Thursday, April 6, 2017

Useful language for making a presentation

1.    MAKING A START - Introducing yourself and your talk
Greeting, name, position:
- Good morning. My name’s (…). I’m ( the manager … ).
- Ladies and gentlemen. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience.
- Good morning. Let me start by saying just a few words about my background. I started out  in ...
- Welcome to (…). I knew I’ve met some of you, but just for the benefit of those I haven’t, my name’s (…). 
Title / subject
- I’d like to talk (to you) today about …
- I’m going to present  the recent …
                     explain our position on …
                     brief you on …
 inform you about / describe…      
  - The subject of my talk
       focus            presentation    
       topic             paper (academic)       
                               speech (usually to public audience)
Purpose / Objective
- We are here today to decide
                                  agree …
                                  learn about …
- The purpose of this talk is to update you on …
                                       put you in the picture about …
                                      give you the background to …
- This talk is designed to act as a springboard for
  discussion. Start the ball rolling.
Length
- I shall only take (…) minutes of your time.
- I plan to brief.
- This should be only last (…) minutes.
Outline / Main parts
- I’ve divided my presentation/talk into four
  parts/sections. They are (…).
- The subject can be looked at under the following
   headings: (…).
- We can break this area down into the following fields:
          Firstly / first of all … 
          Secondly / then / next …
          Thirdly / and then we come to …
          Finally / lastly / last of all ...
Questions
- I’d be glad to answer any questions at the end of my talk.
- If you have any questions, please feel free to interrupt.
- Please interrupt me if there’s something which needs clarifying.
  Otherwise, there’ll be time for discussion at the end.
Reference to the audience
- I can see many of you are …;     
- I know you’ve all travelled a long way.
- You all look as though you’ve heard this before.
- As I’m sure you know … ;          
- You may remember …
- We have all experienced …         
- As I’m sure we’d all agree …
2.    LINKING THE PARTS – Linking ideas
Sequencing / Ordering
- Firstly …    secondly …    thirdly … ;     
- Then …    next …   finally / lastly …
- Let’s start with …;  
- So that covers ....
- Let’s move/go on to … ;
- Now we come to … ; That brings us to …
- Let’s leave that (there) … ; That covers …
- Let’s get back to …;     … and turn to …
Giving reasons / causes
- Therefore / so;    
- as a result; that’s why ;
Contrasting
- But;
- however;
Comparing
- similarly;     
- in the same way;
Contrasting
- in fact;       
- actually;
Summarizing
- to sum up; 
- in brief / in short;
Concluding
- in conclusion; 
- to conclude;
Highlighting
- in particular;  
- especially;
Digressing
-By the way ;  
- in passing;
Giving examples
- For example / for instance;  
- such as;     
6. FINISHING OFF - Endings
Signaling the end
- That brings me to the end of my presentation.
- That completes my presentation.
- Before I stop / finish, let me just say …
- That covers all I wanted to say today.
Summarizing
- Let me just run over the key points again.
- I’ll briefly summarize the main issues.
- To sum up …
- Briefly …
Concluding
- As you can see, there are some very good  reasons …
- In conclusion …
- I’d like to leave you with the following thought / idea.
Recommending
- So, I would suggest that we …
- I’d like to propose … (more formal).
- In my opinion, the only way forward is …
Closing
- Thanks.
- Thank you for your attention.
- Thank you for listening.
- I hope you will have gained an insight into …
Inviting questions
- I’d be glad to try and answer any questions.
- So, let’s throw it open to questions.
- Any questions?
7. QUESTION TIME – Asking and answering questions.
Welcoming a question
- Go ahead  / Please do / Certainly.
- That’s a good question.
- That’s interesting.
Clarifying a question
- If I understand you correctly, you are saying / asking …
- I didn’t quite catch that.
- Could you go over that again?
- I’m not sure what you’re getting at.
Avoiding giving an answer / or taking time to think before answering
- Perhaps we could deal with that later.
- Can we talk about that on another occasion?
- I’m afraid that’s not my field.
- I don’t have the figures with me.
- I’m sure Mr. (…) could answer that question.
- That’s interesting, but I’d prefer not to answer that
   today.
Checking the questioner is satisfied
- Does that answer your question?
- Is that clear?
- May we go on?

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