Episode 0295

This is part nine of 10. So this is near the end, but we've got a lot of really great words and phrases for discussing what you've talked about in the last, I don't know, 10 minutes or so. It's the summary of your speech and so that's what we're going to talk about today.

That's right. So let's take a look at what Mr. Ford is saying in his summary and we'll be back in a bit.

Right, everyone. I apologize that I can't show you the marketing campaign today, but next week you will all have the opportunity to see it for yourselves. And I have no doubt that you will be impressed.

Let me wrap up the presentation by summarizing my key points. As I mentioned at the outset, 2010 represents a key year for Alpha Computers.

If we are to succeed in this ultra competitive field, then we really need to push forward and offer our customers products that meet their needs on all levels.

Alpha Computers is dedicated to innovation and improvement. I really see no limit in our potential as long as we stick to the principles I stressed earlier: quality, excellence and service.

Before we move on to the Q&A section, I'd really like to leave you with a quote that really sums up everything that we've discussed today. And hopefully it will provide you with the same inspiration that it gives me.

As the great Henry Ford once said, 'Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.' Well, in fact our customers are looking. They're looking for us to lead the way and to give them the quality that our competitors cannot.

We cannot let them down.

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at some language on language takeaway.

So Marco, at the very beginning of today's monologue, we have a phrase that basically means the same thing as summarize. What was that phrase?

That's right. At the last sentence of the first paragraph, we see Mr. Ford say, 'Let me wrap up the presentation by summarizing my key points.' So, the phrase there is 'wrap up'.

It means to conclude, to finish, to end. This is the very end of his speech and so to wrap something up means to finish it.

That's right. So maybe if you're giving a speech and someone is telling you to wrap it up quickly.

That means stop.

That's right.

Please find an ending point.

Mhm, okay.

So, wrap it up. Let's go. Come on.

That's right. So, he's wrapping it up by summarizing what he has talked about. And so he goes back to the very beginning and he says, 'As I mentioned at the outset'.

Okay, the outset is a noun, it's a time and it means the beginning. So, you might remember in parts one or two of this speech that he was talking about why 2010 is an important year for their company. And so this is the outset, this is the beginning. You can also say, you know, at the outset things looked bad, but it turns out that they went well.

Okay, so outset means beginning, the, the start of something. Mhm, okay. And he also talked about how the computer industry demand is booming.

All right, so booming is an interesting word because boom, the noun means boom, a sound. Right, it's a sound that you hear when there's a storm. But booming means doing very well. That means that in this case demand is booming. There is a lot of demand.

That's right. So, uh, when you hear people say business is booming.

Okay. So, uh, it basically means that it's doing very well, that it's growing quickly and rapidly.

So he went on to talk about the X420 and uh how the company has plans to keep expanding and keep coming out with ever more revolutionary and impressive products.

Okay, so something is revolutionary if it changes a situation, okay? Because revolution basically means change, but but not a small change, a really big change. And so a product is revolutionary if it introduces something really new, really exciting.

Okay, so an example of a revolutionary product was the home computer.

Exactly, because the home computer changed the way people, uh, typed and communicated and and did all these different things. And so it's revolutionary because it introduced a big change.

That's right. Okay, so revolutionary. Towards the end of Mr. Ford's dialogue, he said that they're going to have a Q&A section, and he left us with a quote that according to him, sums up everything we've discussed today.

Okay, to sum up. This is very related to the word to summarize. It means to, uh, to say in fewer words. Okay, so this quote says what he wants to say, but it says it in a very short space.

So, if we read a book and I ask you to sum up the story, this is basically I'm asking for a summary.

That's right. So I could say, you know, the Harry Potter story is a story about a young boy who is a wizard, who loses his parents, who goes to school with his friends and learns about his powers.

All right.

So that's about it for language takeaway today, but we have some great phrases coming up for you in Fluency Builder. Let's listen to the dialogue again first and we'll be back in a moment.

Right, everyone. I apologize that I can't show you the marketing campaign today, but next week you will all have the opportunity to see it for yourselves. And I have no doubt that you will be impressed.

Let me wrap up the presentation by summarizing my key points. As I mentioned at the outset, 2010 represents a key year for Alpha Computers.

If we are to succeed in this ultra competitive field, then we really need to push forward and offer our customers products that meet their needs on all levels.

Alpha Computers is dedicated to innovation and improvement. I really see no limit in our potential as long as we stick to the principles I stressed earlier: quality, excellence and service.

Before we move on to the Q&A section, I'd really like to leave you with a quote that really sums up everything that we've discussed today. And hopefully it will provide you with the same inspiration that it gives me.

As the great Henry Ford once said, 'Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.' Well, in fact our customers are looking. They're looking for us to lead the way and to give them the quality that our competitors cannot.

We cannot let them down.

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at four key phrases on Fluency Builder.

So the first phrase we've got here in Fluency Builder is an interesting one and I think it's important to point out because we've got a verb and a noun that often go together. Mr. Ford said, 'This kind of computer can really satisfy those needs' that users, that customers have.

That's right. So the phrase there is 'to satisfy a need'. And as you said, this verb and this noun usually go together. You want to satisfy your customer's needs.

All right, so what do I need? I need a good computer that is fast, that I can do my business on. And this computer, the X420, satisfies that need. It does what I need it to do.

Okay, so we understand the verb to satisfy. And but the phrase is a very powerful phrase, uh, especially if you use it in business where you're saying, 'we are giving, we are giving our customers what they need and we are making them happy.'

Exactly.

Okay. As he continued talking about the X420, he said, 'this is just the beginning.'

All right, so this is something we often say when uh we have a long project or plan. You can say, you know, 'yes, things are good now, but this is just the beginning.' All right, there are many good things to come. And this is something we often say in a positive way. You know, 'yes, this is good, but expect better things in the future.'

Very good. Okay, so this is just the beginning. And uh, well, as he continued talking about the company, he said that the, the customers are looking for us to lead the way.

Okay, so this is an interesting phrase because he's making a comparison with other companies and he's saying, 'listen, our customers have many needs, but uh they want us to really uh be ahead of them and to, to innovate and to make new things and new computers, um, that will be ahead of the competition.' So take the lead, be in the front.

Mhm. So basically the phrase 'to lead the way' is for you to be in the front and and give people a clear path.

Think of Usain Bolt, that runner, uh, in the Olympics. Everyone's running quickly, but all of a sudden he takes the lead, he leads the way. He is ahead of everyone else. All the other runners are far, far behind him.

That's right. Okay, so he's leading the way. And he finishes his monologue by saying, 'we cannot let them down.' We cannot let our customers down basically. So the phrase here is 'to let someone down'.

Okay, so that means, I disappointed you because I forgot your birthday. So to let someone down is to disappoint them, to not uh, to not do what you were expected to do.

Exactly. And so a company can do this. For example, when a company like Toyota makes a car that has many problems, that company lets down its customers.

Mhm. So you can let someone down. Basically, you have to have the subject, you let someone down or it, the company let down its customers.

Exactly.

A lot of great stuff here. Why don't we take one last listen and we'll be back in a bit.

Right, everyone. I apologize that I can't show you the marketing campaign today, but next week you will all have the opportunity to see it for yourselves. And I have no doubt that you will be impressed.

Let me wrap up the presentation by summarizing my key points. As I mentioned at the outset, 2010 represents a key year for Alpha Computers.

If we are to succeed in this ultra competitive field, then we really need to push forward and offer our customers products that meet their needs on all levels.

Alpha Computers is dedicated to innovation and improvement. I really see no limit in our potential as long as we stick to the principles I stressed earlier: quality, excellence and service.

Before we move on to the Q&A section, I'd really like to leave you with a quote that really sums up everything that we've discussed today. And hopefully it will provide you with the same inspiration that it gives me.

As the great Henry Ford once said, 'Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.' Well, in fact our customers are looking. They're looking for us to lead the way and to give them the quality that our competitors cannot.

We cannot let them down.

All right, guys. So this is the penultimate lesson about presentation skills. As you saw, we are summarizing and concluding the, the presentation and there're actually a lot of great things here to learn from, especially the vocab where you're saying, okay, let to sum things up, to wrap it up, to conclude, to to summarize.

Summarize the key points. Yeah.

But uh there are also some important things coming up next week. That's the very, very last part of this series because usually after a presentation there is a section for questions and answers. That's called Q&A and that's the topic of our next show. So you guys should stay tuned for that.

All right, so we'll see you guys next time and of course, if you have any questions or comments, you will always find us at EnglishPod.com.

The English audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Cause someone to feel admiration.

Impress.

To finish or end.

Wrap up.

To grow or expand suddenly.

Boom.

To tell information again using fewer words.

Sum up.

At the beginning of something.

At the outset.

Let's try that faster.

To finish or end.

Wrap up.

At the beginning of something.

At the outset.

To grow or expand suddenly.

Boom.

To tell information again using fewer words.

Sum up.

Cause someone to feel admiration.

Impress.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Impress.

He's trying really hard to impress her, but she doesn't seem to notice.

Impress.

She was really impressed with the progress we had made while she was gone.

Impress.

I think you will be impressed by the developments in our company.

Wrap up.

Let me wrap up my work before we go out to dinner.

Wrap up.

Well, that just about wraps it up. Any questions?

Wrap up.

He wrapped up the discussion with a Q&A session.

At the outset.

At the outset.

At the outset.

She made her intentions known at the outset, so there wouldn't be any misunderstanding.

Boom.

Even though we are going through hard financial times, some businesses are booming.

Boom.

Boom.

Sum up.

Let's sum up the key points we've agreed on so far.

Sum up.

I think this poem accurately sums up my feelings.

Sum up.

I didn't get to watch the news this morning. Can you sum up the top stories for me?

The English audio review.