Conclusions - useful phrases

• We must focus our attention on ...
• What I suggest is ...
• There is a necessity for ...
• We need more ...
• We have no choice but to ...
• Appropriate measures must be taken
• The only option we have is to ...
• These changes are inevitable.
• We will have to revise our estimation.
• The result / outcome will be ...
• I strongly recommend ...
• To conclude, I am happy / I regret to announce that ...

Commenting trends - useful phrases

• Increases :
  • a slight/constant/marked/substantial/increase in sales
  • an increase of about/roughly/approximately/in the region of ... %
  • a little over/above what we predicted
  • the recovery/upturn began in (month)
  • an overall increase in ...
  • an upward trend in the demand for ...
  • sales reached record levels / reached a peak in (month)
  • a strong surge in the sales of ...
  • by (month), the figure had risen to ...
  • we predict that sales will soar in the coming year / over the next ... months
• Decreases :
  • just under our target
  • way below our expectations
  • a slight / notable / significant decrease in ...
  • the downturn began in (month)
  • the situation began to deteriorate in (month)
  • the number has continued to fall
• Fluctuations :
  • a slow start developed into steady progress in sales
  • an initial upward trend was followed by ...
  • we note slight fluctuations through the year
  • normal seasonal variations are the cause of occasional downward trends
  • sales have been (rather) irregular
  • the level / the rate has been unstable since ...
  • you will note a certain instability in the rate of ...

Graphs - Charts

Presenting Visuals -  useful phrases & vocabulary :

• As you will see from this graph ...
• I'd like to show you this chart on which you will see ...
• Let me draw your attention to this part of the graph.
• Let's look more closely at this month's figures.
• This figure refers to the sales in China only.
• This pie chart shows our share of the European market today.
• As you can see, our main competitor has an even bigger share.
• The bar chart represents sales in our Asian outlets.
• Here you can see a comparison between ...
• On the line graph you will note :
  
  
  • a strong upward trend in the sales of product A ...
    • despite occasional fluctuations ...
    • with a slight drop during the holiday season ...
    • with occasional variations due to ...
    
    
  • the overall performance of product B is good. 
    • The initial surge in sales was followed by a period
      of slower growth in the second half of the year.
    • The instant success of the product was followed by a 
      period of stability in the level of sales.

Employment - Jobs

Word	Meaning
assessment	Evaluation of one's abilities
background	Education - qualifications - experience
bonus	Additional payment to an employee as an incentive or reward
curriculum vitae	Summary of one's education and experience to date;  resume
dismiss	Discharge from employment (to fire, to sack, to let go)
employee	Person who works for a firm or company.
employer	Person or firm who employs people.
fire	To dismiss from a job.
fringe benefits	Advantages offered in addition to salary (life insurance, retirement scheme, company car, etc.). Also called 'perks', abbreviation for 'perquisites'.
hire	Employ or take on personnel in a company.
interview	Oral examination of a candidate for employment.
make redundant	Dismiss for economic reasons.
maternity leave	Period of absence for a female employee when having a baby.
notice	Advance warning of intention to leave one's job - to give or hand in one's resignation.
personnel	People who work for a firm or company (employees).
personnel officer	Manager responsible for recruitment, training and welfare of personnel (employees).
promotion	Advancement in rank or position in a company.
prospects	Opportunities for success or promotion in a career.
recruit	Look for and hire personnel.
resign	Leave a job voluntariily.
retire	Leave employment because of age.
sick leave	Absence because of illness - to be on sick leave.
staff	People who work for a firm or department;  employees.
strength	Strong characteristic or particular ability.
strike	To go on strike : to stop working in protest against something.
take on	Employ or hire.
trainee	Person being trained for a job e.g. a trainee salesman.
training course	A course of study to prepare for a job e.g. a computer course.
unemployment benefits	Payments made by the state to an unemployed person.
vacancy	A position to be filled.
weakness	A lack of ability or a shortcoming in character.

Computers & Information Technology

Word	Meaning
modem	A device that enables a computer to send and receive information over a telephone line (internet, email,  fax).
netiquette	Network etiquette : a set of informal rules defining proper behaviour on the internet.
portal	A website that acts as a gateway or entry point to the internet (for example, Yahoo). Typically, a portal offers a search engine and links to other sites grouped into categories, as well as news or other services.
program	A sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute in order to do a particular job.  Programs are collectively referred to as 'software'.
provider	Company that provides access to the internet.
scanner	A piece of hardware, or peripheral device, used to scan a document and create a digital copy.
spam	Unwanted, irrelevant or inappropriate e-mail messages, especially commercial advertising.  Also referred to as 'junkmail'.
spyware	Software that collects information, without your knowledge, about your web-surfing habits and uses it for marketing purposes.  Very often contained in free downloads or shareware programs.
trojan	A computer program that is hidden in a useful softwareapplication and actually used to gain access to your computer.  It then performs malicious actions such as displaying messages or erasing files. Trojans may be found in a hacked legitimate program or in free software.
videoconference	Interactive, audiovisual meeting between two or more people in different geographic locations using two-way video technology.
virus	A malicious self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents, and whose sole intent is to cause problems on a computer. It acts in a similar way to a biological virus, and the infected file is called a host.
worm	A self-replicating computer program, similar to a computer virus.  It infects additional computers (typically by making use of network connections), often clogging networks and information systems as it spreads.
wysiwyg	What you see is what you get (pronounced ' wizzy-wig'). A WYSIWYG application enables you to see on the screen exactly what will appear when the document is printed.
www	World Wide Web : a hypertext information system consisting of a network of web pages which runs on the internet and can be accessed with a browser.
zip	To zip a file is to compress it so that it occupies less storage space and can be transferred quickly over the internet.