Part 3 projecting self-work 2

Visual aids

1. a) Match the visuals with the verbs to describe trends and developments.

				7)		8)
9)		10)		11)
	a) plunge/ slump		b) recover/ pick up		c) grow/ expand		d) peak
	e) remain steady		f) increase/ rise		g) fluctuate		h) bottom out
	i) decrease/ fall		j) stabilize/ level off		k) take off/shift up

b) Put these adjectives in the correct space in the table according to what kind of changes they describe.

substantial	rapid	encouraging	slight
disastrous	enormous	moderate	disappointing
steady

Big	Fast	Good
Small	Slow	Bad

c) It is often better to use approximate numbers in presentations. Put the following words in the correct column in the table.

a little less than	about	almost	approximately
around	just over	just under	nearly
roughly	well over

(less)	+/- (about the same)	+ (more)

2. a) Read the passage and and answer the questions:

1. Why is using visuals in your presentation very important?

2. What clichés does the speaker use in order to present visuals?

3. Is it always enough to talk about increases and decreases while presenting graphs and diagrams?

Visuals are important in any professional presentation. But when you give a presentation in a foreign language, they are even more important. Visual information is highly memorable and reduces the amount of talking you have to do.

Visuals help you to give a lot of information in a short space of time. They snapshot situations, developments, events and processes, which would take a long time to explain in words. Good visuals speak for themselves and require little or no description, but you often need to draw your audience's attention to one or more key points before you discuss them in more detail.

You don't need to know all the names of the different types of visual in order to present them. Simply say: Have a look at this. / Take a look at this. / As you can see, here... and here.... Note, that American English prefers take (take a look, take a shower, take a break). British English prefers have (have a look, have a shower, have a break).

Sometimes it is not enough to talk about increases and decreases. You need also to draw attention to the scale and speed of the change and comment on its significance.

b) Look at the chart. Study the words and word combinations below it. Read the passage and find the clichés used to describe the visual.

block – блок, часть

on the left – слева

on the right – справа

on the top – наверху

at the bottom – внизу

to label – обозначать

the inner loop – внутренний круг (кольцо)

the outer loop – внешний круг (кольцо)

arrow – стрелка

Let’s start with two blocks. The one on the left should be labeled “households”, and the one on the right “firms”. On the top of the inner loop – circle – put “goods and services” with an arrow running from the firms block to the households block. At the bottom of the inner loop put “services of productive factors” with an arrow running from households to firms On the outer loop at the top, put “spending on goods and services”, with an arrow running from households to firms. And finally, at the bottom of the outer loop, put “factor incomes” with an arrow running from firms to households.

c) Translate the passage with a dictionary (in writing).