Professional English: presentations and negotiation

01

Plan a presentation: audience, one message, three points

In simple words

A good presentation is like giving directions. You tell people where you are going, take them there in a few clear steps and tell them when you have arrived. If the listener remembers one thing, it should be the thing you wanted them to remember.

Before this course: English for Work in Canada (course 6.1) and Business English: Emails and Meetings (course 6.8). You already know workplace basics, polite and direct language, how to write emails, how to speak in meetings and how to write meeting summaries. This course is the next level: speaking to a group, negotiating and writing reports.

Key facts

Start with the audience: who are they, what do they already know and what do they need to decide or do afterwards?
One main message. Write it as one sentence: "We should move the launch to April because our supplier cannot deliver in March."
Three main points are easy to follow and remember. Support each with one fact, number or example.
Three parts:

Part	What you do	Example phrase	How to say it
Opening	greet, say the topic, say why it matters, give the plan	"Today I'd like to talk about..."	TUH-day aye-d lyk too TAWK uh-BOWT
Middle	go through your points, one at a time	"Let's begin with..."	lets bih-GIN with
Close	summarise, say what to do next, invite questions	"To sum up, ..."	too SUM up

Opening ideas: a short question, a surprising number, or a one-sentence story.
Front-load the important information. The Government of Canada's style guide teaches the same idea for writing: put the most important information first.
Time: plan for less than your time slot, so there is room for questions.

Step by step

Write your audience: who they are and what they need from you.
Write your main message in one sentence.
Choose three supporting points and one fact or example for each.
Write the opening: greeting, topic, why it matters, plan ("First, ... Then, ... Finally, ...").
Write the close: summary, next step, "Any questions?".
Say the whole presentation out loud and time it.
Check: someone who heard it can repeat your main message in one sentence.

Watch on YouTube

How to Give a Presentation in English: 20 phrases you must knowYour Favorite English Teacher | Amy Joy · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Plan a presentation: audience, one message, three points

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host at a desk with notes] "Before you make a single slide, answer one question: what is the one thing your audience must remember?"
[Text on screen: One message. Three points.] "Write your message in one sentence. Then choose three points to support it."
[Text on screen: Opening. Middle. Close.] "Open by saying the topic and the plan. Go through your points. Close with a summary and a next step."
[Host] "Say it out loud once. If you can't say the message in a sentence, the audience can't either."

Try it now

Choose a topic from your work or studies. Write the audience, the main message, three points and the opening and closing lines. Present it out loud to a friend or your phone's voice recorder in three minutes.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Professional English: presentations and negotiation" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Plan a presentation: audience, one message, three points".

What the lesson teaches:
- Start with the audience: who are they, what do they already know and what do they need to decide or do afterwards?
- One main message. Write it as one sentence: "We should move the launch to April because our supplier cannot deliver in March."
- Three main points are easy to follow and remember. Support each with one fact, number or example.
- Three parts:
- Part - What you do - Example phrase - How to say it
- Opening - greet, say the topic, say why it matters, give the plan - "Today I'd like to talk about..." - TUH-day aye-d lyk too TAWK uh-BOWT
- Middle - go through your points, one at a time - "Let's begin with..." - lets bih-GIN with

The exercise I'm working on:
Choose a topic from your work or studies. Write the audience, the main message, three points and the opening and closing lines. Present it out loud to a friend or your phone's voice recorder in three minutes.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Plan a presentation: audience, one message, three points" from the course "Professional English: presentations and negotiation".

Here's what the lesson says:
A good presentation is like giving directions. You tell people where you are going, take them there in a few clear steps and tell them when you have arrived. If the listener remembers one thing, it should be the thing you wanted them to remember.

The activity:
Choose a topic from your work or studies. Write the audience, the main message, three points and the opening and closing lines. Present it out loud to a friend or your phone's voice recorder in three minutes.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

Government of Canada, Canada.ca Content Style Guide (front-load important information, plain language): design.canada.ca/style-guide/

My notes

I learned this

02