How to make a presentation () [ 2006-12-14 13:52:52]

Chapter I Beginning the Speech Text 3

I. Opening Remarks ... 3
Sample Opening Remarks. 3
Expressing thanks to the Chairperson ... 3
Forms of Address and Greetings ... 3
Expressing Pleasure and Honor ... 3
Others ... 3
Reference to the Audience ... 3
II. Introducing the Subject and the outline of the Presentation ... 4
Background Information. 4
Topic. 4
Outlining. 4
Purpose/Objective. 4
Comprehensive Samples. 4
Expressions on Other Occasions. 5
Checking the Microphone. 5
Chapter II Developing the Speech Text 6
I. Announcing the Beginning of the Speech Text 6
II. Shifting to the Next Main Point 6
III. Resuming the Topic. 7
IV. Introducing the Supporting Materials. 7
V. Repairing a Slip of Tone. 7
VI. Expressions Concerning Audio-Visual Aids. 8
VI. Explaining the Contents on the Slides. 8
VII. Demanding to Show the Next Slide. 8
VIII. Returning to the Previous Slide. 9

IX. Correcting a Mistake. 9

X. Indicating the Speed of Running Slides. 9
Chapter III Ending the Speech Text 9
I. Signaling the Beginning of the End Part 9
II. Summarizing. 10
III. Concluding. 10
IV. Quoting. 10
V. Closing. 10
VI. Samples. 11
[ Sample 1 ] 11
[ Sample 2 ]

' 11

[ Sample 3 ] 11
[ Sample 4 ] 11
[ Sample 5 ] 11
Chapter IV Asking and Answering Questions. 11
I. Inviting Questions. 11
II. Raising Questions. 12
Signaling Your Intention to Ask a Question. 12
Expressing Your Attitude. 12
Asking the Specific Question. 12
III. Response to Questions. 12
Asking for Repetition. 12
Welcoming the Question. 13
Repeating or Paraphrasing the Question. 13
Responding to Difficult or Challenging Question. 13
Responding to Improper Question. 14
Responding to the Questions You Do Not Know.. 14
Referring Back to the Questioner 14

Chapter V Talking During the Break. 16

I. Useful encouraging phrases to show your interest and to stimulate the flow of conversation. 16
II. Informal Talking between Participants. 16
III. Initiating a Conversation. 17
III. Additional Samples. 17

Chapter I Beginning the Speech Text

I. Opening Remarks
Sample Opening Remarks
1) Thank you very much, Prof. Fawcett, for your very kind introduction. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and
gentleman, Good morning! I consider it a great honor to be asked to speak about on this session of
our symposium.
2) Ladies and gentleman. Its an honor to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished
audience.
3) Good morning. Let me start by saying just a few words about my own background.
4) Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for your kind introduction. President, Distinguished
colleagues, Ladies and gentleman, Good morning! Is my voice loud enough?
5) Good morning, everyone. I appreciate the opportunity to be with you today. I am here to talk to you
about
6) Good morning, everyone. I am very happy to have this chance to give my presentation. Before I
start my speech, let me ask you a question. By a show of hands, how many of you own a car?

Expressing thanks to the Chairperson

Mr. Chairman, thank you for your introduction.
First, I would like to thank Mr. Chairman for his gracious introduction.
Thank you very much, Prof. Fawcett, for your very kind introduction.
I would like to thank Dr. Huang for permitting me the privilege
to speak to this audience.

Forms of Address and Greetings

Distinguished colleagues, Ladies and gentleman, Good morning!
Members of the conference!

Expressing Pleasure and Honor

I am very happy/glad/pleased to be here in Hong Kong.
I am honored/privileged to be here (with you this afternoon).
I am proud to be here on this special occasion.
Its a very great pleasure for me to be able to attend this conference.
I consider it a great honor to be asked to speak about on this session of our symposium/ at this
conference..
It is a great pleasure to be given the honor of first speaker on this important topic.

Others
Can you hear me all right?
Is my voice too loud?

Reference to the Audience

I can see many of you are from department.
I know many of you are familiar with this topic.
You all look as though youve heard this before.
I understand that youve all traveled a long way./ After hours of conference, you must feel a little tired.
Now Id like you to see an interesting topic

II. Introducing the Subject and the outline of the

Presentation
Background Information
I would like to start by briefly reviewing the history of open heart surgery.
Let us start with the theoretical basis of this new technique.

To begin with, we have to consider the principle.

I think it would be best to start out by looking at a few slides.
I should like to preface my remarks with a description of the basic idea.
May I begin with a general outline of this project?
The first thing I would like to talk about is the definition of the terms I shall use in my lecture.
The first point I'd like to make is the historical background of the invention.
First, I shall explain to you why this new program is correct and feasible.

Topic
I would like to concentrate on theproblem Of antibiotic abuse in hospitals.
I shall devote my talk to the surgical treatment of coronary disease.
I want to confine my talk to the latest developments in civil engineering.
Today, I am going to give a talk on the application of computers in medicine.
My topic today will deal with the observation of supernova.
In today's talk, I' 11 restrict myself to the etiology of 15-epa~i;s.
In my presentation this morning, I' 11 limit myself to three major points only.
I take the liberty of restricting my discussion mainly to highway bridge construction.
Now, I would like to address myself to the most important aspect of this problem.
Among the many languages, I shall mention only BASIC.
What I am going to present today is the methodology and the data analysis.
I'm not going to say much about that except to discuss the literature on that topic.

Outlining
My talk today consists of two parts. One is... and the other is...
I've divided my presentation into four parts.
I shall first talk about ... and then touch on... and finally discuss ...
The subject can be looked at under the following headings: ... (Pointing to the PowerPoint display)
I would like to divide my talk into two parts. The first part deals with, the second part concerns ...

My presentation will be given in four parts. The first part deals with ... The second part relates to...
The third part concerns ... And the last part discusses

Purpose/Objective
The purpose of this presentation is to...
This talk is designed to

Comprehensive Samples
Sample 1
Thank you, Mr. Chairperson, Mr. Director-General, distinguished members of the ILO's Governing
Body and friends. I welcome this opportunity to be here today, with an Organization which in many
ways belongs to all of us workers. I can think of, in fact, no other international body that one can
claim as one's own so unambiguously.
I have also had a longstanding formal association with the ILO. Many of my early pieces on women
and technological change and on land rights were published by the ILO, as well as was the work of
many other scholars. It is therefore a pleasure for me to be here on this important Symposium.
The canvas of the Symposium is very large. I will focus on two aspects of gender inequality that
centrally effect millions of women as workers but perhaps have failed to receive the attention they
deserve. First, the gender gap in command over property and Productive assets and, second, gender
biased social perceptions and social norms.
Sample 2
I learned last May that you have to be careful in speaking to a group of professional communicators.
After I conducted a writer' s workshop at the Toronto Conference of the International Association of
Business Communicators, Janine Lichaczwrote asked me to speak here tonight and used the
communication techniques I had recommended. She even included a footnote citing my lecture. I am
susceptible to good communication and to flattery so I am pleased to be with you to discuss your topic
for the evening, the use of language in the art of speech writing.
I suppose we must begin by shaking our heads, woefully, over the sad state of language today, whether
in formal speeches, casual conversation, or in writing. Most of us in this room no doubt agree with the
generally negative tone of Time Magazine's year-end assessment which claims our language has been
besieged by vulgarities. But to preserve our sanity as professionals in communication of us would
probably join Time in optimistically expecting English somehow to survive and even to prosper.

Expressions on Other Occasions

Correcting the Title of the Presentation

First of all, I would like to mention that the title of my presentation should be ...
Please allow me to correct a mistake in the title of my speech which appeared in the program. Instead
of... it should read...
Reading. Another Person's Paper
Sometimes you are selected to read another person's paper, as he or she is absent.
I shall read a paper by Dr. Li from Guangzhou, china, who regrets that he could not be here. The title
of his paper is...
I'm going to read the paper by Dr. Wang. It's a great pity that, because of a health problem, he could
not be here.
I was asked by the author to read his paper. He apologizes for not being able to come here.
The next speaker, Prof. Zhang, regrets that she could not be here and has submitted her paper to me. I
am not sure if I can present it as well as she expected.
I am not sure whether I' 11 be able to be very confident in answering specific questions. However, I
am somewhat familiar with his work, so I' 11 try my best.

Checking the Microphone

First I want to check if all of you can hear me clearly.
Am I speaking clearly and loudly enough for those in the rear of the room?
I wonder if those in the rear of the room can hear me.
If those in the rear of the room can hear me, would someone please raise his hand?
Can you hear me clearly?
Can you hear me if I am away from the microphone?
Is the microphone working?
* Summary-How to Prepare a Good Introduction
Realize file great importance of the introduction of file presentation mad then do your best in
delivering it.
Don' t make file introduction either too wordy, or too brief. Usually, it covers 10 to 15 percent of your
entire speech.
Select tile ways to capture the audience attention.
Indicate tile topic.

Outline your Speech.

Announce your purpose.
Prepare several versions of tile introduction, compare them, and then select the best version. Finally,
learn it by heart so as to be able to deliver it easily mid fluently.
Don't start your speech with apologies.
Pay attention to your body language.

Chapter II Developing the Speech Text

I. Announcing the Beginning of the Speech Text
To begin with, I would like to talk about a principle.
I think it would be best to start out by looking at some pictures.
The first thing I would like to talk about is the definition of the terms which I11 use in my
presentation.

II. Shifting to the Next Main Point

Well, let's move on to the next point.
We will now come to the second problem.
Turning to the next question, I' 11 talk about the stages of the procedure.
As the second topic, I shall stop here. Now let' s turn our attention to the third topic.
So much for the methodology of our experiment. I would now like to shift to the discussion of the
results.
Now, let's move away from the first part and switch over to the next part of my presentation.
That's all for the introduction and now we can go on to the literature review.
Next, I would like to turn to a more difficult problem.
The next point I'd like to talk about is the feasibility of this project.
That brings me to my second point.
I am glad that we can now leave this rather boring subject of mathematic deduction and go into a more
attractive one, that is the application of the formula.

III. Resuming the Topic

Let' s come back to what I said in the first part of my speech.
Getting back to the subject of the problem of theoretical considerations we can find that...
I want to return to the first part of my presentation.
Now, to get back to the effect of temperature, you may be aware that the problems have been solved.
This brings me back to the question of security.
At this point I would like to refer again to the question of methods in the first part of my lecture.
Referring again to the first question, I think...
Referring to the Coming Point
I'll deal with it later.
I' 11 touch upon that point in a moment.
I shall tell you in detail shortly.

IV. Introducing the Supporting Materials

I think this part is the most difficult, so I'll explain it in greater detail.
I think this part of my paper is most important, so I plan to spend more time on it.
Please allow me to deal with this matter more extensively.
Being the most important part of my presentation, I will elaborate on it with more slides.
I' 11 expand this topic with drawings and figures.
Indicating the Points Briefly
Limited by the time available, I can only give you a very brief account of this matter.
I don't think that I should describe the methods in detail, because they are included in the handout.
I will not go into detail on it.
This point has been talked about repeatedly in this symposium, so I am not going to spend too much
time on it.
Let's go through the following points very rapidly.
I just want to outline for you what I experienced in using this new drug.
I shall not go over all these explanations. My time is running short. So I'11 be brief.

It is sufficient to say that these experiments were poorly designed and without controls.

V. Repairing a Slip of Tone

The first of such experiments began in 2000, rather than 1999.
May I have the lights, I mean the slides.
The temperature increased, I shall say decreased.
The population is 13 million, sorry, 31 million.
The exchange rate dropped from 2.5 to 1.8, I beg your pardon, 1.9.
As you can see from the first row, excuse me, the second row, that the output increased two fold.

VI. Expressions Concerning Audio-Visual Aids

Could we have the lights off? And the first slide, please.
Lights off, first slide, please.
Dim the lights, and first slide, please.
The slide is not so clear. Please darken the room a little more.
Could you please turn on the lights, please?
Now, we can have the lights on.
Please switch on the lights.
Lights on, please.
I apologize that this slide is not so clear, but I hope you can still make out the general idea.
Sorry for the small print.
I'm sorry we left a figure out here.

VI. Explaining the Contents on the Slides

This slide demonstrates ...
On this slide, you can see...
This curve in this slide shows...
This figure in this slide exhibits...

This table on this slide presents...

This diagram on this slide depicts...
This chart on this slide displaces ...
The picture on this slide shows ...
The photomicrograph on this slide shows ...
The flow-chart on this slide points out...
The circuit diagram on this slide represents~...~
Indicating the Sources of the Content in a
This figure is taken from.., by Dr. Li.
This diagram is after that of Prof. Wang with some modification

VII. Demanding to Show the Next Slide

May I proceed to the next slide, please?
I think we can move on to the next slide.
Let me show you the next slide.
Now, we can go on to the next slide.

'

Next slide, please.

Next, please.
Next !

VIII. Returning to the Previous Slide

To make a comparison, can we return to the first slide, please?
Let's go back. No, not this one. One back. Back one more. Yes, thats it. Thank you.
May I go back two slides, please?
Could you return to the second slide?
May we have the previous slide again?

IX. Correcting a Mistake

Sorry, this one is in the wrong order. May I have the next one?
Oh, this slide is misplaced. Please skip over it. Yes, this is the correct one.
I'm afraid I didn't ask for this slide. Can we go back to the previous one? Please.
No, not this one. Next, please. Yes, this is the one I need. Thank you.
I'm afraid you may have lost one slide which is a flow chart of the procedure.
Sorry, there seems to be one slide missing.

X. Indicating the Speed of Running Slides

Let's go through the following slides rapidly.
The following three slides we will go through quickly without explanation.
Wait a minute, please. I want to say more about this slide.
Because of the shortage of time, I' Il have to omit the following slides.
Time is up, let's come to the last slide directly.
Would you please skip the next slid-e and go on to the table?
Next, next. Go ahead... That's it.

Chapter III Ending the Speech Text

I. Signaling the Beginning of the End Part
Lets look at what I have talked about.
Well, that brings me to the end of my presentation. This last slide is a brief summary of what I have
talked about.
Before I stop/finish, let me just say...
To close my speech, I' 11 show you the last slide.
Now I'd like to summarize my talk.
To summarize, I have talked about three aspects of the cancer problem: ...
Finally, as a summary statement, I would like to sum up the major points I have made.

II. Summarizing

Let me just run over the key points again.

I'll briefly summarize the main issues.
In conclusion,
In closing,
In a word,
To sum up ...
In brief,
Briefly.......
All in all,
Finally,

III. Concluding
As you can see, there are some very good reasons ...
To sum up, my conclusion is that the present program is the best one.
In conclusion ...
Let me conclude my talk with the following comments.
Allow me to conclude by listing out all the factors influencing the efficacy.
In conclusion, I would like to point out the following aspects.
I'd like to leave you with the following conclusion.

IV. Quoting
Let me close by quoting Dr. Einstein, the famous physicist, who said that
I would like to come to a close by quoting what Sir Newton once said...
Therefore, I would suggest that we...
I'd like to suggest...
As far as I'm concerned, the only solution to the problem is...

V. Closing

That's all, thank You.

That's the end of my presentation.
So much for my speech, thank you.
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you for your listening.
Other Expressions that May Be Useful in the End Part of the Speech
Sorry, I see the red light is shining so I have to skip the last part and jump to the conclusion.
Mr. Chairman is signaling me, I have to stop here and leave out the remaining part to spare time.

VI. Samples
[ Sample 1 ]
We have proposed a framework of a hierarchical planning system for robots. First of all, the system is
an automatic plan system that can guide the robot intelligently in terms of the environment. Secondly,
it is based on hierarchical planning. The planning problem has been hierarchically decomposed into
two sub-problems: global destination selection and local motion planning. And finally, the simulation
and application has proved it as an effective design.
(Show the last visual)
That's all for my presentation. For any question to be raised, I'm quite willing to discuss them with you
at any time. Thank you, every one.

[ Sample 2 ]

'

Finally, we can draw the conclusion: edge detection and denoising are two important branches of
image processing. If we combine edge detection with denoising, we can overcome the shortcomings
of the commonly-used denolsing methods and without blurring the edge notably.
Furthermore, there are many denoising and edge detection methods now. Different methods are
suitable for different types of images and noise models. We can do further research on how to combine
these various denoising and edge detection methods according to the content of the images and nature
of noise.
That's all for my talk. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me. I'm quite willing to
discuss them with you at any time, Thank you.

[ Sample 3 ]

That's all t wanted to show you about Machine Vision and one of its applications, AGV. Thank you!

[ Sample 4 ]
(Turn to 12th ppt) OK, that is all I'm going to talk today.
Thank you !

[ Sample 5 ]
That's all. Thank you!

Chapter IV Asking and Answering

Questions
I. Inviting Questions
So, let's throw it open to questions.
Now I' d like to answer any questions, if you have any.
Now I am ready to answer your questions, if any.
I'd be glad to try and answer any questions.
Are there any questions?
Any questions?

II. Raising Questions

Signaling Your Intention to Ask a Question
I want to ask Dr. bi a question.
I have a guest ion for Dr. Anderson.
Mr. Smith, I have a question to ask you.
There is a question I'd like to ask Prof. Li.
A question for Mr. Liu.
One question, Dr. Wei.
Could I ask you a question, Prof. Li?

May I venture to ask Prof. Zhang a question?

Expressing Your Attitude

Before asking your question, you can express your positive attitude or make a comment on the
speaker's presentation. For example,
Dr. Johnson, I was fascinated by your description of your study, but what will happen if...
Mr. Li, you did splendid work! Just one question.

Asking the Specific Question

You mentioned very briefly that you used two experiments that were the same.
Would you please elaborate on that point?
Would you be so kind as to give me more information about the method of your experiment?
Would you tell me the reason why you set such a high temperature?
Comprehensive Samples
Dr. Wang, I'd like to raise one question. First, may I say how much I enjoyed talk. But, may I ask, do
you have experience with the new method?
Congratulations, Dr. Li. I can't help but admire your achievement. But I want to know what's your
attitude toward abuse of antibiotics?
I'd like to congratulate Mr. Liu on a very interesting presentation.
May I ask you a question? How does subjective evaluation differ from objective evaluation?
First, I'd like to say your research is very interesting. May I ask two questions? Do you see any
relation between cigarette smoking and peptic ulcers? And what advantage do you expect by using this
approach?

III. Response to Questions

Asking for Repetition
Pardon, I couldn't hear what you said.
I beg your pardon, I didn't catch what you said.
I'm sorry I forgot your first question. Would you be so kind as to say it again?
I'm not quite surge what your question is.

I didn't quite get the last point of your question.

You mean, there may be some mistake in the calculation?
Are you referring to the significance of the difference?
Are you suggesting that the temperature might have affected the results?
If I understand you correctly, you are saying/asking...
I didn't quite catch that.
Could you go over that again?
I'm not sure what you're getting at.

Welcoming the Question

Welcome the question by saying "thank you" or commenting on it saying "Thats a good question" or
"That's a challenging question."
This is a very good question.
Thank you for that question.
I'm glad this question has been brought upI appreciate that question.
This is a hard question.
This is an interesting question.
This is a big question.
I'd be delighted to answer your question.
I'll try to answer this question very briefly.
In answer to your question, I would say that...
I can only provide a partial answer to that question.
Let me try to answer your questions one by one.
My answer to your first question is...
May I answer your second cjuestion first?
I have only a partial answer to your question.
Thank you for that question. This is a challenging question and I'm afraid I can only provide a partial
answer to it. Anyway, I'll try my best to answer it.

Repeating or Paraphrasing the Question

Questioner: Have you tried it on human bodies?
Presenter: This gentleman would like to know whether we have tried this on human bodies.

Responding to Difficult or Challenging Question

Question: So what happens if the new budget isn't approved?
Answer (1): We've spent two months preparing the new budget. It's a good budget and we're confident
we'll get approval to put it into practice.
Answer (2): There is too much supposition in the question for me to give a sound answer.
The following are some other examples of answers to challenging questions:
Perhaps in another year or so we can answer that question, because these studies are now in progress.
We are now working on this problem and, if you agree, I'll answer your question in a few weeks.
The only answer I can give at present is to wait a few more years, at which time something better
might ultimately come out of all our efforts.
I think it will be possible to answer this question when more experiments are completed.
The answer to this question needs further study.
I hope I will be able to answer your question later.

Responding to Improper Question

I appreciate your interest in my research, but I just don't want to talk about it now. Let's talk about
something else.
I'd rather not say.
Why do you want to know?
Sometimes you can relay the question back to the questioner. For example,
Before I answer you that question, let me ask you: where do you think we should have the project?
In this way, sometimes you encourage the questioner to answer his or her own question, e.g. "What do
you think? Are people prepared to pay an extra $ 2 for faster service?"

Responding to the Questions You Do Not Know

If you don't know the answer to a particular question, simply admit that you don't know. Say
something like this:
"I'm sorry. I don't happen to know the answer to that question, but I'll be happy to check into it for
you."
Here are some further examples:
I don't think I can answer your question.
I wish I could answer your question, but unfortunately I have no good answer.
I'm not sure that I can answer your question. What I'm going to say is not quite an answer to your
question.
Another technique to cope with the situation is to direct the attention to another expert who may know
it or you can use the audience. Ask if anyone could help the questioner and hence it won't be necessary
for you to admit that you do not know the answer. See examples below.
I think that question could be better answered by Dr. Liu than by me.
I think perhaps Dr. Chen would be better able to answer this question.
Prof. Li would be a better person to answer your question since he has done a lot of work in this field.
Fortunately, Prof. 'Ma, who is an authority in this area, is 'here. I think no one is more suitable than
him to answer your question.
Dr. Sawyer is perhaps in a better position to tell us something about it.
Perhaps my colleague Dr. Emery here has some better ideas.
I think it would be better if Prof. Wu were to make some comments on this matter.
Avoid using the following expressions to embarrass the questioner:
"I've already answered that but you obviously weren't listening." Instead say something like "I'm sorry
I didn't explain that clearly."
Avoid talking to one questioner. Look towards the other, side of the conference hall or room and
indicate that there is another question. Suggest that as there are several more questioners,' yon could
discuss his or her question in more detail after your talk.

Referring Back to the Questioner

Having finished answering questions, you should check that the questioner is satisfied or further
elaboration or explanation is called for. The following expressions might be helpful.
Did I answer your question?

Did I answer you satisfactorily?

Did your question get answered?
I don't know whether this answered your question.
I don't know if this is a satisfactory answer.
I hope this may serve as an answer to Dr. Li.
I hope this answers ~0ur question.:,
Sometimes when question lime is over and ff time permits, you can restate, your main proposition,
including any good comments from the audience and ignoring adverse questions or remarks. Thus,
you demonstrate that you are confident mid can cope calmly with controversy.
Remember that your last words to the audience will be retained longest and you are expected to
behave in a professional manner.

Chapter V Talking During the Break

I. Useful encouraging phrases to show your interest and
to stimulate the flow of conversation
Then what happened?
Really?
Oh?
Oh, hmm.
Yes.
Yes, of course.
Yes, that's right.
Yes, I do.

Good.

Ah.

Right.

That's right.

Right, I will. Go on...

I think it's a good one.
No.

For instance.

For example.
Sorry, I can't.

Such as.

I'm afraid not.

Well, not really.

Tell me more.
Then?

Yes, he was.

Perhaps not difficult.

Really?

Yes, we were.

Erin, I don't know.

Is that right?

Very nice.

I really can't manage it.

Very good.

Not very nice.

Very clear.

Very bad.

Really nice.

Very disagreeable.

Quite nice.

Really nasty.

Quite, absolutely true.

Is that so?

Are you sure?

(laughter) .....

(silence...)

Aha.

II. Informal Talking between Participants

A Conversation between Two Old Friends at Coffee Break

A: What would you like?

B: A coffee, please.
A: I'm sorry I couldn't meet you at the airport. I had to pick up Dr. Abel and bring him
here.
,'
B: That doesn't matter. Dr. Abel? Isn't he the keynote speaker tomorrow?
A: Yes, that's right. He's the American scholar on Electronics. Mr. Li should have picked him up, but
he had an accident yesterday morning. Nothing serious, but something was wrong with his car.
B: Well, what's new in your department since I left?
A: Oh, nothing, really. How are you enjoying the work?
B: Oh, it's very interesting, I must say. I've learnt a lot. Perhaps we'll find time to talk about it. We've
had some interesting results.
A: Would you like to have dinner with me?
B: Yes, that would be very nice.
One Participant Being Introduced to another Participant
A: Dr. Kerridge, may I introduce you to Dr. Hyman?
B: Glad to meet you.
C: Glad to meet you too.
B: I'm pleased to meet you at last. I've heard so much about you from Dr. Liu. I belive you're doing
research in the field of statistics.
C: That's right.

B: I was most interested to hear about your recent paper on descriptive statistics. Do you think you
could let me have a copy?
C: I'd be delighted to. In fact, I've got a few. spare copies with me. I'll bring one with me tomorrow.
B: Thank you very much.

III. Initiating a Conversation

A: Excuse me, aren't you Dr. Engleton?
B: Yes.
A: Let me introduce myself. I'm Li Hong from China.
B: Nice to meet you, Mr. Li.
A: Nice to meet you too. I'd appreciate the chance to talk to you some time.
B: That's very kind of you. What do you think of the morning session?
A: It's been most interesting so far, hasn't it?

III. Additional Samples

[sample l]
A: Excuse me, could you tell me where Professor Dubrovik's talk will be held?
B: I beg your pardon?
A: I didn't quite understand the announcement in the plenary session.
B: I'm sorry, but I didn't quite understand you. Would you mind repeating that, please?
A: I would like to know where Professor Dubrovnik is.
B: Ah, Professor Dubrovnik! He's in Room 203.
A: Thank you very much.
B: Not at all. Do you know, Dr. C, I believe my English is getting worse, not better.
C: No, no, Dr. B. I'm afraid I didn't understand that gentleman either.
B: Well, thank goodness for that. Now, where is that new interdisciplinary group meeting?
C: I think they said in the small room next to the main lecture hall.
B: Ah, yes. There it is. Thank you.

C: I'll see you later for lunch, then. I hope you enjoy the morning session.
B: Thanks. I'm sure I will. Same to you!
C: Oh, Dr. B.
B: Yes?
C: If you wait for me after the session, I'll come and pick you up.
B: Fine, I'll do that.
[ Sample 2]
A: Ah, there you are, Dr B! How did your meeting go?
B: It was very interesting, but I must admit, I found some parts very difficult to understand.
A: Oh, why was that?
B: Well, a lot of members in the group used specialist vocabulary, and it wasn't always easy to
understand what they meant.
A: Yes, I know what you mean. I often have the same difficulties at conferences like this. Sometimes I
have the feeling that they are speaking a foreign language, even though I know that they're using
English! I'm sure I would have had the same trouble if I'd been in your group.
B: Still, I got a lot out of the group discussion, and I'm looking forward to the afternoon session.
A: Good. Now what about a drink? All this talking makes a man thirsty!
B: Good idea! It's my turn, I think.
[ Sample 3 ]
At poster session
A: May I introduce myself? I'm... from.... I missed your presentation this morning.
something about your study?

Will you tell me

B: Oh, you are Dr A. I've known you by name through a number of papers on... I'm so
you. I think our work may be similar and I'd like to hear your views.

glad to meet

A: I'll be very glad to do so. But first I'd like to ask a question. How did you separate these two
fractions? Did you use an ordinary chromatographic method?
B: No, it's not that simple because their retention times are very similar. That makes it difficult to find
a really appropriate separation column.
A: How did you manage it?

B: We used a kind of trick which turned out to be surprisingly successful. The trick was to use an
optically active urea lattice which forms a diastereoisomeric pair when mixed with the material .to be
solved.
A: I'm not familiar with the urea technology. I'd like to hear more...
B: May I have one of the leaflets?
A: By all means. Here you are.
B: Thank you.
A: I wonder if you could send me a publication copy of your paper when it's ready.
B: Certainly, Ill be glad to do so; May I have your home address?
A: Of course. Let me write it for you.
B: Please put it in my notebook, if you don't mind.
A: Please keep me informed of the progress of your work.
B: Goodbye !