Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Business English Special - Part II

Once again, we'd like to share with you Business related video lessons from our partners at English Attack! Both of the ones we are sharing today are from TED talks.

To view the activities, you will need PREMIUM access to English Attack! For being part of our community, we grant you a 1 week free trial, no purchase necessary.  To validate it, simply go to the English Attack! Video Booster of the Day BOX (located on this page, on the right column) and sign up at English Attack! at no cost by clicking on the "More Videos" tabThen proceed to the business Video Boosters recommended on this post.

Business Video Booster 1: The Next Steve Jobs?
Like most kids his age, Thomas Suarez loves to play video games. After all, he's only 12. However, unlike most children his age, he taught himself how to create those games. But not only is this young man a brilliant apps developer. He is also a great presenter. You will not want to miss the opportunity to practice your English and find out how this young genious is helping other kids become game developers.

After doing the activity you will be able to actively use and explain the following concepts in English:
  • Apps
  • Whac-a-Mole
  • suite
  • app club
  • pilot program

Business Video Booster 2: Miss Zero Bullet Points
And when it comes to presentations, you will not want to miss the brilliant advice of one the leading experts on the subject, Melissa Marshall. In this TED talk, she brings a message to all scientists from the rest of us non-scientists. She tells them, "we're fascinated by what you're doing... (but please) tell us about it -- in a way we can understand."  In just 4 minutes, she shares powerful tips on presenting complex scientific ideas to a general audience in easy tips.

But as many in business know, sometimes even if we are not scientists, we also present information is a way that is unnecessarily complicated.

  • wonderland
  • bullet points
  • overwhelmed
  • nerdy
If you missed the last Business English Special, check it out right here.

BUT the real great thing about this material is that now, PLS has new special and very affordable courses that combine English Attack! activities with dynamic PLS teacher-led workshop activities. To find out more, contact us at

Thanks once again for stopping by and we'd like to you a very Happy, Safe and Successful New Year!


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Business English Special - Part I

En PLS hacemos todo lo posible para brindarles cursos, workshops y herramientas para acercar el inglés a miles de profesionales que confían en nosotros día a día.

Por eso, en esta ocación acercamos el contenido especial de dos Video Boosters especiales de Business English provistos por nuestros partners de la innovadora plataforma online English Attack!

Para visualizarlos necesita acceso a English Attack! PREMIUM, pero por ser parte de nuestra comunidad, le brindamos una semana a dicho servicio. Para validarlo, simplemente realicen las actividades del Video Booster del día (ubicado en el cuadro de English Attack de ésta página, en la colúmna a la derecha >>) y luego registrense gratuitamente en English Attack!). Luego, proceda a realizar los Video Boosters de Business English recomendados:

Temario de Video Boosters:

TEMA 1 - Starting Meetings Effectively
Comenzamos viendo un tema central de todas las empresas - las reuniones de negocios - y aprendiendo en inglés maneras de hacerlas más eficientes.

TEMA 2 - 4 Ways to Think Like an Innovator
Abrimos la mente para ver cómo podemos ser más creativos en la búsqueda de soluciones y hacer grandes productos o servicios. Y todo mientras aprendemos inglés. (basado en material del Harvard Business Review)

Cada Video Booster no lleva más de 10 minutos de realizar, y las instrucciones lo van guiando paso a paso. Pero recomendamos hacerlo más de una vez para fijar los conceptos.

Una vez que caduque la semana PREMIUM, podrán seguir haciendo el material gratuito de Video Boosters de English Attack! o bien preguntar por los planes de empresa de English Attack! a través de PLS que están a un precio especial no disponible en la página de English Attack! e incluyen actividades y workshops adicionales.

En English Attack! además de Video Boosters, podrán practicar con listas de PhotoVocabs temáticos muy variados y relevantes y practicar a través de Juegos de aprendizaje. Aquí destacamos uno muy bueno basado en una charla de TED.  Ver Aquí

Monday, October 15, 2012

STORIES: The Most Effective BUSINESS Communication TOOL

Overlooked in business until recently, storytelling tunes into our ancestral quest for insight on the world and its wonders.

In fact, stories read to us as children taught us to organize our own experience in the way of a story. So whether you like it or not, Cinderella, Star Wars or The Hardy Boys had a hand in shaping your vision of yourself. Your story.

Cognitive psychologists have written volumes about this, so has Joseph Campbell.

But here's the bottom line. As adults, we continue to organize our experiences in story form. In fact,  the story template is embedded deep within our psyche. We are intrinsically familiar with it.

This is why stories move us.

The fact that business doesn't take advantage of this when communicating is simply a leftover from the linear "inside the box" industrial era mentality . In today's mash-up world, new combinations and innovation are simply necessary for survival. There's a new generation of buyers and sellers out there and they don't want to be spoken to with the same deliverance their grandaddy was.

Why? Because they're tired of being "sold to", of being told that companies have always been great and perfect and everything about them shines. That's a crock, businesses know it, and so does everyone and their dog. But here's the thing. People still need stuff, they still want to do business, and yes, they still want to make a buck. And they can accept that the road to success ain't easy or pretty.

That's why deep down inside they're looking for a deeper connection, a sign that whatever they've decided to do has a meaning beyond the obvious commercial transaction.

That meaning could be the name of a product or a project or perhaps, its scope, its design, its back-story. Or all of the above. But it will only reach this potential stakeholder in the way of a message that has some sort of semblance to a story. Facts and figures might support an argument rationally, but they will achieve nothing on the emotional plane.

And folks, there's very little emotion in your average business communication piece. Read a press release, website copy, or listen to the average key note speech and draw your own conclusions.

Today's volatile and challenging business world requires messages to stand out. To be meaningful. To draw us in. To connect to the audience. 

So who can lend a hand?

Business Communication Consultant / Writer & Producer Pablo Ponce de Leon can. His extensive experience in Film and Television - including Hollywood - combined with his years working as communication consultant for businesses in Latin America make him the ideal candidate to help you establish a meaningful connection to an audience in any business situation.

So forget pie charts and bullet points and get ready to take your audience on the journey of human experience! Pablo's business storytelling method is ideal for, but not limited to:
  • Sales Presentations
  • Product Presentations
  • Key Note Speeches
  • Social Media Marketing Campaigns
  • Exhibit Concept Creation
  • Staff training
  • Ad Copy
  • Web Copy
  • Blogging
  • Video presentations
  • Online advertising
  • Buzz marketing concepts
His upcoming PLS Workshop "Storytelling in Business" will help provide insight into how to make use of this tool for your business communication in English. But as you'll discover, the skills will be quite useful to you in your native language as well.

For more information: contact PLS at:

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A MOVIE about... a Word Collocation

In language, when two or more words are commonly used together, it is called a word collocation. That's why when students ask the meaning of a word out of context, we often try to first see if the word is used "alone", which is often not the case or if it's often part of something bigger.

There are verb collocations, noun collocations and special collocations for every field imaginable: business, medicine, technology and as we'll see today, music. (see links below for details)

So to understand the logic behind collocations, let's focus on a special case. Let's take the word air. Naturally, we'll assume you know the basic meaning of this word. After all, you're breathing it.

Now, there are many word collocations that begin with the word air that are popularly used in the English language. So let's check out a few:

air force - a military force that uses aircraft to engage the enemy

air conditioner - a device that provides climate control to cool a house or a building

air hockey - a game played on a table that sprays out air on its surface, whereby players must shoot a hockey puck into their opponent's goal; also known as table hockey

air guitar - an activity that involves imitating a guitar player when we don't have a guitar, practiced by kids and teenagers across the world

As you can see, each one is quite different than the simple word air. So, what about the movie, right?

We were just getting to that part. So just like there is air guitar, what would you call an activity that involves mimicking a drummer when you don't have a drum set?

air drumming

So to end this blog post, we have a full comedy movie that deals with this topic.

Adventures of Power

"Adventures of Power" (Subtitulado en Español) por AriGoldFilms


Ari Gold, the star and director of this comedy provided free special access to his film to viewers in Latin America, when he was unable to get distribution in those countries. The movie stars some well-known actors like Micheal McKean (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Jane Lynch (40 year-old virgin) and Adrian Greiner (Entourage).

Enjoy the movie and feel free to recommend it, as it is a very legal copy.

For more on collocations, please check out:

This excellent guide:

This fun quiz:

And as a final note, if you can "air guitar" or "air drum", what else can you "air do" for fun?

Thursday, August 30, 2012


By now, we all know that Neil A. Armstrong - who passed away earlier this month - was the first man to walk on the moon. But who was he and what was he like?



 Be sure to check out this VIDEO Tribute to Earth's first Lunar Pioneer  









Armstrong was decorated by 17 countries. He was the recipient of many special honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the Congressional Gold Medal; the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; the Explorers Club Medal; the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy; the NASA Distinguished Service Medal; the Harmon International Aviation Trophy; the Royal Geographic Society's Gold Medal; the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's Gold Space Medal; the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award; the Robert J. Collier Trophy; the AIAA Astronautics Award; the Octave Chanute Award; and the John J. Montgomery Award.

Armstrong passed away on Aug. 25, 2012 following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. He was 82

But his legacy to Humankind will live on forever.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

STEVE JOBS And his Secret Presentation Skills

Throughout the world, many people in business still continue to be fascinated by Steve Jobs and his remarkable of legacy as a revolutionary innovator, clear communicator and presenter of ideas.

And yet, few embrace this simplicity when they have to give business presentations.

The fact is: the late Steve Jobs did not sell computers; he sold an experience. The same holds true for his presentations. If you study them, you will see that they are meant to inform, educate, and entertain. An Apple presentation has all the elements of a great theatrical production—a great script, heroes and villains, stage props, breathtaking visuals, and one moment that makes the price of admission well worth it.

Here are the five elements of every Steve Jobs presentation. We invite English Users to incorporate these elements into your own presentations to sell your product or ideas the Steve Jobs way. Here are the highlights:

1. A headline. Steve Jobs positions every product with a headline that fits well within a 140-character Twitter post. For example, Jobs described the MacBook Air as "the world's thinnest notebook." That phrase appeared on his presentation slides, the Apple Web site, and Apple's press releases at the same time. What is the one thing you want people to know about your product? This headline must be consistent in all of your marketing and presentation material.

2. A villain. In every classic story, the hero fights the villain. In 1984, the villain, according to Apple, was IBM (IBM). Before Jobs introduced the famous 1984 television ad to the Apple sales team for the first time, he told a story of how IBM was bent on dominating the computer industry. "IBM wants it all and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple." Today, the "villain" in Apple's narrative is played by Microsoft (MSFT). One can argue that the popular "I'm a Mac" television ads are hero/villain vignettes. This idea of conquering a shared enemy is a powerful motivator and turns customers into evangelists.

3. A simple slide. Apple products are easy to use because of the elimination of clutter. The same approach applies to the slides in a Steve Jobs presentation. They are strikingly simple, visual, and yes, devoid of bullet points. Pictures are dominant. When Jobs introduced the MacBook Air, no words could replace a photo of a hand pulling the notebook computer out of an interoffice manila envelope. Think about it this way—the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words. In some presentations, Steve Jobs has a total of seven words in 10 slides. And why are you cluttering up your slides with too many words?

4. A demo. Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain gets bored easily. Steve Jobs doesn't give you time to lose interest. Ten minutes into a presentation he's often demonstrating a new product or feature and having fun doing it. When he introduced the iPhone at Macworld 2007, Jobs demonstrated how Google Maps (GOOG) worked on the device. He pulled up a list of Starbucks (SBUX) stores in the local area and said, "Let's call one." When someone answered, Jobs said: "I'd like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please. No, just kidding."

5. A holy smokes moment. Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that neuroscientists call an "emotionally charged event." The emotionally charged event is the equivalent of a mental post-it note that tells the brain, Remember this! For example, at Macworld 2007, Jobs could have opened the presentation by telling the audience that Apple was unveiling a new mobile phone that also played music, games, and video. Instead he built up the drama. "Today, we are introducing three revolutionary products. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device…an iPod, a phone, an Internet communicator…an iPod, a phone, are you getting it? These are not three devices. This is one device!" The audience erupted in cheers because it was so unexpected, and very entertaining. By the way, the holy smokes moment on Sept. 9 had nothing to do with a product. It was Steve Jobs himself appearing onstage for the first time after undergoing a liver transplant.

One more thing…sell dreams.

Charismatic speakers like Steve Jobs are driven by a nearly messianic zeal to create new experiences. When he launched the iPod in 2001, Jobs said, "In our own small way we're going to make the world a better place." Where most people saw the iPod as a music player, Jobs recognized its potential as a tool to enrich people's lives. Cultivate a sense of mission. Passion, emotion, and enthusiasm are grossly underestimated ingredients in professional business communications, and yet, passion and emotion will motivate others. Steve Jobs once said that his goal was not to die the richest man in the cemetery. It was to go to bed at night thinking that he and his team had done something wonderful. Do something wonderful.

Make your presentations engaging.

There is a new book about this topic, written by Carmine Gallo. Check it out! The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

Saturday, June 30, 2012

The ART of Power Point Presentations

Power Point presentations are something that a lot of people who work around the world do on a frequent basis. And many times, when the audience is international they must do them in English.

The question is: are they doing them right? And what about you?

For today's post, we'll take a look at a video with some key tips on the Art of Power Point presentations from Terri Sjodin, a well-known author, speaker and consultant in the field of business communication.

1. First, WATCH it once and try to understand the main idea. Try to see what Terri has to say about the following:

  • How important are colors, fonts and effects in a presentation?
  • How do you decide when to keep or scrap a Power Point slide?
  • What is a true and authentic visual aid?
  • Is the number of slides important? Why?

2. Now READ the transcript in detail. You may play it as you read if you like.

So then a lot of people say, "Terri, you don't understand... that's why I use my Power Point in my laptop because I think that that will make it a lot better".

I'm like... OK, now I don't want you to shoot the messenger here because sometimes visual aids truly can enhance your sales presentation. As long as they are truly and authentically a visual aid.

But most of the time, people use Power Point or their lap top presentations as a crutch to get them through their own material.

Pretend you for example are sitting in front of someone, a sales representative who's coming to pitch you. And they say, "Hey, I'm so excited about our meeting today. Tell you what I'm going to do. I'm just going to crack this laptop. I've got some great charts. I've got some great graphs."

And as soon as they start cracking that laptop, what's the first thing that runs through your mind? "Oh, my God! How long is this going to be?". As soon as we see a sales rep cracking a laptop, we starting thinking... 'cause it looks like they're moving in.

So we move forward. And they're like, "You don't understand. I use different colors. I use different fonts. Some of my slides come off like that. Some of them come off like that. I have this one that comes off like a paper airplane. It goes like that! Shhhzzt! It is so good".

I said, "You're right. I'm riveted."

Power Point is not necessarily the enemy. But the way that people execute from Power Point is typically the enemy. And I want you to remember this: when it comes to visual aids, you are the star and the visual aid is the bit player. If ever your visual aid starts to upstage you, you lose control of the presentation.

And here is the easiest thing to remember. Look at all of your slides before you make any presentation. And if you can look at those slides and you can ask yourself this question: "Is this slide for me or is it for them?". Because if it's for you to get you through your presentation, scrap it. If it's for them, so that they can visually understand your presentation better, then keep it. And that's the variable.

Now, here is this. Most people go... I'm a travel agent. I'm selling tickets to Hawaii. Most people would go: "Bullet point number one: You should go to Hawaii because they have beautiful white sand beaches. Bullet point number two: You should go to Hawaii because they have incredible dancing hula girls. Bullet point number three: You should go to Hawaii because they have incredible sunsets in the evening".

Is that a visual aid?

No. That's text and bullet points to help you get through your presentation.

A true authentic visual aid is visual. 

It should be: A picture of the white sandy beaches. A picture of the beautiful dancing hula girls and then a picture of the beautiful sunsets in the evening.

That's an authentic visual aid. But people have gone absolutely bonkers with power point.

"Oh, no, we need more slides. More slides! More slides!" 

I've seen as many as 220 slides in one sales presentation. I thought I was going to shoot myself. They're like: "What do you think?" I'm like: "I think I just found the cure for insomnia. 

3. Finally, WATCH it a third time without reading the transcript. Then try to tell another person in English what the video is about including the 4 key points.


visual aid: any tool that helps to make something more clear visually
riveted: captivated
scrap: discard something
bonkers: crazy