Loading…
Teaching or studying this?
All lesson plans
Lesson planC160 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Soar, Plummet, Level Off: Describing trends in presentations
Students learn precise verbs, adverbs and prepositions for describing trends and figures, practise signposting a presentation, then write a short report on a company's sales.
Business · Presentations · Data · Trends
Or download everything as a ZIP (4 PDFs)This lesson plan and its PDFs are free.
Plan at a glance
Aims
- Learn and use 21 words and phrases in 3 sets: Trend verbs, Describing speed and size, Signposting a presentation
- Read for detail: a presentation at Kestrel Bikes
- Writing task: a short sales report
Stages · 60 min
- 5 minLead-in: Pairs talk about business and share ideas with the class.
- 5 minVocabulary: Ex. 1
- 5 minLanguage focus: Go through the grammar notes together and check understanding.
- 5 minControlled practice: Ex. 2
- 5 minVocabulary: Ex. 3
- 10 minAccuracy practice: Ex. 4–5
- 10 minReading: Ex. 6
- 15 minWriting: Ex. 7
Printables
Click a page to preview it, download it or open it in a new tab.
Download all (ZIP, 4 PDFs)Grammar notes
Describing movement
- Up: rise, increase, soar (very fast, to a high level), surge (suddenly and strongly). Down: fall, drop, dip (slightly), plummet (very fast, a long way).
- No clear direction: fluctuate (up and down). Stopping: level off (stop rising or falling), stabilise (become steady after changes), peak (reach the highest point).
How much and how fast
- Adverbs after the verb: rose sharply, fell slightly, grew steadily, increased dramatically, were marginally higher.
- Adjective + noun: a sharp rise, a slight dip, a steady increase, a dramatic fall.
Prepositions with figures
- rise by 5% (the change), rise to €2 million (the new level), rise from 3% to 5%.
- a rise of 5% (noun + of), stand at 18%, peak at 4,800, level off at 3,000.
Signposting a presentation
- Let's start with… · If we look at the second quarter… · As you can see from the chart…
- This brings me to… · Let's now turn to… · Finally, …
Study tips
- Draw the shape of each verb as a tiny line graph next to it in your notebook: soar, plummet, fluctuate, level off.
- Find a chart in a news report and describe it aloud in one minute, using at least three verbs and two adverbs from this lesson.
Glossary
- Trend verbs8 items
- Describing speed and size7 items
- Signposting a presentation6 items
Complete the exercises, then check your answers.
1
Words for trends
Match each verb with its meaning. There is one meaning you do not need.
Tap an item…
…then its match
2
Describe the figures
Read the figures in each sentence and complete it with a word from the box. There is one word you do not need.
Word box
Tap a gap, then a word, or type the answer.
- a
Visitor numbers from 40,000 in June to just 6,000 in July, when the main bridge was closed.
- b
After the advert went viral, there was a sudden in demand: orders tripled in a single weekend.
- c
The share price at €48 in May and has been falling ever since.
- d
Electricity costs between €200 and €350 a month, going up and down with the weather.
- e
After two years of strong growth, sales at about 3,000 units a month and stayed there for the rest of the year.
- f
There was a slight in profits in February, from €1.2 million to €1.1 million, but they rose again in March.
- g
Sales fell in May, but they quickly in June, returning to their April level.
- h
Thanks to the new app, the number of subscribers from 5,000 to 60,000 in a year.
3
How much and how fast?
Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in capitals.
- a
Profits rose in the third quarter, from €2 million to €5 million.
DRAMATIC - b
Sales grew throughout the year, by about 2% every month.
STEADY - c
Costs were only higher than last year: up by just 0.5%.
MARGINAL - d
There were sharp in the exchange rate during the summer.
FLUCTUATE - e
The new pricing helped to demand after a difficult winter.
STABLE - f
The company made a strong in the second half of the year.
RECOVER - g
Prices fell in January but rose again in February.
SLIGHT - h
Energy prices rose after the storm, by almost 30% in a week.
SHARP
4
Find and correct the mistake
Each sentence has one wrong preposition. Write the correction.
- a
Revenue rose with 12% last year.
- b
There was a fall by 3% in the number of customers.
- c
At the end of March, our market share stood on 18%.
- d
Unemployment in the region went down from 9% until 6%.
- e
Let's now turn at the figures for the second quarter.
- f
In October, sales peaked on 3,000 units.
5
Say it more precisely
Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first. Use the word given and between two and five words, including that word.
- a
Sales went up very quickly to a record level last year.
SOARED
Sales a record level last year.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- b
The number of visitors fell very suddenly and by a lot in July.
PLUMMETED
The number of visitors July.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- c
Prices went up and down a lot during the year.
FLUCTUATED
Prices the year.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- d
Our profits reached their highest point in 2024 and then started to fall.
PEAKED
Our profits 2024 and then started to fall.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- e
After growing for three years, sales stopped increasing and stayed at the same level.
LEVELLED
After three years of growth, sales .
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- f
This leads me to my next point: our plans for next year.
BRINGS
This my next point: our plans for next year.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
6
Read: a presentation at Kestrel Bikes
Read the start of a presentation. Are the sentences true, false or not given?
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming. Today I'd like to take you through our sales figures for the past year, and then look ahead to next year. Let's start with the first quarter. As you can see from the chart, sales of our electric bikes soared from 1,200 to just over 4,000 units, mainly thanks to the new city model. Sales of our children's bikes, on the other hand, dipped slightly in February before recovering in March. If we look at the second quarter, the picture is less positive. Sales of electric bikes peaked at 4,800 in April and then plummeted to around 2,500 in June, when a delivery problem left our shops without stock for almost five weeks. In the third quarter, sales fluctuated between 2,000 and 3,000 units a month. We think the weather played a part: on rainy days, far fewer people came into the shops. Finally, the fourth quarter. Sales have stabilised at about 3,200 units a month, and our online orders have risen steadily since September. This brings me to our plans for next year.
- a
Sales of electric bikes more than tripled in the first quarter.
- b
Sales of children's bikes fell sharply in February.
- c
The fall in the second quarter was caused by problems with deliveries.
- d
The company lost several large customers in June.
- e
In the third quarter, sales were the same every month.
- f
The new city model is the company's most expensive bike.
- g
The presenter is going to talk about next year's plans.
7
Write: a short sales report
Write a report paragraph.
Your manager has asked you to describe the first six months' sales at Fieldstone Coffee, a small chain of cafés. Monthly sales (cups sold): January 8,000 · February 7,600 · March 12,500 · April 13,000 · May 13,100 · June 9,200. Write a short report (150–180 words). Describe the main trends, give the key figures and suggest one possible reason for the changes. Use at least five words from the box and one signposting phrase. Word box: soar · plummet · surge · dip · peak · level off · fluctuate · stabilise · steadily · marginally Example: After a slight dip in February, sales soared to 12,500 cups in March.
Suggested minimum: 150 words
0 words · aim for at least 150
Spotted a mistake in this lesson?· tell us the exercise and item
Revise with a game
This lesson's own words and questions. Play on your own, or in teams on the classroom screen.
- Step UpAnswer the lesson's questions to climb to the top.
- Pair UpMatch the lesson's words to their meanings against the clock.
- SnapA word and a meaning: do they go together? Answer fast.
- Fix ItFind the mistake in each sentence, then correct it.
- Quiz BoardTeams choose questions worth 100 to 500 points.
- Retro arcadeWord Invaders, Word Snake, Word Maze and Word Crossing: classic arcade games with the lesson's words.
Glossary
The 21 words and phrases this lesson teaches, in 3 sets.
Trend verbs
- soar
- rise very quickly to a high level
- surge
- increase suddenly and strongly, often for a short time
- plummet
- fall very quickly and by a large amount
- dip
- fall slightly, usually for a short time
- fluctuate
- go up and down repeatedly
- peak
- reach the highest point before starting to fall
- level off
- stop rising or falling and stay at about the same level
- stabilise
- become steady after a period of change
Describing speed and size
- steadily
- at a regular, even rate
- marginally
- by a very small amount
- slightly
- a little
- sharply
- suddenly and by a large amount
- dramatically
- very suddenly and by a very large amount
- sharp
- sudden and large: a sharp rise, a sharp fall
- steady
- gradual and regular, without sudden changes: a steady increase
Signposting a presentation
- I'd like to take you through
- introduces what the presentation will cover
- Let's start with
- opens the first part of the talk
- If we look at
- moves to a new section or set of figures
- As you can see
- points the audience to a chart or figure
- Let's now turn to
- moves the audience to the next part
- This brings me to
- links one point to the next
How was this lesson plan?
One tap helps other teachers find the best lessons, and helps us improve them.