A presentation is a formal talk to one or more people that presents ideas or information in a

clear and a structured way. People give presentations commonly because they want to
communicate with the aim of informing, training, persuading and selling. As a university student, as
a company employee and (or) as an active member of an organization, we may have to represent
our subject in class or meeting by giving a presentation. Giving a presentation is difficult especially
when considering it is our first experience
experience of talking in front of audience where their attentions will
only focus on us. The difficulty level in holding presentation is
higher when we have to give presentation in English.
Nowadays, it has been common feature of working life to hold
presentation
ation in English which makes the presentation become
a real challenge, even for people who are expert and have many
experiences in presentation by using mother language.
Presentations are extremely important in creating
an image of our idea. The presentation
ation will be fail if we
deliver an ineffective presentation although we have an excellent
topic. The ineffective presentation will make us failed to achieve
our goals. The case encourages us to make a good, effective
and successful presentation by following
ng a few simple rules that
we will discuss completely here.
Successful presenters visualize their performance and
prepare themselves for excellence. A great presenter always appears comfortable, relaxed and in
control. They pronounce words correctly and avoid stumbling on unfamiliar words and phrases, and
their delivery flows smoothly from segment to segment. A successful presentation is one of the
most effective ways of communicating our message. Considering English is so widely used in
international business
ness so we should have good knowledge of the vocabulary and techniques used
in an English language presentation.
According to the case, this lesson has a view to provide several useful techniques that will
help us to present in English more effectively. It also give us opportunities to learn the vocabularies
that we may need when giving a presentation. It signifies that an effective presentation is able to
attract attentions from audience and successfully deliver the objective of the presentation.

English for presentation 1


The top 5 American fears are: public speaking, heights, insects and bugs, financial problems
and deep water

 More than 25 million business presentations are made everyday. The annual worldwide
presentations market (e.g. multimedia projection equipment) is estimated at $9 billion.

 Separate studies have shown that professionals considered communication skills more
important than technical skills, and that effective speaking before a group is considered to be
the main indicator of likely career advancement.

 A study done at the University of Minnesota revealed that if you stand up and give a
presentation using visual aids, audiences is 43% more likely to be more persuaded and is
willing to pay 26% more for the same product or service.

 Words alone account for 7% of the impact in the face-to-face

face face communication, voice quality
38% and visual factors 55%.

 Of all the information the mind stores, 75% is received visually, 13% through hearing, and 12%

through smell, taste and touch. Visual aids improve learning by 200%, retention by 38% and
understanding complex subjects by 25% to 40%. Visual aids in colour get an 85% higher
attention span.

 It has been estimated that an audience will forget more than 75% of what they hear within 24
hours.

 Thomas Jefferson suggested

gested that the most valuable of all talents is that of never using two
words when one word will do. Concise language reflects the principle of KISS – ‘Keep it Short
and Simple’.

Discuss these questions with other members of the group!

1. What is the purpose of a presentation?
2. What percentage of the success of a presentation is due to preparation? Why?
3. What do you need to know about your audience?
4. If the content is good, the presentation will certainly go well. To what extent is this true?
5. What methods can you use to structure your presentation, and to show this structure to your
audience?

English for presentation 2

 A preparation for presentation is crucial in order to create a good presentation because a
good preparation will affect presenters’ performance because at least presenters will be
confident and less nervous. The confident feeling is prominent because audiences will als
also be
confident in the presenter. Accordingly, the situation is beneficial for the performer to have
control of audiences and his/her presentation hence audiences will listen positively to the
message of presentation. There are several points to be conside
considered
red in the preparation of
presentation consisting of the objective of presentation, audience, place, method, time and
length, content, structure, note and rehearsal.

Before starting to prepare a presentation, the performers have to comprehend the reason
why they make the presentation whether to inform, to persuade, to train or to sell something. The
objective might be clear for the performers because if it is unclear for the performers, it will be
unclear either to audiences.

Before starting to prepare a presentation, the performers have to know audiences related
information comprising the number of audiences; who the audiences will be – whether the
audience are business people, professional people, political people, experts or non
non-experts; how
much the audiences have known already and what will they expect from the performers. Most
audiences should be addressed in layers: some are experts in our sub-area,
sub area, some are experts in
the general area, and others know little or nothing. The information above should be understood in
the presentation preparation because the type and the number of audiences will influence method
used in the delivery of presentation.

Before starting to prepare a presentation, the performers should know where the
presentation will be held, the availability of facilities and equipments, and the size of the place –
whether it will be in a small meeting room or in a large conference hall,

The method must be determined which includes what approach

approach should be used – formal or
informal, will it require many visual aids or only a few, will the performers include some humour for
variety?

English for presentation 3

 Before starting to prepare a presentation, the performers should comprehend information
primarily about the time and the length of making the presentation – will it be less than one hour or
more than one hour? will it be held just before lunch when audiences will be hungry or just after
lunch when audiences will be sleepy? The sort of information is necessary to be comprehended in
order to determine the method that will be used in delivering the presentation.

The performers must decide exactly what they want to say in the presentation. Firstly, they
should brainstorm ideas. There might be numerous ideas but performers must be selective to
solely include information that is relevant to audiences and objectives. The performers also should
be able to create a title for the presentation (if the performers are able to make a presentation title).
The title assist the performers to focus on the subject. Finally, the performers prepare visual aids (if
the presentation will use visual aids) related to the content.

The performers must have an organized presentation with a view to make it easier for
audiences to follow. It will be more effective if the performers can organize the points they wish to
make in a logical order. Most presentations are organized in three parts comprising short
introduction, body of presentation and short conclusion. The material of the structure will be
comprehensively explained in the next chapter.

It is important for performers to be spontaneous in giving presentation and avoid reading

the presentation. The performers should be familiar with the subject and with the information that
they want to deliver. Accordingly, they have to avoid reading since reading a text is boring which
will result in ineffective presentation. However, performers sometimes need a text to read in order
to remember everything they need to say. The kind of text is stated as “notes” or “cue cards” which
have key words and pares on them. The notes will give the performers confidence. However,
making notes does not always become obligation for the performers because some performers
might fully prepare presentation so they may not even need notes. Some other performers need
note by considering techniques in making notes. The performers just need to roughly write out the
presentation which is like the first draft of a written report. Afterwards, the performers should review
the draft in order to eliminate information which is irrelevant or superfluous. If there are things the
performers are unable to easily express, possibly because of doubt about our understanding, it is
better to leave the sort of information unsaid.

English for presentation 4

 Rehearsal is a vital part of preparation. The performers should spend time to practice the
presentation at least two or three times. It also becomes opportunities for the performers to prepare
words, visual aids and timing. The rehearsal will have the following benefits:
The performers become more familiar with what they want to say
The performers will identify weaknesses in their presentation
The performers will be able to practice difficult pronunciations
The performers will be able to check time that their presentation takes and make any
necessary modifications.

Equipments including overhead projector (OHP), slide projector, notebook, whiteboard,

markers and handout, are typical equipments for presentation. The equipments for presentation
have been more sophisticated nowadays combined by sophisticated technology. One of the
example is the use of Wii technology which makes the presentation becomes more attractive,
efficient and effective. Those equipments must be used appropriately because the presentation will
be fail no matter how good and sophisticated the equipments are. If the performers apply wrong
techniques dealing with the equipments, the use of equipments will be useless which finally have
negative impact on the delivery and the objective of giving presentation.
The use of slide projector and notebook assisted by PowerPoint have been commonly
used nowadays but there also have been mistakes in using these equipments. Accordingly, there
are several techniques to be considered in using these equipments:

a. Time management
The performers should keep to the time allowed. As a rule of thumb, performers should
allow 2 minutes for each PowerPoint slide but they may need longer if they want to use for
developing specific points. However, the audience will get bored with something on the screen for
more than 5 minutes, especially if the performers are inactively talking about it. As a solution, the
performers may switch the display off or replace the slide with some form of “wallpaper” such as a
company logo or interesting picture.

b. The amount of information

Slides should contain the minimum information necessary because too many information
on one slide will make the information unreadable or will divert audiences’ attention so that they
spend time reading the slide rather than listening to the performers.

c. Slides font
The performers must use the right fonts in slides. Verdana is a great title font. Arial or
Tahoma are very clear for use in presentations. Comic Sans MS can work if the performers want to
be lighthearted but can show signs of insecurity. The performers have to avoid "Times New
Roman" because this is only best for printed paragraphs.

English for presentation 5

 The majority of presentation are divided into 3 main parts (added with questions
session) as follows:

1 INTRODUCTION

2 BODY Questions

3 CONCLUSION

Questions

In brief, the introduction gives opportunities for performers to tell audiences what the
message is going to be. The body refers to a session when the performers tell their audiences the
real message. Finally, the performers summarize what the message was in the conclusion part.
The end of the conclusion part might be temporarily stated as the end of the presentation. The
questions session as shown in the exhibit signifies that questions sessions may be placed in the
middle of the presentation and (or) at the end of the presentation. The performers or the committee
of the presentation event will determine the time the questions session will take.
This lesson will focus on examples of vocabularies and phrases that may be used to help
guide the audience through
gh a body of presentation. Of course, they are only examples and
suggestions hence other vocabularies and phrases are applicable. Even within this limited group of
phrases, the performers solely choose a few they feel comfortable with and learn and use tho
those.

English for presentation 6

 The introduction is a very important part or perhaps the most important part of
presentation. It is the first impression that audiences have of the performers. The performers
should concentrate on making a right introduction and use the introduction to welcome audiences,
introduce themselves, introduce the subject of presentation, outline the structure of the
presentation and give instructions about questions.

Outline the Dealing with time,

Welcome Introduce Introduce the
presentation question and
audiences perfomers subject
structure structure

Explain why
audiences will be
interested

Before moving on to examples about welcoming audiences, it is important to get

audiences’ attention. The first few minutes of a presentation are the most important. If the
performers are able to get the audiences’ attention quickly, audiences will be interested in what the
performers have to say.

a. In general (the first step)

If I could have everybody’s attention
If we can start
Perhaps we should begin
Let’s get started
Well, since everyone is here, we should get started
We have a lot to cover today, so we really should begin
b. Ask a rhetorical question
Is market research important for brand development?
Do we really need quality assurance?
Can we really compete with the Chinese? Of course we can!
Get c. Start with an interesting fact
audiences’ According to an article I read recently, central banks are now buying
attention euros instead of dollars.
Did you know that fast food consumption has increased by 600% in
Europe sine 2002?
d. Tell audiences a story or anecdote
I remember when I attended a meeting in Paris………..
At a conference in Madrid, I was once asked the following question:……
e. Give audiences a problem to think about
Suppose you wanted to see up a new call centre. How would you go
about it?
Imagine you had to reorganise the sales department. What would be
your first step.
Imagine you won a million euros. Who would you tell first?

English for presentation 7

 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen
Good morning everybody
Hello/Hi everyone (informal)
Welcome to……..
On behalf of…., I’d like to welcome you
It’s very nice to see you all today
First of all, let me thank you all for coming here today
Welcoming
I’m happy/delighted that so many of you could make it today
audiences
I’m aware that you all have very tight schedules, so I appreciate you
taking the time to come here.
I know you are all very busy……….(informal)
It’s a pleasure to welcome you today
It’s good to see you all here. (informal)
Thank you all for coming at such short notice
I really appreciate you all for attending today

My name’s Jane Shaw. I’m responsible for travel arrangements.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name’s Tom Stotter
As you know, I’m in charge of public relation (informal)
I’m the new Marketing Manager
Introduce
Let me introduce myself. I’m Dave Elwood from………..
yourself
As probably you know, I’m the new HR manager (informal)
I’m head of logistics here at Air Spares
I’m here in my function as the Head of Controlling
Let me just start by introducing myself. My name is…….

In the example below, notice the use of terms (in bold) used in introducing the subject.

I’m going to talk about………..

The title of today’s presentation is…..
The talk is ………
One of my responsible is to introduce……
The purpose of my presentation is to introduce our new range of...
This morning I’d like to present our new processor
Today I’d like to discuss our failures in the Japanese market and suggest
a new approach
This afternoon I’d like to report on my study in the German market
What I want to do this morning is I want to talk to you about our new
mobile telephone system (informal)
What I want to do is to tell you about our successes and failures in
introducing new working patterns. (informal)
What I want to do is to show you how we’ve made our first successful
Introducing
steps in the potentially huge Chinese market
the Subject
As you/we can see on the screen, our topic today is…..
Today’s topic is……………..
The topic of today’s presentation is………….
What I’d like to present you today is…………..
The subject of my presentation is……………….
I’m here today to present our new semi-automatic shelving system.
Today I would like to………..
In my presentation, I would like to report on……..
In my talk, I’ll tell you about……….. (informal)
During the next two hours, we’ll be talking about………….
I’d like you to bring up to date on our investment plan.
This afternoon, I’m going to report on our financial position.
Today, I’d like to update you on the proposed training project
This morning, we’ll be looking at business opportunities

English for presentation 8

 My talk is particularly relevant to those of you/us who………
Explaining
Today’s topic is of particular interest to those of you/us who………
why the
My/The topic is very important for you because…………..
topic is
By the end of this talk, you will be familiar with…………
relevant for
Today’s topic will be very important for you as department heads since
audiences
I’ll need your help to evaluate and select candidate for training.

Starting the The purpose/objective/aim of this presentation is to………….

purpose of Our goal is to determine how/the best way to…………
the What I want to show you is……………..
presentation My objective is to………….

In the examples shown below, notice the use of technical terms and sequencing words
usually used when outlining the structure of presentation. In a general rule, the most common way
to structure a presentation is to have three main parts, and then subdivide them into (three) smaller
sections. Although the rule is commonly applied, it may be different in some presentations
considering the time and content of the presentation.

Point one deals with………, point two………….., and point three…...

First, I’ll be looking at…….., second…………, and third……..
Sequencing I’ll begin/start off by………. Then I’ll move on to………..
Then/Next/After that…………
I’ll end with………….

To start with I'll describe the progress made this year. Then I'll
mention some of the problems we've encountered and how we
overcame them. After that I'll consider the possibilities for further
growth next year. Finally, I'll summarize my presentation (before
concluding with some recommendations).
I’ve divided my presentation into three (main) parts: x, y and z in
my presentation. I’ll focus on three major issues. First (of all), I’ll
be looking at……, second(ly)…….., and third(ly)…….
I’ve divided my presentation into three (main) parts: x, y and z in
my presentation. I’ll focus on three major issues. I’ll begin/start
off by explaining…………. Then/Next/After that, I’ll go on to……
Outlining Finally, I’ll offer some solutions.
Structure
I’ll be talking to you today about the after-sales service plans we
offer, I’ll start by describing the various packages in detail. Then, I’ll
go on to show you some case studies. Finally, I’ll discuss how you
can choose the best plan to meet your customers’ needs.
I’ve divided my talk into three main part. First of all, I’ll tell you
something about the history of our company. After that I’ll describe
how the company is structured and finally, I’ll give you some
details about our range of products and services.
I’ll focus on three main parts: first, our joint venture in Asia,
second, the new plant in Europe. And third, our redevelopment
project.

English for presentation 9

 The final part of the introduction deals with the organisation of the talk: how long it will
last, how questions will be handled and whether there will be handouts

My presentation will take about 20 minutes

This part of the presentation will take about 10 minutes
Timing
It should take about 30 minutes to cover these issues
This won’t take more than 20 minutes of your time

Do feel free to interrupt me if you have any questions.

I'll try to answer all of your questions after the presentation.
I plan to keep some time for questions after the presentation.
If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them as we go
Giving along
instructions Feel free to ask any questions
about Please feel free to interrupt me at any time with questions.
questions Feel free to ask questions at any time during my talk.
Perhaps we can leave any questions you have until the end
There will be time for questions after my talk
We will have about 10 minutes for questions in the question and
answer period.

Does everybody have a handout/brochure/report? Please take one,

and pass them on.
Don’t worry about taking notes. I’ve put all the important statistics on
a handout for you.
Dealing with
I’ll be handling out copies of the PowerPoint slides at the end of my
handouts
talk.
I’ll email the PowerPoint presentation to you.
I’ll be passing out handouts in a few minutes
There’s no need to take notes. Everything is on the handout

This is a complete example of presentation held by the project manager of a construction

company when giving an informal presentation to his colleagues.

Hello, everyone. First of all, let me thank you for coming here today. I’m aware that
you’re all busy preparing for the annual meeting this week. So I really appreciate you
taking the time to be here. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Gordon
Selfridge, Let me just write that down for you. OK, I’m the project manager in charge of
the Bak Tower building in Dubai. This morning I’d like to update you on the current status
of work at the construction site. The information I give you today should help you with
planning your next steps.
I’ve divided my presentation into three parts. I’ll start off by showing you some
photos of the building site and discussing the progress we’ve made since January. Then,
I’ll move on to the problems we’re facing with our local suppliers. I’ll end with some ideas
for reducing labor costs that we’ve been looking into. My talk should take about 30
minutes. Please feel free to interrupt me at any time with questions. Oh, and don’t worry
about taking notes. I’ll be handing out copies of the PowerPoint slides.

English for presentation 10

 The body is the 'real' presentation. If the introduction was well prepared and delivered,
the presenters will now be 'in control', relaxed and confident. However, the presenter still
consider several key points when delivering the body of presentation such as avoid being hurry,
be enthusiastic, give time on visuals, maintain eye contact, modulate voice, keep to the
structure determined, use notes (if necessary) and remain polite when dealing with difficult
questions and (or) interruptions.

I’d like to start by…..

I’ll begin by…..
Begin the
Let’s begin by….
subject
First of all,
I’ll…..Starting with…….

Referring I’ll say more about that in a moment

Forward I’ll come back to that later on

As I said earlier (before)

As I mentioned earlier (before)
Going back to what I said earlier
Going back to something I said earlier, the situation in Chicago is serious
I’d like to go back to something Jane said in her presentation
Referring
I’d like to come back to this question later
Back
Let’s go back to what we were discussion earlier
As I said earlier, I’ll be focusing on our new sales strategies
As all you know………..
As I’ve already explained, …………….
As I pointed out in the first section, ………………

That brings me to my next point

Let’s move on to the question of….
Now we’ll move on to…..
Let me turn now to….
Next….
Turning to…..
I’d like now to discuss…...
Let's look now at...
Moving Moving on the next point
On I’d like to move on to the next point if there are no further questions
I’d like to turn to something completely different
Let’s turn now to our plans for next year
This leads to the next point, which is price.
Let’s turn now to the issue of customer service
Before I move on to my next point, let me go through the main issues once
more.
This brings us directly to my next question
Let’s now have a look at how the new division will be structured.

English for presentation 11

 I’d like to expand more on this problem we have had in Chicago
Expand
Would you like me to expand a little more on that or have you understood
or
enough?
Elaborate
I don’t want to elaborate any more on that as I’m short of time.

I’d like to digress here for a moment and just say a word of thanks to Bob
for organizing this meeting
Digress
Digressing for a moment, I’d like to say a few words about our problems in
Chicago.

For instance…..
For example …….
Let me give you an example …….
Giving
A good example….
Example
As an illustration….
To give you an example…..
To illustrate this point...

Using a verb
I’d like to stress the following point.
I’d like to draw your attention to the latest figures.
I’d like to emphasize that our market position is excellent.
I’d like to highlight main problem areas.
I’d like to point out how important advertising is for us.
It’s interesting to note that this model is selling quite well in the US.
I should repeat that our turnover last year was excellent.
I’d like to start by drawing your attention to…………….
I think you’ll be surprised to see………………
Emphasizing I’d like to focus your attention on…………..
or Using what
highlighting What is really important is how much we are prepared to invest
important What we should do is talk about intercultural problems
points What I’d like to point out here is…………………
Rhetorical questions
So, just how good are the results?
So where do we go from here?
Why do I say that? Because………
Adverb + adjective construction
It would be completely wrong to change our strategy at this point.
We compared the two offers and found the first one totally
unacceptable.
I think this fact is extremely important.

I’d like to mention some critical points in connection with/concerning

payment.
Referring
There are a few problems regarding the quality
to other
With respect/regard to prices, we need more details.
points
According to the survey, our customers are unhappy with this product.
Let’s now turn the next point, which is…………

English for presentation 12

 The first rule of preparing effective visuals is that they should be clear and easy for the
audience to follow. However, sometimes it is necessary to explain a more complicated visual and it
is always necessary to point out the most important information.

As you can see from this diagram/graph/table/…

This figures show…..
If we look at this chart……
Let’s now look at the next slide which shows………….
First, let me quickly explain the graph.
You can see that different colours have been used to indicate………….
Take a look at these figures. They clearly highlight how a combination of
two significant external focus affected our business in the first of this year
I’ll just write some figures on the board and then we will go on to discuss
the next point.
Let’s now look at our new magnetic ski rack Matternhorn which was
launched in August. On the next slide you will see an illustration of the
Matterjorn X-15.
These are the sales figure for Europe for the first three quarters of this
year. As you can see here, we’ve had a very successful year. To highlight
Referring our success even further, let’s go back to the 2003 figures on the previous
to visuals page
or Let me just flip back to it.
talking On the next page, you will see a photo of the new XTK model.
about My next slide shows how much the market has changed.
visuals Let me just show you some interesting details
To illustrate this, I’ll show you some, I’ll show you our latest poster
Let’s now have a closer look at the figure on the next page
Here we can see how many customers have complained about the service
I have a slide which shows the market development in 2005
The black line gives us the sales figures for the VB Fox
Each line on the graph indicates the production output of a different
product.
In the upper right-hand corner you can see the specification for the TP
model
The graph on the following slide shows our revenues since 2004
Now I’d like you take a look at the next slide
The names of the new models are listed across the top.
You can see the test result in the table on the right
This aspect of the problem is illustrated in the next pie chart
I’d like to draw your attention to the figures in the left-hand column

In addition to this, I’d like to say that our IT business is going very well.
Moreover/Furthermore, there are other interesting facts we should take a
Adding look at.
ideas As well as that, we can offer excellent conditions.
Apart from being too expensive, this model is also too big.
To increase sales we need a new strategy plus more people.

We’re running short on time, so let’s move on.

We’re running behind schedule, so we’ll have to skip the next item.
We only have fifteen minutes remaining and there’s a lot left to cover.
Watching
If we don’t move on, we’ll run right into lunch.
the time
We’ve spent too long on this issue, so we’ll leave it for now.
We’ll have to come back to this at a later time.
We could spend all day discussing this, but we have to get to the next item

English for presentation 13

 As you probably know, we are currently having difficulties with our new
men’s cosmetic line.
I’d like to quickly the identify the problems and then make some
suggestions on how we can deal with the consequences.
We’ve been trying to cope with these problems – the delays, the poor
Talking quality – all along, but so far we’ve not been able to find ways to prevent
about them from happening again.
(difficult)
It’s clear we can co longer continue to accept these conditions.
issues
If we don’t solve our supply problems within the next two weeks, we will
run into serious trouble with respect to our Christmas business.
Of course we’ll have to clarify a few points before we start.
This question is: why don’t we tackle the distribution problems.
We will have to take care of this problem now.

Well, that was a brief overview of the subject.

Well, I hope that has given you some ideas of……
We’ll, I’ve told you about…..
That’s all I have to say about….
So, to put it in the words of the famous H. Gordon Selfridge, “The
Finishing Off customer is always right”.
(signalling Well, I don’t know whether this was helpful but I’d like to leave it here
the end of the We have all the facts. Let’s go to work now.
presentation) The one last thing I’d like to say is: it’s your choice
So, that’s all I have to say. I hope you haven’t all fallen asleep.
Well, that brings me to the end of my presentation
OK, I think that’s everything I wanted to say
As a final point, I’d like to……
I’m now nearing the end of my talk

To conclude,...
In conclusion,...
Now, to sum up...
So let me summarize/recap what I've said.
Finally, may I remind you of some of the main points we've considered
In conclusion,...
Summing Up Right, let's sum up, shall we?
I'd like now to recap...
Let's summarize briefly what we've looked at...
Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues we've covered...
If I can just sum up the main points...
I’d like to quickly recap the main points of my presentation
Recapping quickly on what was said before lunch,…….

English for presentation 14

 I’d like to sum up the main points
Let me briefly summarize what I’ve said so far
In conclusion, I’d like to highlight our company’s highly innovative
products
To conclude, I want to come back to that story I told you at the start of
my presentation and say one word: apple pie!
Before I stop, let me go through my main points again
Before I stop, let me go over the key issues again
I’ll just run through to the end of my presentation
To sum up then, we……….
I’d like to run through my main points again….
Just to summarize the main points of my talk…..
If I may briefly summarize the pros and cons.
If I could just summarize………………..

In conclusion, my recommendations are...

I therefore suggest/propose/recommend the following strategy
We’d suggest……………
Giving
We’d therefore recommend that we………..
Recommenda
In my opinion, we should…..
tion
What I’d like to suggest is………..
I suggest that we work together with our French partners
It might be a good idea to…………..

Many thanks for your attention.

Thanking May I thank you all for being such an attentive audience.
audience Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you all for listening

Oh before you leave, please make sure to sign the attendance sheet
I almost forgot to mention that we’re planning a staff banquet next
month
Don’t forget to put your ballot in the box on your way out
If I didn’t’ say this, please remember to introduce yourself to the new
Reminders trainee
Could I hear your attention again? I neglected to mention that anyone
who wants to take home some this leftover food is welcome to.
If I could all return your chair to room 7, that would be appreciated
Please take all your papers with you and throw out any garbage on
your way out.

We’ll meet again on the first of next month

Next time we meet, I’ll be sure to have those contacts for you
If anyone has any questions about anything we discussed today, feel
Follow up free to send me an email
The minutes from today’s meeting will be posted as of tomorrow
afternoon
I’ll send out a group e-mail with the voting results

English for presentation 15

 The Questions session is a good opportunity for the performers to interact with audience.
It may be helpful for the performers to try to predict what questions will be asked so that they
can prepare their responses in advance. The performers may wish to accept questions at any
time during presentation, or to keep a time for questions after presentation. Normally, it is their
decision and they should make it clear during the introduction. The performers should be polite
with all questioners, even if audiences ask difficult questions. Sometimes it is necessary to
reformulate a question or answer the question with another question or even ask for comment
from the rest of the audience.

Any questions so far?

Does everyone follow that?
Is that clear?
Does anyone/everyone know what ….is?
Are you familiar with…..?
Now I'll try to answer any questions you may have.
Inviting Can I answer any questions?
Questions Are there any questions?
Do you have any questions?
Are there any final questions?
Now I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have
We just have time for a few questions
Are there any questions?
Now has any one got any questions?

I see. So, what you’re asking is…………

If I understand you correctly, you want to know…………
OK, let me just repeat your question so everybody can hear it.
Reforming
If I could just rephrase your question, you’d like to know this will
Questions
work
OK, let me just rephrase your question so everybody can hear it.
You want to know the most effective way to reduce costs.

If you don’t mind, I’ll deal with this question later in my presentation.
Can we get back to that a bit later?
Would you mind waiting with your questions until the question and
answer session at the end?
Well, actually I’d prefer to answer your question after the
Dealing with presentation.
interruptions Sorry, but I’d rather not deal with this question now as we’ll be
looking at that in detail later on this morning.
I’m sorry, but would you mind waiting until the question period?
Sorry, If I could just finish what I’m saying
Before we move on, could we just…….?
Sorry, just one more thing……………..

English for presentation 16

 Asking for clarification
I’m sorry. Could you repeat your question, please?
I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch that
I’m afraid I don’t quite understand your question
I’m afraid I don’t quite understand your question. Could you be a bit
more specific?
Does that answer your question?

Avoiding giving an answer

If you don’t mind. I’d prefer not to discuss that today
Perhaps we could deal with this after the presentation/at some other
time.
I’m afraid that’s not really what we’re here to discuss today
Good point, but I’d prefer not to discuss that today
Dealing With I’m afraid I’m not in a position to comment on that
Questions
Admitting you don’t know the answer
Sorry, that’s not my field. But I’m sure Peter Bott from Sales could
answer your question.
I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to your question, but I’ll try to find
out for you.
I’m afraid I’m not in a position to answer that. Perhaps Maria could
help
Perhaps we could deal with this at some other time
I’m afraid I don’t know that off top of my head

Answering
We'll be examining this point in more detail….
I'd like to deal with this question..
Well, I mentioned earlier that…………

This in an example of dialogue occurred in question session.

Presenter : Are there any questions?

Susanne : Yes, I have a question. Could you give us some background information on Track
Ltd?
Presenter : Certainly. They’re one of the leading manufacturers of outdoor equipment in the UK
with more than 35 factories worldwide.
Tim : Would you mind telling us why you’ve chosen them as partners?
Presenter : No, no, not at all. The answer’s quite simple. We were very impressed with the
quality of their products and their prices are very attractive.
Annette : May I ask a question?
Presenter : Yes, of course. Go ahead.
Annette : I’d be interested to know what their terms of payment are.
Presenter : I’m afraid I can’t answer that question. I suggest you speak Sylvia Baker – she would
be the right person to ask.
Alex : Excuse me. You mentioned a London office. Does that mean we do business
through them?
Presenter : That’s right. We need to discuss the details though.

English for presentation 17

 The question session often refers to arguments time when the presenters invite
questions and the audiences give questions then it evolves into an intense discussion between the
presenters and audience and (or) even among the audiences. The arguments are also often occur
in meetings. he presenters and audiences or the member of meeting therefore should comprehend
how to make arguments politely. Accordingly, this lesson will provide examples of phrases or
vocabularies that are frequently used in making arguments.
arguments. Some of them may be discussed
above, for instance in parts of dealing with questions, dealing with interruptions, and reforming
questions and others.

Giving Questions

You were talking about software problems. What exactly do you mean by that?
Would you mind telling us whether the new software will help to improve our company’s
image”
I have another question. It’s about the piloting stage. Which division will start piloting the
software first?
You spoke about special training courses earlier, Could
Could you tell us how they will be
organised?
What are your views about………..?
Don’t you think……………..?
What do you think about………..?
What are your views on…………….?
Could I just say one thing?

Interrupting

Sorry, but……..
Excuse me for interrupting, but
Can I add here that………
I’d like to comment on that.
Can I add something?
Can I say something here?
I’d like to say something, If I may
If I could just interrupt you………
I see your point but…………….
If I could have the floor (chance to speak) for a moment…………

A conviction

I honestly feel that………. Without a doubt,

I strongly believe that……….. I’m positive…..
I’m convinced that……… I’m absolutely certain that…….

English for presentation 18

 Expressing an opinion

I think……….. I’m convinced that……….

I suppose…………. I wonder if…………….
I suspect that……….. I personally believe……………….
I’m pretty sure that………. Not everyone will agree with me, but …..
I’m fairly certain that………. To my mind…
It’s my opinion that…………. As to my opinion……
I reckon we should…….. I think we should…………
The way I see it……… It seems to me that……

Thinking about a problem

In a case like this, In this sort of situation,

In situation like this,

Supporting an argument with an unexpected fact

I. Start II. End with

Do you realize that……… Generally,

Believe it or not, By and large,
You may not believe it but……….. As a rule,
It may sound strange but………. Normally,
The surprising thing is………. Usually,
Surprisingly, On the whole
Oddly enough, Funnily enough,

Emphasising a point

That’s just the point This raises the problem of……..

But the question is………. But can’t you see………
But the real question is………

Adding comments

To start with, Just a small point,

and another thing, Perhaps I should mention…….
What’s more, Oh, I almost forgot……..

Giving a reason

I. Starting II. Continuing

The reason why……. Because of that……..

Because……… That’s why….
That’s the reason why……..
For this reason……..

English for presentation 19

 Correcting yourself & Clarifying

What I mean is………… What I’m trying to say is………….

What I meant was……………
Let me put it another way………..
What I’m saying is…………….
What I said/meant was………..
What I’m trying to say is……….
Don’t misunderstand me
If I said that, I didn’t mean to…….
Let me rephrase what I just said
The point I’m making is………….
In other words, what I mean is………

Clearing up misunderstandings

That’s not what I said at all. I’m afraid that just isn’t true
I’ve no idea who told you that. The fact of matter is….
Goodness, where did you get the idea from? Look, let’s get this straight,……

Correcting popular misconnections

I. Introducing II. Linking

Many people think……….. But in fact,

Some people say…….. But actually,
You’ve probably heard that……. The truth of the matter is….
It may see……. In reality,
The fact of the mater is……..

Not taking for granted

I. Introducing II. Linking

At first glance it looks as if…………. But in fact,

Many people think that……… But actually,
We take it for granted that………. The truth of the matter is….
It seems as if ………. In reality,
It looks like…………. The fact of the mater is……..

Demanding explanations

Can you explain why….. Why is it that…….

Do you mean to say……… How come……..
I don’t understand why……. Does this mean…….

Expressing reservation

Yes, but…….. That would be great, except……

Yes, but don’t forget……. That’s a good idea but……

English for presentation 20

 Offering a counter-argument

Even so, That’s probably true, but…….

Even if that so, Possibly, but………..
That may be so, but…..

Generalising

As a rule, Time and again

Generally, Every so often
Usually From time to time
Most of the time Every now and then
Again and again

Illustrating your point

For example, For one thing…..

For instance, To give you an idea
Take the way (he/she/it)……. Look at the way
Take for example By way of illustration

Restating

So what you’re saying is……. If I understand you correctly,

So what you’re really saying is…… So you mean that……
In other words,

Agreeing

Hear! Hear! I agree!

You’re absolutely right So do I !
You said it Neither can I !
I quite agree Precisely! Exactly!
I’m really glad you brought that up I couldn’t agree with you more (I agree)

Disagreeing

That’s just not true Rubbish!

Oh, come on! Don’t give us that!
I take/see your point but……….. I’m not sure how relevant that is
OK, but what if…… I agree with what you say about X, but…..
Yes, but have you thought about……?

Questioning Relevancy

That’s not really the point We’re losing sight of the main point
I’m not sure how relevant that is I’m not so sure about that

English for presentation 21

 Stalling

Well, let me see…. How should I put it

Well, let me think Let’s put it this way
I’ll have to think about that The best way I can answer that is…..
That’s a good question Mm, that’s a difficult question. Let me see.

Requesting clarification (Asking for Repetition)

Would you mind repeating that? Sorry, I don’t follow you

Sorry, I didn’t catch the last part
Sorry, you’ve lost me
Could you repeat that please?
Could you speak up a little please
So, you’re saying we should do X?
What do you mean by X?
What was that again?
I’m sorry, what did you say?
Sorry, could you say that again?
I’m not 100% clear on that.
So you don’t think so?
Could you please speak up. We can’t hear
you at the back

Asking for repetition again

Sorry, I still don’t understand Could you say that last bit again?
I’m afraid you’ll have to speak more I’m sorry, you’re going to have to speak
slowly even louder.

Checking Understanding & Asking for Confirmation

Are you with me? Do you get it?

Are you still with me? Do you get the message?
Is that clear? Do you get the idea?
OK so far? Do you see my point?
Have you got it? Do you understand what I mean?
Do you understand so far? Do you see what I mean?
Do I make myself clear? Do you follow me?
Does that seems to make sense (to you)? Do you agree with me?

Confirming

Yes, I see what you’re getting at. Yes and no, it seems a bit of contradiction to me
Yes, perfectly I go along with you when you say X, but not with Y

Pausing for time

Now, where was I? Sorry, I’ll just have to think about that
What was I saying?

English for presentation 22

 Moving on
I think we’ve covered that point now
Shall we move on to the next point?
Recapping, Concluding & Signalling to close
If I could just summarize……………..
So what you are saying is………….
Anything else anyone wants to add?
I think we’ve covered just about
everything
I think we can finish them
I think we’ve covered everything on the
list
Well, look at the……..we’ve finished
ahead of schedule for once
I’m afraid we’re going to have to cut this
meeting short. I’ve just been informed of
a problem that needs my immediate
attention
Regaining Focus
Let’s tick to the task at hand, shall we?
I think we’re steering off topic a bit with this
I’m afraid we’ve strayed from the matter at
hand
You can discuss this among yourselves at
another time
Voting
All in favour? (Those who agree raise
their hands or say “Aye”.
All opposed?
Motion to hire more tour guides
seconded by Noal.
(When another person agrees with the
motion, it is seconded.)
English for presentation
Sorry, just one more thing………..
Let’s move on to the next point now
In other words you think……………
I’ve understood you correctly, you…….
So, we’ve decided that……….
So I think we can draw the meeting to
close
It looks like we’ve run out the time, so I
guess we’ll finish here
I guess that will be all for today
If no none has anything else to add, then I
think we’ll wrap this up
We’ve lost sight of the point here.
This matter is not on today’s
agenda.
Let’s save this for another meeting.
Getting back to item number five
………
Motion to hire more tour guides, move by
Thomas
(Suggestions or ideas that are put to a
vote are called motions. When a person
makes a suggestion, the term to use both
during the meeting and in the minutes is
moved.)
23
 It is necessary for students of Business English to evaluate other students’ performance
when giving presentation. This
his activity has a view to make students comprehend weaknesses and
strengths in presentations held by their colleagues. In this way, students are able to think what
make the presentation good (or bad) thus hopefully they may improve their performances when
giving presentation by applying proper vocabularies, phrases and techniques.
The instrument to evaluate presenter performance is shown in the table below. The
evaluation is divided into three parts evaluation comprising content, presenter and the structur
structure of
presentation. The numbers (1 – 8) column refers to students’ number as presenter which signifies
that each student evaluate eight different presenters. The number of presenters evaluated (eight
presenters) is a subject to change associating with how many
many students in class are. Each student
will value the presenters’ performance by giving mark with a range of 0 to 100. Additionally,
students may write further information relating to the presentation (optional).

Student
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
A CONTENT

1 Is there a sense of focus or structure?

2 Is the presentation organized & coherent?

B PRESENTER
1 Voice projection

2 Use of paralanguage (stress, pause, space)

3 Eye contact

4 Facial Expression, body language

5 Confidence, relaxed & comfortable projection

6 Time management
C STRUCTURE
1 Short Introduction

2 Body of presentation

3 Short conclusion

4 Questions session

What did you like best about this presentation?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
What are some ways to improve the presentation?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

English for presentation 24