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Tutor: Hello you two, have a seat … OK? So, you’re going to tell me about the presentation you’re preparing for next week’s marketing seminar, right?
Jack: That’s right. We’ve drafted this plan for you to look at …
Tutor: OK, thanks. Perhaps you could just talk me through it, could you? Sarah, do you want to begin?
Sarah: Yes. Well, we’re going to compare the websites of two bicycle companies …
Tutor: Right … And they’re called Hills Cycles and Wheels Unlimited?
Sarah: Yes. And first of all, we’ve compared the content of each site, and the presentation. Then we’ve done an evaluation of each one.
Tutor: OK… And did you find much difference between the two websites? Jack?
Jack: Quite a bit, yes. Wheels Unlimited has a lot more pages, for a start … Both companies show their catalogue – I mean pictures of different models of bike, with specifications.
Tutor: And prices?
Jack: Yes, they’re there too, although they list them in different ways – Hills Cycles have got them next to the pictures and Wheels Unlimited show them on a separate page.
Sarah: But Wheels Unlimited advertises lots of other products connected with bikes – like helmets, and clothing, and tools.
Jack: Yes, all kinds of things.
Tutor: And Hills Cycles?
Sarah: No. They only show the bikes themselves.
Tutor: OK. Well … is there anything on the Hills Cycles website that Wheels Unlimited doesn’t have?
Jack: Not really.
Sarah: Yes there is – it’s got a little photo of the original shop, and a paragraph about the history of the company – it’s family owned.
Jack: Oh yes, I forgot about that.
Tutor: Right … That’s the content then. And you compared the functions of the two websites, did you?
Jack: Yes. Hills Cycles doesn’t have any facility for online ordering. You have to ring up to order something, that’s the only way you can do it.
Sarah: Well no, you can send off for a paper catalogue with an order form.
Jack: Oh yes, I suppose so. But with Wheels Unlimited you can order online or in the conventional ways.
Sarah: That’s right.
Tutor: Fine. OK. And what about the presentation? Did you find any particular differences there? Or similarities? What about visuals?
Jack: As I said, both the sites have got pictures, and they’re both quite attractive, but
Wheels Unlimited hasn’t got any moving graphics.
Sarah: Yes. Hills Cycles has got an animated cartoon at the top of the Home Page.
Tutor: Right. Well, it looks as if you’ve got plenty to talk about.
Sarah: There are other things too, but those are the main things we noticed.
Tutor: OK, well you’d better stick to the most obvious differences, because you’ve only got ten minutes for the whole presentation, haven’t you? And you said you’re going to evaluate each site as well, didn’t you? How are you going to do that? I mean what criteria will you use?
Sarah: We thought we’d use three criteria: how attractive each website is, how userfriendly it is, and how closely it targets its potential customers. Do you think that’s OK?
Tutor: Sounds fine. But I’d look at the criteria in a different order if I were you. Because really you’ve got to look at attractiveness and user-friendliness in relation to the people the website is aiming at. So, I’d deal with that criterion first if I were you.
Sarah: Right.
Tutor: What about the timing? Have you thought of that? Ten minutes is very short you know.
Jack: Yes. We tried it out.
Sarah: Several times!
Jack: And we’ve decided to spend four minutes comparing the two sites, then three minutes evaluating them, and leave three minutes for questions. That’s not really enough, but …
Tutor: Well it sounds about right to me. You’ve got ten minutes altogether and you have got to stick to that limit. It’s good practice, and at least the audience won’t have time to get bored! What visuals are you going to use?
Jack: We’re going to use Powerpoint and a flip chart as well.
Sarah: So we can show two things at once. For example, we’re going to start by showing the Home Pages of each website, and we’re going to put up a list of key features on the flip chart at the same time.
Tutor: OK. And it’s a joint presentation, so have you decided how you’re going to share the work?
Jack: Yes. First we thought we’d keep taking it in turns to speak – Sarah would say a bit, then I’d take over, and so on. Then we thought we’d just divide it into two equal parts and do one part each. But it was all too complicated. So Sarah’s going to do all the talking, and I’m going to manage the visuals. And hope we can coordinate properly!
Sarah: It’s the only way we can fit everything in.
Tutor: Well, good. You’ve obviously worked hard and you’ve been very careful with the details. Only one thing I would say: make sure that you keep your visuals simple. I mean, if you’re showing a list of key features, for example, you should make it as brief as possible. Just use bullet points and simple phrases, even single words. Your audience won’t have much reading time. It’s a classic mistake with seminar presentations to present so much information that the audience can’t process it quickly enough, and they stop listening to what you’re saying. OK?
Jack: Yes. Right. OK.
Tutor: And now let’s talk about …