[General] I spent a lot of....

[Silverobama]

I used the following sentence when I was giving my talk in an English club. I said it before I began to talk about the topic.

I spent a lot of time preparing for tonight's talk because I wanted to provide something better.

I was supposed to give the talk on April but it was postponed for almost three months. Is the italic sentence natural?

 

[Rover_KE]

... better than what?

(in April)

 

[teechar]

provide something better.

Better than what? I suggest you reword that part or clarify it or both!
[Rover beat me to it]

 

[Silverobama]

Better than what? I suggest you reword that part or clarify it or both!
[Rover beat me to it]

It's hard to explain but put it simply, "better than the things I original prepared". I wanted to say that I spent a lot of time improving the content of the talk by keeping correcting errors and improving contents. How can I idiomatically put it?

 

[emsr2d2]

I used the following sentence [STRIKE]when I was giving[/STRIKE] during my talk [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] at an English club. I said it before I began [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] the main talk. [STRIKE]about the topic.[/STRIKE]

I spent a lot of time preparing [STRIKE]for[/STRIKE] tonight's talk because I [STRIKE]wanted to provide something better[/STRIKE] wasn't happy with the talk I had originally prepared for April.

I was supposed to give the talk [STRIKE]on[/STRIKE] in April but it was postponed for almost three months. Is the italic sentence natural?

emsr2d2

 

[Rover_KE]

Your students aren't interested in how you prepare and refine your material—they just want to hear the final version of your presentation.

 

[Tarheel]

"I spent a lot of time preparing for this" is not something I would ever say. Why? It would change the focus of the talk from the topic to me. If I was there to talk about myself I still wouldn't say that. Why? It would sound too much like I was complaining.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's hard to explain but, to put it simply, "better than the things I original prepared". I wanted to say that I spent a lot of time improving the content of the talk by [STRIKE]keeping[/STRIKE] correcting errors and improving the contents. How can I [STRIKE]idiomatically[/STRIKE] put it idiomatically?

Note my corrections above. The blue parts are repetitive. Try rewording one of them.

 

[Silverobama]

Note my corrections above. The blue parts are repetitive. Try rewording one of them.

I wanted to say that I spent a lot of time making my talk better.....

Will the above sound better?

 

[tedmc]

I wanted to say that I spent a lot of time making my talk better.....

Will the above sound better?

I don't think the audience is interested in what goes into the making of your talk.

 

[emsr2d2]

I wanted to say that I spent a lot of time making my talk better.

[STRIKE]Will[/STRIKE] Would the above sound better?

No, we're back to where we started where everyone's going to say "Better than what?" My point was that in your last post you basically said "I tried to improve the contents of my talk by improving the contents". I'm sure you can see that that doesn't work.