Presenting your work at the office: Opening a presentation and stating the goal

🇩🇪 Stating the goal in one plain sentence near the start is typical in German meetings. Colleagues expect you to get to the point before the details.

💬 Bestellprozess is bestellen "to order" plus Prozess. The last part decides the gender, so it's der like der Prozess.

💬 Yes/no questions just start with the verb: Ist das Projekt...? Swap in others: Kommen Sie morgen? "Are you coming tomorrow?"

💬 erst here means "at first" or "not until", not "first" in a list, which is zuerst. erst morgen means "not until tomorrow".

💬 This is ich verstehe with the ich dropped, which is common in quick replies. It signals you've followed, not necessarily that you agree.

💬 The -tion ending is said (tsee-OHN), stressed at the end: (pre-zen-ta-tsee-OHN). Same in Information and Situation.

💬 dauern "to last" is the go-to verb for duration. German uses the present tense even for something about to happen: Wie lange dauert das? "How long will that take?"

🇩🇪 Give a realistic time and stick to it. Running over is noticed in German meetings, and colleagues may have the next appointment booked right after.

🇩🇪 Setting this rule up front is normal and not rude. Germans generally respect it, though a senior colleague may still interrupt with a quick question.

💬 German often uses the present tense for what you're about to do, so ich beginne covers "I'll start". No future form needed.

💬 After mit, die becomes der, and the adjective takes -en: die erste Folie turns into mit der ersten Folie. Same swap: mit der neuen Idee "with the new idea".

💬 Folie originally means "foil" or "transparency", from the old overhead projectors. It's now the everyday word for a slide.