Phrases
for Better Flowing English Presentations
Do
you give English presentations at work, but feel that you could
communicate your message in a more objective, fluid way?
Maybe
you have an English presentation coming up and want to make sure that
your speech is clear and structured so that your audience doesn’t
lose concentration and stays with you all the way to the end.
A
technique that can help you achieve objective, clear, and structured
English presentations, is to use linking
phrases that
join the separate parts of your presentation together.
English
presentations normally consist of an introduction, the main body,
individual parts of the main body, and the ending or conclusion.
To
help maintain your audience’s attention, you need to signal
when you are going from one part to another.
In
this article, I teach you 52
phrases that
do exactly this – linking the different parts together, and
therefore, making your presentation flow better. You’ll find
that these phrases will act as ‘signposts’ for the
audience when you finish one part and start another.
52
Phrases to Improve the Flow of Your English Presentations
The
Introduction
All
good presentations start with a strong introduction.
There
are a number of different ways you can begin your English
presentation. Here’s a simple, but effective introduction
structure which works for most types of business presentations:
Introduce –
Introduce yourself and greet your audience.
Introduce
the presentation topic –
Explain the reasons for listening.
Outline –
Describe the main parts of the presentation.
Question
policy –
Make it clear to your audience when they can ask questions: during or
at the end?
Here
are some phrases which you can use to structure the introduction in
this way:
Introduce
1.
Good morning/afternoon (everyone) (ladies and gentlemen).
2. It’s
a pleasure to welcome (the President) here.
3. I’m …
(the Director of …)
Introduce
the presentation topic
4.
By the end of the talk/presentation/session, you’ll know how
to… /
…you will have learned about… /
5. I
plan to say a few words about…
6. I’m going to talk
about…
7. The subject of my talk is…
Outline
8.
My talk will be in (three parts).
9. In the first part…
10.
Then in the second part…
11. Finally, I’ll go on to
talk about…
Question Policy
12.
Please interrupt if you have any questions.
13. After my talk,
there will be time for a discussion and any questions.
Main
Body
Now
that you have finished the introduction, we now need to transition to
the main body, and its individual parts in a smooth way.
There
are three parts of the main body of a presentation where linking
phrases can be used:
Beginning
the Main Body
Ending
Parts within the Main Body
Beginning
a New Part
Here
are some phrases which you can use for these parts:
Beginning
the Main Body
14.
Now let’s move to / turn to the first part of my talk which is
about…
15. So, first…
16. To begin with…
Ending
Parts within the Main Body
17.
That completes/concludes…
18. That’s all (I want to
say for now) on…
19. Ok, I’ve explained how…
Beginning
a New Part
20.
Let’s move to (the next part which is)…
21. So now we
come to the next point, which is…
22. Now I want to
describe…
23. Let’s turn to the next issue…
24.
I’d now like to change direction and talk about…
Listing
and Sequencing
If
you need to talk about goals, challenges, and strategies in your
English presentation, listing phrases can help link these together
and improve the flow of your speech. If you have to explain
processes, sequencing phrases are helpful:
Listing
25.
There are three things to consider. First… Second…
Third…
26. There are two kinds of… The first is…
The second is…
27. We can see four advantages and two
disadvantages. First, advantages…
28. One is…
Another is… A third advantage is… Finally…
Sequencing
29.
There are (four) different stages to the process.
30. First / then
/ next / after that / then (x) / after x there’s y.
31.
There are two steps involved. The first step is… The second
step is…
32. There are four stages to the project.
33.
At the beginning, later, then, finally…
34. I’ll
describe the development of the idea. First the background, then the
present situation, and then the prospect for the future.
Ending
After
you have presented the main body of your English presentation, you
will want to end it smoothly.
Here
are typical sections transitioning from the main body to the ending
of the presentation, and then inviting the audience to ask questions:
Ending
the Main Body
Beginning
the Summary and/or Conclusion
Concluding
An
Ending Phrase
Inviting
Questions and/or Introducing Discussion
Thanking
the Audience
Here
are some phrases which you can use for these parts:
Ending
the Main Body
35.
Okay, that ends (the third part of) my talk.
36. That’s all
I want to say for now on (the 2017 results).
Beginning
the Summary and/or Conclusion
37.
To sum up…
38. Ok, in brief, there are several advantages
and disadvantages.
39. To conclude…
40. I’d like
to end by emphasising the main points.
41. I’d like to end
with a summary of the main points.
Concluding
42.
I think we have seen that we should…
43. In my opinion, we
should…
44. I recommend/suggest that we…
45.
There are three reasons why I recommend this. First, … /
Second, … / Finally,…
An
Ending Phrase
46.
Well, I’ve covered the points that I needed to present
today.
47. That sums up (my description of the new model).
48.
That concludes my talk for today.
Inviting
Questions and/or Introducing Discussion
49.
Now we have (half an hour) for questions and discussion.
50. So,
now I’d be very interested to hear your comments.
Thanking
the Audience
51.
I’d like to thank you for listening to my presentation.
52.
Thank you for listening / your attention. / Many thanks for coming.
Conclusion
Linking
phrases are like the skeleton which holds your presentation together.
Not
only do they improve the flow and help guide the audience, but by
memorising them they can also help you remember the general structure
of your presentation, giving you increased
confidence.
To
help you memorise, I recommend saying the linking phrases on their
own from the beginning to the end of your presentation while you
practice.
I
also suggest memorising the introduction word for word. By doing
this, you will get off to a great start, which will settle your
nerves and transmit a positive first impression.