Repertoire of presentation phrases

Part one – introduction

  1. Signaling the start
    OK, then, shall we start?
    OK, then, I’d like to begin.
    Let’s start ...
  2. Greeting
    Good morning/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen/everyone.
    Thank you for coming.
    I’m very happy that you’ve come here today.
  3. Self-introduction
    First of all, I’d like to introduce myself.
    My name is ...
    Let me start with just a few words about myself/my own background.
    I’m ................(name) from ...............(country/city).
    I’m from ...........(organisation).
    I work as a ..............(job) for ................(organisation).
    I study .........(subject) at ................(university). I’m in my third year.
    I represent ............/ I’m a representative of ...
  4. Introducing the subject
    Today, I’m going to talk about...
    I’d like to talk to you today about ...
    I’m going to present the recent .../inform you about .../describe ...
    The subject/focus/topic of my talk/presentation/speech is ...
  5. Stating the purpose
    We are here today to decide/learn about/discuss ...
    The aim/objective/purpose today is to update you on .../give you the background to ...
    In my presentation today I’ll be discussing .../I’m going to explain ...
    What I’d like to do today is to present ...
  6. Outline (main points/sequencing/length)
    I’ve divided my presentation into four parts/sections. They are ...
    My presentation will consist of ...
    Right, I’d like to begin with my first point.
    Firstly/First of all ....................I will ...
    Secondly/then/next ................I would like to ...
    Thirdly / and then we come to ...
    After that/later........................I’m going to talk about / look at ...
    Finally/lastly/last of all I’d like to analyze/discuss/look at/consider/explain/tell you about/ show you how/speak to you about ...
  7. Inviting 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.

Part two – main body

  1. Ordering
    1. reaching the end of one point
      Right, I’ve talked about/ mentioned...
      We’ve looked at ...
      That’s all I have to say about ...
      That covers ...
    2. moving on to the next point
      Now we come to ...
      That brings us to ...
      I’d like to move on/draw your attention to my next point.
      Let’s move on to ...
      Let’s look now at ...The next thing I’d like to talk about is ...
  2. Giving reasons
    The main explanation for this is ...
    There are two reasons/explanations for this. First,... Second,...
    This can be explained by two factors. Firstly, ... Secondly, ...
    This is due to ...
    One reason for this is ...
    Another reason is ...
  3. Developing the point
    Where does that take us?
    Let’s look at this in more detail.
    What does that mean for us?
  4. Giving examples
    A good example of this is ...
    To illustrate this point, ...
    To support what I’ve said ...
    I’d like to give you some examples ...
    for instance ...
    for example ...
    such as ...
    like...
  5. Referring to visuals
    Take/Have a...
    Let’s...
    I’d like you to look at this transparency/graph/table/pie chart/flow chart/bar chart/ diagram/chart
    I’d like to draw your attention to ...
    This shows/represents ...
    As you can see ...
    If you look at ...you can see from the transparency, etc. that ...
    Let me show you ...
    Could you look at your handouts ...
    The next slide/picture/graph shows ...
  6. Relating ideas
    1. showing consequence
      therefore ...
      so ...
      consequently ...
      because of this ...
      as a result ....
    2. comparing
      similarly ...
      in the same way ...
      one similarity/difference between ......... is that ...
    3. contrasting
      but ...
      however ...
      although ...
      nevertheless...
      even though ...
      despite / in spite (of the fact that) ...
      whereas/while...
      in contrast to ...
      by contrast with ...
      on the other hand...
    4. highlighting
      in particular ...
      especially ...
      • changing the word order, e.g.: ‘What was important was the final conclusion.’ (instead of: ‘The final conclusion was important.’)
      • repeating key words, e.g.: ‘We need to compare past achievements and present achievements.’ (instead of ‘We need to compare past and present achieve- ments.’)
    5. showing an additional argument
      moreover ...
      in addition to this ...
      not only ... but also
      furthermore...

Part three – ending

  1. Signaling the end
    That brings me to the end of my presentation.
    That completes my presentation.
    That covers all I want/wanted to say today.
    Before I stop/finish, let me just say ...
  2. Summarizing
    Let me just run over the key points again.
    I’ll briefly summarize the main issues.
    To sum up...
    Let’s recap, shall we?
    If I can just sum up the main points ...
    Finally, I’d like to go over/review ...
    Firstly, I talked about ......... Secondly, I discussed......Thirdly, I looked at ......
  3. Concluding
    In conclusion ...
    I’d like to conclude by saying ...
    As a conclusion, I’d like to ...
    I’d like to leave you with the following thought/idea.
  4. Closing
    Thank you for your attention / being so attentive/listening.
    It was pleasure talking to you ...
    I will be giving you handouts.
    You will find handouts at the entrance.
    There are copies on the table.
  5. Inviting questions
    Are there any questions?
    Have you got any questions?
  6. Asking questions
    Could I go back to the point you made about...?
    I was interested in your comment on ...
    You said that ...
    Could you say a little more about that?
    Could you clarify what you said about ...?
    I‘d like to ask about ...
    May I ask you a question?
    I’m interested in your opinion about ...
    Do you mind if I ask you...
    I’m interested to know ...
  7. Handling questions
    1. clarifying
      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.
      Sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.
    2. playing for time
      That’s a good/interesting/difficult point/question/comment.
      I’m glad you raised that point.
    3. saying you don’t know
      I’m sorry I don’t have that information at this moment.
      I’m afraid I don’t know at the moment.
    4. avoiding giving answers
      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/Ms ... could answer this question.
      I’ll get back to you if time permits.
    5. checking if the questioner is satisfied
      Does that answer your question?
      Is that clear?
      Can we go on?
    6. concluding the questions
      Right, if nobody wants to ask anything else, I think we can finish here.
      Right, if there are no more questions ...
      Thank you.