Presentation skills Practise 10 systematic steps

Step 1: Channel your nervousness

Acquire confidence and look in control - even if you don't feel it.

Learn presentation warm-ups to redirect your anxiety.

Step 2: Define your objective

Use organizing formats to put together the information for your presentation.

Practice using the 10 formats in the seminar.

Make formats for your unique presentations.

Step 3: Organize everything

Create notes you can read.

Take out the "specialist" words that no one else can understand.

Use handouts with skill and effectiveness.

Step 4: Create and use effective visuals

Use a set of focused questions to insure your graphics are appropriate, interesting and readable.

Look at the "whole" visual presentation.

Step 5: Energize yourself

Influence others with your enthusiasm regardless of your mood or the time of day.

Learn how to use your voice and gestures effectively.

Step 6: Motivate your listeners

Use methods appropriate to your listeners: visual, auditory, and/or kinesthetic.

Keep a non-technical audience interested in your technical talk.

Step 7: Conclude with conviction

Conclude in a style that make your listeners wish you would continue.

Practice saving some energy for the end of your talk.

Step 8: Manage questions and objections

Discover key phrases and techniques that will alleviate your anxiety about answering questions.

Use "The Question Setup".

Step 9: Recommend next steps

Structure your presentation so that your audience will say "yes" to your recommendations.

Practice being precise and speaking confidently.

Step 10: Take the leap!

Add humor, if appropriate.

Personalize your talk to your audience.

Identify your personal presentation style.

Generate some passion for your subject.

Evaluating a presentation

Evaluate the different elements of the presentation using this form.

	Evaluation 0 - 5	Comments
Organisation
Delivery
Language
Interest
Visual aids
Overall impression

NAME OF PRESENTER: _________________________________________________

NAME OF EVALUATOR: ________________________________________________

Texts for discussion and translation

Stand: 09.05.2010

TEXT 1 (Unit 1)

India: From rural subsistence to knowledge economy

India’s rise as a leading source of software for the world is a curious aberration. Traditionally, agrarian economies first graduate to manufacturing before making the leap to become post-industrial service societies. One does not expect a country with a per capita GDP of $3,100 (measured in terms of purchasing-power parity (PPP), which adjusts incomes upward to account for low price levels in poor nations), a literacy rate of 65 percent and 65 percent of the population in the rural sector to be an IT superpower. Yet India’s knowledge-based exports are expected to surpass $50 billion by 2010.

How did this happen? After independence in 1947, India was reeling from the effects of being part of the British Empire, and took self-reliance very seriously. The first post-colonial leader, Jawaharlal Nehru, saw that India required a cadre of people trained in the latest technology and skills. So just over 50 years ago, the Indian Institutes of Technology were set up to ensure that the best and the brightest Indians could get a quality education. During the decades of economic sluggishness that followed, the graduates of the IITs and other institutions of higher learning were often underemployed, and many migrated abroad.

Then came the liberalization of 1991. The then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh took the bold steps to remove the cobwebs of licensing and controls. This coincided with the advances in technology that made it possible to do remote work over satellite and fiber-optic cables. The capital markets bloomed with modern stock exchanges and foreign investors. The world’s largest companies saw the potential of Indian human capital. And Bangalore happened.

Today India has more than 1,350 engineering colleges, producing several hundred thousand engineering graduates per year. Last year the IT services provider Infosys, we received 1.3 million applications for 20,000 jobs. When the government recently proposed to limit the number of times an aspirant could apply to the IITs, there were riots on die streets of Delhi.

While the software revolution ended up creating jobs for the technically educated, further advances in broadband and internet technology made it possible to perform a wide swath of functions from India. Today you have firms doing everything from processing sales orders to fixed-income research to patent searches. These jobs are not only for engineers, but also for accountants and people with a basic science or arts degree.

However, primary education remains the bane of India. For Indians older than 6, the national mean for years of schooling is three. In neighbouring Sri Lanka it is 7.5. There is now a huge drive to ensure that basic education is made accessible to every Indian child. India’s youthful demographics should be a competitive advantage, but it will be wasted without broader access to primary education.

For India to continue on the road to economic success it is important to marry all its strengths, its highly educated and globally aware talent, its democratic traditions and the power of modern information technology. If this is done to ensure that the knowledge asymmetry between the ruler and the ruled is eliminated, then a society that both is free and can rapidly deal with the poverty issue will be achieved. India could even be a model for nations seeking to go from developing to developed status on the strength of its education and its knowledge economy.

Suggestions for dealing with the text

1. In the text find terms and phrases dealing with the following:

the sectors of industry

education

information technology

2. Write down the figures in systematic order from highest to lowest. As a second step explain what the figures are associated with.

3. In which paragraph do you find the following terms:

aspirant patent search

capital market poverty

competitive advantage primary education

engineering college purchasing power parity

graduate quality education

institution of higher learning sales order

IT superpower self-reliance

liberalization talent

4. In your own words explain the following terms:

1	post-industrial	7	stock exchange
2	literacy rate	8	accountant
3	skills	9	demographics
4	economic sluggishness	10	knowledge asymmetry
5	underemployed	11	eliminate
6	remote work	12	knowledge economy

5. Education seems to be at the root of India’s success as the world’s top IT base. Explain why and how.

6. Explain the role of IT in India as described in the text.

7. What role did politicians play in pushing India forward?

8. Try to gather information about the role and success of education in your country.

9. Do research into the role of electronic media in your country.

   1. in manufacturing

   2. in the services

   3. in education

10. With the help of the internet try to gather some more information on the status of the following economic sectors in India:

    1. agriculture

    2. manufacturing

    3. services

Work in groups and present your results in class.

TEXT 3 (Unit 2)

Set up your business structure: do it yourself

Starting a business can change your financial status. There are tax implications and legal implications. One frequently asked question when starting a business is whether you can incorporate the business yourself or whether you need a lawyer. As a general rule, unless you have experience in the legal aspects of business start-ups, it’s wise to consult with both an accountant and a lawyer.

A licensed professional can help you evaluate which corporate form of business is right for your new venture. They will review your tax situation with you and help you synchronize your short-term and long-term business objectives in a way that lets you maximize the benefit of business ownership.

Nonetheless, some folks prefer to move forward without the benefit of counsel. They may not have the resources available to hire counsel, or they simply prefer to assume the risk on their own. If you happen to be one of those people, you’re in luck because there are some resources you can take advantage of to make your job easier.

The first thing you’ll need to do is determine what state filing requirements there may be for the specific corporate form you wish to adopt. Check with the Office of Secretary of State in the state where you wish to incorporate. They’ll be happy to direct you to online resources and/or send you a package of materials, including a checklist of what’s required. The second thing you’ll need to do is figuring out what local filing requirements there may be for your corporation because even though the state filings create the corporation, you haven’t met all of the legal requirements until the local license and permit requirements have been satisfied.

There are also online service companies that, for a fee, will handle the state level filing requirements associated with operating under your fictitious (“Doing Business As”) name as well as help form limited liability companies, S corporations, C corporations, and partnerships. They each have several packages to choose from.

Compare the offerings carefully. Some will even help obtain your Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service for a small fee. An EIN is to a business what your social security number is to you. It’s a federal tax identification number. Applying for the number can be done online in a matter of minutes for free. You can find everything you need by going directly to the IRS Web site.

Setting up your business properly helps avoid penalties or fines. It can also avoid the liability exposure of your personal assets. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when gathering information from government offices. Remember, these offices are here to help you. They want you to be successful because it makes their job easier. If you fully disclose your plans, they will help you find the right information. Withholding material information can backfire. You don’t, for example, want to find yourself trying to claim business losses on your tax return and the government saying, “Business, what business?”

Ultimately, the decision of whether you go it alone and follow the ten steps to forming a corporation, purchase a package from a service company, or independently hire a lawyer, is a trade-off between time, money, and peace of mind. A new entrepreneur wears many hats. What hats you keep and what hats you successfully outsource are up to you.

(http.//smallbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures/12327864-1.html)

(29 March.2010)

Suggestions for dealing with the text

1. Single out the most important steps for setting up your business.

2. What are the advantages of setting up your business properly from the legal point of view?

3. Make up a checklist of all the persons you need to consult while forming a corporation. What are their duties?

4. Research the internet and explain the difference between limited liability companies, S corporations, C corporations and partnerships.

5. What does EIN stand for? What is it to business?

6. Find out all the collocations with the word ‘business’ as they appear in the text (e.g. to start a business ...). Translate them into Russian.

7. Research the internet and make a short report on the activities of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

8. Explain the meaning of the world “to outsource” in the text.

9. Comment on the following: ‘A new entrepreneur wears many hats’.

10. In the text find hints to suggest that the text use American English.