A disourse analysis of English sales presentations an integrated approach

The paper illuminates register and coherence of discourse of sales presentation, which are two variables of integrated approach to discourse analysis.. The result of the study identifies

A disourse analysis of English sales

presentations: an integrated approach

Phân tích diễn ngôn bài thuyết trình bán hàng tiếng Anh: Ứ́ng du ̣ng đường hướng tổng hợp

Nguyễn Thị Hà My

University of Languages and International studies M.A Thesis Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Supervisor : Prof Nguyễn Hòa

Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract Studies investigating the sales letters and some other kinds of business

communication have shown the effective ways to write a persuasive sales letter However, very few studies are found investigating the sales presentation This paper is an attempt to deal with sales presentations– one kind of business correspondence The paper illuminates register and coherence of discourse of sales presentation, which are two variables of integrated approach to discourse analysis The result of the study identifies register and coherence factors of discourse of sales presentation From the findings, the implication for the most effective way to make a successful sales presentation in terms of register and coherence of discourse is drawn out

Keywords Tiếng Anh; Bài thuyết trình; Phân tích diễn ngôn; Bán hàng

Content

1 Rationale of the study

In theory: Up to now, only few books and researches specialize in presentations, and most of them are guidance in making presentation in general, for example: Presentation Skills for Students (Emden, J & Becker, L., 2004) This thesis desires to investigate this

new field and to be as a reliable source for a salesperson before making his sales presentation

In practice: The rapid development of economy has created various challenges to

Vietnamese companies; they are forced to act more effectively in the market One of their ways to compete with other companies is to make successful presentations to introduce

new products, in which they can provide clients with full information about new products Making an effective sales presentation becomes a challenge for businesses and business training centers when there is mostly no study or research on this field Therefore, the investigation to famous sales presentations will be a good means for enterprises to attract more customers and to get more profits

To make a persuasive sales presentation, it is undeniable to understand the discourse of sales presentation, especially register of discourse and coherence of discourse Register of discourse is investigated in terms of field of discourse, tenor of discourse and mode of discourse Coherence of a discourse is created by cohesion, relevance and discourse structure With the limited time, this paper only looks at register of discourse of sales presentation and coherence of discourse of sales presentation in terms of relevance and discourse structure

2 Aims of the Study

Due to the constraints in time and knowledge in Business English, this thesis will not able

to cover all aspects of sales presentations, this study aims at:

- Investigate register of the discourse of English sales presentations with three aspects: field of discourse, tenor of discourse and mode of discourse

- Examine factors creating coherence of the discourse of English sales presentations: relevance and discourse structure

These aims are to answer the research questions:

- What is the register in terms of field of discourse, tenor of discourse and mode of discourse, of English sales presentation?

- How coherence of discourse of English sales presentations is created via relevance and discourse structure?

3 Scope of the study

In business, there are various ways for a salesman to seek customers’ needs including sales letters, advertisements, or sales presentations, etc Within the limit of a M.A thesis, this research can only deal with one aspect of this broad area, that is sales presentations made by Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple

This study is confined to the register of sales presentations with three aspects: field, mode and tenor of the discourse Moreover, this thesis will focus on coherence of discourse of sales presentations with two factors: relevance and discourse structure

4 Methods of the study

This study adopts an integrated approach to discourse analysis, which looks into the concerned discourse in terms of register and coherence

To do this, descriptive method is used to describe data and characteristics of the population or phenomenon being studied The description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculation of variables of register and coherence’s relevant factors of discourse of sales presentations

References

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Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sales-presentation.html on

6th September 2011

Retrieved from

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-51313856/how-to-create-an-effective-sales-presentation/ on 6th September 2011

Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2010/ on 3th April 2011

Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/apple-events/wwdc-2010/ on 5th October 2010

Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/apple-events/january-2010/ on 10th April 2011

Unpublished

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