Time Expressions in Presentations
During a presentation, there will be times when you will have to talk about the past, present and future. Using the right words to describe these periods of time is important. Here are a few examples.
During the 1980′s we were developing strategies to break in to the American market
In the 1990′s we launched our first products in America
Last year we broke all our previous sales records
In the next 5 years we plan to launch our products in Europe
Next year we will see our first Japanese office open
Being able to use the correct time expressions in English enables you to maintain a coherent and smooth story line when you are giving your presentation.
It is very important to keep words and expressions simple. Trying to sound more sophisticated often leads you down the road of boring presentations. If you ever watch a Steve Jobs’ keynote, you will notice that he always keeps his words and expressions short and simple and he does this for a very simple reason. He knows that not all his audience understands the technicalities of a computer. You too need to remember, that in most of your presentations, your audience will be made up of engineers, salespeople and marketeers. Keep it simple.
If you need to put in a lot of time expressions consider a timeline chart like the one below.
By getting your time expression right, you will be able to keep your story moving forward smoothly and gently and this will help your audience to follow the story better and ultimately find your presentation more interesting and enjoyable. And that always is our goal.