Presentation useful tips!

1

This is a list of phrases to help you make a professional presentation in English.

Good presenters always use language (sometimes single words, sometimes phrases) which shows where they are in their presentation. These ‘signposts’ make it easier for the audience to:

• follow the structure of the presentation
• understand the speaker more easily
• get an idea of the length and content of the presentation.

The sentences and phrases below follow the logical progression of a well-balanced presentation.

Welcoming

• Good morning and welcome to [name ....].
• Thank you all very much for coming today.
• I hope you all had a pleasant journey here today.

Introducing yourself

• My name is …... and I am … .
• My name is …………... from [name of school, company,...], where I am responsible for … .
• Let me introduce myself; my name is Mark Watson and I am …..

Introducing your presentation

• The purpose of today’s presentation is to … .
• The purpose of my presentation today is to … .

• In today’s presentation we’d like to … show you … . / explain to you how … .
• In today’s presentation we’re hoping to … give you an update on… / give you an overview of … .
• In today’s presentation we're planning to … look at … . / explain … .

You can also outline your presentation to give the audience a clear overview of what they can expect:

• In today’s presentation I’m hoping to cover three points:
• firstly, … , after that we will look at … , and finally I’ll … .
• In today’s presentation I’d like to cover three points:
• firstly, … , secondly … , and finally … .

Explaining that there will be time for questions at the end

• If you have any questions you’d like to ask, please leave them until the end, when I’ll be happy to answer them / when I’ll do my best to answer them.

---

2
some of the points you should cover in your introduction

• A greeting
• Your name and position
• The title of your presentation/your objective
• The purpose of your presentation
• The length of time it will take
• The main parts or points to be covered
• When your audience may ask questions
• A reference to the present situation...the human touch

A sample introduction: (see if you can identify the various points mentioned above)

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you on behalf of the Technical University of Berlin. My name is Fritz Fratz, and I'm the Manager of Student Affairs here. My objective this afternoon is to let you know about the recent changes in our organization and how they will affect you. By the end of my presentation I hope you will all have a better idea of how these changes can be used to your company's benefit.

My presentation will last twenty-five minutes. It is split into three key areas. First, a general outline of recent changes. Secondly, a more detailed study of those changes relevant to you. And thirdly, how you will be able to make use of these changes. There will be time at the end of each key area for questions. But please feel free to interrupt me as we go along. At the end of my presentation I am sure you will all be hungry, so we have prepared a buffet-lunch.

Right then, if there aren't any questions, perhaps I could begin?

Signaling a start

• Right, ladies and gentlemen. Shall we begin?
• OK, I'd like to begin by...
• Right then, everybody ...
• Are we ready to begin?
• Right. Is everybody ready?
• OK. Can we make a start?
• Is everybody here?

Introducing yourself/others

• I'd like to introduce ...
• May I introduce ... John Peters from …...
• I'd like to introduce myself ... My name is …...
• Let me introduce myself ...

A clear structure
Any presentation must be clearly structured. There should be a strong introduction and clear, logical links between the parts. The presentation should be full of information that is both relevant to the audience and meets your objective.

Structuring

• First ... Second ... Third ...
• To start with ... Next ...
• At the outset (beginning)... Then ...
• To begin with ... After this ... Finally ...

Introducing topics

• I'd like to review ...
• I want to discuss ...
• I'm going to analyze ...
• I shall go over ...
• consider ...
• cover ...
• talk about ...

Moving on

• Let's now move on to ...
• I'd like to go on to ...´
• I now want to...
• This brings me to ...

Looking back

• Let's look back for a moment ...
• To go back to ...
• As I said before ..

Adding

• In addition ...
• I might add that ...
• Furthermore ...
• Moreover ...
• Not only ... but also ...
• As well as ... there is also ...

Introducing visuals

• I'd like you to look at this graph...
• Let me show you this pie chart...
• Let's have a look at this model...
• Let's turn to this map...
• To illustrate my point let's look at some diagrams...
• As you can see from these figures...
• If you look at these photographs you'll see...
• If you look at this bar chart you'll notice...
• If you look at this histogram you'll appreciate...
• If you look at this flow chart you'll understand ...
• If you look at this matrix...

Rehearsal
Rehearsal is a vital but often neglected part of a presentation. There are many ways you can rehearse, but the best is in front of friends or family, and preferably in the room in which you will be holding your presentation.