to wear hats every day, taking his hat off uh and maybe bowing. This is this is something that used to be very polite because, you know, when you meet someone or you want to thank someone, you take your hat off as a sign of respect.

Well, we don't wear hats anymore, so it seems a little funny, but we still say this, I want to take my hat off to you, Marco. That means I want to thank you.

That's right. So you're showing respect and you're also showing admiration maybe for someone. So maybe if you meet somebody who saved someone's life, you would say, I really want to take my hat off and thank you for the work that you've done.

Yes, you're impressed. You respect that person who saved that life and uh you want to thank them for their good deed.

That's right. Well, moving on when uh he continued to talk about Alpha computers and the marketing efforts, he said, there's no doubt in my mind that we have a great workforce.

All right, so another way to say this is, I definitely think we have a great workforce. But you know, maybe not it's not as interesting, right?

So we're we're making this more interesting by using a very colorful phrase and to say there's no doubt that you're a great workforce is good.

But there's no doubt in my mind means there's there's absolutely no way that I could doubt this. I absolutely believe that you are the best workforce.

Right. So and you can use it with anything. You can say there's no doubt in my mind, uh IBM computers are the best computers out there, for example.

Or there's no doubt in my mind that the Yankees will win the World Series next year.

That's right. Okay. So that's the way that you can use it. You're basically telling people that you are very, very sure.

And uh what about our last phrase, a very interesting one when he says, our campaign will really hammer home the point.

Okay, well you can make a point, you can say, listen, uh our computers are state-of-the-art and they're the best for your needs.

But to hammer home the point means to really emphasize this one important point and to say, listen, you will never forget this. Okay, you will not forget what I'm going to say to you.

So you really emphasize it and re-state it. Um this is something that can be frustrating when you're a consumer, when you're watching an advertisement because you hear them say, this is the best product. You shouldn't buy other products. This is the best product and they're hammering home the point, they're repeating this message.

That's right. So it's a colloquial phrase that you can use to really again, put your point across.

Okay. So a lot of interesting phrases there. Why don't we take a break and let's listen to our dialogue again, and we'll be back in a bit.

We have spent two years listening to and responding to feedback from customers and staff alike.

On the subject of the campaign, let me ask you all a question. How do we define the perfect laptop?

Is it about affordability, quality, speed, reliability?

What do you look for in a consumer? Well, I believe the answer lies in a combination of all of these elements.

With our television campaign, we hope to really reach out to a huge audience.

We've hired one of the best PR companies to work with us on the campaign and have already completed three separate TV adverts, all focusing on one key feature of the X420.

All right, so this was part six of our presentation series. We still have four more lessons to go all about this and they're going to get a little bit more complicated and we're going to continue talking.

And uh the next couple of lessons are actually answering questions from the public and um many things like this.

Yeah, I think they're really useful because sometimes you prepare your presentation, you feel really good about it, but those questions at the end can be scary because you don't really know how to answer a question properly in English, or you don't know how to anticipate a question that you might get from the crowd.

So those are things that we would like to talk about in the next couple of episodes.

That's right. And remember that these phrases and and how you see him presenting this laptop computer, you can still take a lot of the words, a lot of the vocal, a lot of the phrases and kind of put it into your speech or your presentation, you're gonna sound great.

Absolutely.

All right, bye.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Existing, happening, or available in a store.

In store.

To emphasize a point.

Hammer home.

To show or reveal.

Unveil.

A more forceful way of saying each.

Each and every.

Let's try that faster.

Existing, happening, or available in a store.

In store.

To show or reveal.

Unveil.

To emphasize a point.

Hammer home.

A more forceful way of saying each.

Each and every.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

In store.

In store.

In store.

When Mary comes to work Monday, we will have a real surprise in store for her.

Hammer home.

I like to use real-life examples in my speeches as they really hammer home the point I'm trying to make.

Hammer home.

He used striking photographs to hammer home the tragedy caused by the earthquake.

Hammer home.

Khrushchev once famously hammered home his point by beating the table with his shoe.

Hammer home.

We installed a state of the art production line in our new factory.

Hammer home.

You think my baseball shoes are ugly, but they're state of the art.

Hammer home.

Today's state of the art technology will be out of date next year.

Each and every.

That's a serious mistake. Now we will have to go back and check each and every piece for flaws.

Each and every.

Each and every one of you has a vital role to play in this organization.

Each and every.

I want to personally invite each and every member of our audience this evening to join us for the opening ceremony next week.

Unveil.

Unveil.

Next year's company strategy will be unveiled this evening.

Unveil.