Breakout Business English - Improve your vocabulary and confidence using English at work.
Sep 14, 2026 · 27 min · 8 segments
Send us Fan Mail Today we’re talking about giving presentations, and how to control the attention of your colleagues, clients, and customers, when…
One thing that I think we can probably all agree on is that if I put some text in front of you, then the first thing that you're going to do is read it.
I often demonstrate this in coaching sessions by holding a book with some big text on the cover right in front of the camera, and it's a great thing to demonstrate on the second ever video version of this podcast.
Um, I'm currently holding up a book.
I've not asked you to read the cover, but I'm guessing that you probably have if you're looking at this, and that's what we're talking about.
The challenge in presentations then becomes as soon as your slide comes onto the screen and your audience is looking at it, they're going to make their own decisions about what is important and what they should pay attention to.
Most of the time, this will mean reading and trying to understand the text, graphs, and charts that you've just put in front of them.
And if they're reading that, then they're not paying attention to you and to what you are saying.
Let's start today then by looking at some ways that we can guide our audience's attention and control their focus.
Listen to these examples.
To start, I'd like to highlight the chart in the top left of the slide.
To start, I'd like to highlight the chart in the top left of the slide.
For now, let's focus on the graph right in the middle of the slide.
For now, let's focus on the graph right in the middle of the slide.
If you could draw your attention please to the bottom right of the slide.
If you could draw your attention please to the bottom right of the slide.
Okay, let's start with that word draw.
In the third example, we heard, "If you could draw your attention please to the bottom right of the slide." To draw your attention.
I think we all know the main and most common use of this word, which is to use a pen or more often a pencil to create a picture, so we can take a photograph, paint a painting, and draw a picture.
However, you might not have noticed that it also appears in a lot more places in English.
At nighttime when it gets dark outside, I can draw the curtains in my bedroom or maybe draw the blinds.
When an archer shoots an arrow, they draw their bow.
They draw their bow.
When you want to take some cash out of your bank account, then we say that you withdraw that money or even just draw that money out of the bank.
One thing that I think we can probably all agree on is that if I put some text in front of you, then the first thing that you're going to do is read it.
I often demonstrate this in coaching sessions by holding a book with some big text on the cover right in front of the camera, and it's a great thing to demonstrate on the second ever video version of this podcast.
Um, I'm currently holding up a book.
I've not asked you to read the cover, but I'm guessing that you probably have if you're looking at this, and that's what we're talking about.
The challenge in presentations then becomes as soon as your slide comes onto the screen and your audience is looking at it, they're going to make their own decisions about what is important and what they should pay attention to.
Most of the time, this will mean reading and trying to understand the text, graphs, and charts that you've just put in front of them.
And if they're reading that, then they're not paying attention to you and to what you are saying.
Let's start today then by looking at some ways that we can guide our audience's attention and control their focus.
Listen to these examples.
To start, I'd like to highlight the chart in the top left of the slide.
To start, I'd like to highlight the chart in the top left of the slide.
For now, let's focus on the graph right in the middle of the slide.
For now, let's focus on the graph right in the middle of the slide.
If you could draw your attention please to the bottom right of the slide.
If you could draw your attention please to the bottom right of the slide.
Okay, let's start with that word draw.
In the third example, we heard, "If you could draw your attention please to the bottom right of the slide." To draw your attention.
I think we all know the main and most common use of this word, which is to use a pen or more often a pencil to create a picture, so we can take a photograph, paint a painting, and draw a picture.
However, you might not have noticed that it also appears in a lot more places in English.
At nighttime when it gets dark outside, I can draw the curtains in my bedroom or maybe draw the blinds.
When an archer shoots an arrow, they draw their bow.
They draw their bow.
When you want to take some cash out of your bank account, then we say that you withdraw that money or even just draw that money out of the bank.
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