Useful Lexis for

the Speaking
Credit
 Talking about statistics, graphs
and charts
 A quarter of (respondents)…
 Two thirds/ three-fifth of (people)…
 One in three/ten (the people surveyed)…
 Four out of five (people)…
 50% of (people)…
 Increase/rise by 25%
 Decrease/fall by 10%
 the number of…
 fell sharply/steadily
 rose sharply/steadily
 stayed the same
 According to the chart/graph,…
 the majority of (people)
 the percentage of (people who…)
Structuring your presentation
 I’d like to begin by saying…
 The first thing I’d like to say is that…
 First of all/First/To begin with,…
 Secondly/Furthermore/ What is more/…
 However/On the one hand/On the other hand,…
 Finally…
 To conclude/Taking everything into account/ All
points considered,…
Emphasising a point
 There’s no doubt in my mind that…
 Let’s not forget that…
 It’s important to bear in mind that…
 I believe very strongly that…
 I’m absolutely convinced that…
 Nobody could deny that…
 When it comes down to it,…
 Agreeing and disagreeing
 Yes, I totally agree with you.
 You’re absolutely right.
 Yes, I think that’s a good point.
 I’m not sure I agree with you.
 I’m afraid I have to disagree with you.
 I couldn’t agree more.
 I see your point but…
Making suggestions

 Why don’t we get/buy…?

 Getting/buying a … would be a good idea,
wouldn’t it?
 I’d like to suggest that we should…
 I suggest buying a …
 A good idea might be to get/buy a …
 What do you think about getting a …
 Giving your opinions
 As far as I’m concerned/know, …
 In my opinion, …To my mind, …
 To be honest, I haven’t thought about it before…
 I don’t really know much about it, but I imagine...
 If you ask me, …
 From my point of view,…
 My personal view is that …
 I tend to think that …/To the best of my
knowledge,...
 Making something clear
 I’m not sure I completely understand.
 Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.
 Sorry, could you explain what “traffic” is?
 Tell me what that means.
 Sorry, could you speak more slowly, please?
 Could you ask me that again, please?
 Would you mind repeating the question?
 Comparing and contrasting
pictures
 This is a photo of…, while the other is of…
 The first point I’d like to make…
 Another similarity is that…
 On the one hand… On the other hand…
 A key difference is…
 Another way in which they differ is that…
 As for which I would prefer…
 …where as…while…
Keeping the conversation going

 Really? How often? How? Where?

Why?
 How nice/interesting/sad/wonderful!
 Yes./Right./I understand./I see.
Closing the Conversation
 I really must go.
 I have a long day tomorrow.
 I must be off.
 I have to get up early tomorrow.
 Thank you. It was an interesting talk.
 It was great to see you again. See you
next week.