PRESENTATION LANGUAGE INTRODUCTION MAKING AN ARGUMENT (MAIN BODY): ORGANIZATION CLUES; TRANSITION CLUES

CONCLUDING ASKING QUESTIONS ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION

Greeting the audience Expressing the purpose Giving the structure Giving the timing
➢ -Good morning afternoon, ➢ Today I’ll be talking about… ➢ This talk is divided into four main parts. ➢ My presentation will take/last about 20
ladies and gentleman ➢ My purpose/objective/aim today is… ➢ To start with/Firstly, I’d like to look at… minutes.
➢ -Good morning/afternoon, ➢ What I want /I`d like to do this ➢ Then/Secondly, I’ll be talking about…
everyone. morning/afternoon/today is… ➢ Thirdly… Handling questions
➢ I would like to begin by/say a few ➢ My fourth point will be about… At the end of my talk, there will be a
words/comment on… ➢ Finally, I´ll be looking at… chance to ask questions.
➢ There are three points I’d like to make. ➢ I’m going to look at/talk about three main
I’ll be happy to answer any questions
areas…
➢ I would like to mention briefly that… you have at the end of my
➢ There are four areas I want to look at…
➢ I would like to make a few remarks ➢ In particular I want to talk about… presentation.
concerning…

Sequencing Referring to Visual Aids Giving an example Adding a Point

➢ To begin with… As you can see here… ➢ Let me give you an example (of)… ➢
➢ First of all… Here we can see… ➢ such as… / for instance… ➢ In addition,...
➢ To get started… If we look at this slide… ➢ As an/the example ➢ I might add that…
➢ Firstly, … Secondly,... This slide shows… ➢ An example of the xxx can be/is yyy ➢ Not only… , but also…
Thirdly…. Finally…. If you look at the screen, you’ll see… ➢ To illustrate this piont, let’s consider ➢ Furthermore,...
➢ At the outset… This table/diagram/chart/slide shows… ➢ I’d like to mention/bring your attention to ➢ Moreover,...
Importance Markers I’d like you to look at this… xxx, as an exmple ➢ And another thing/point/factor/
➢ The central problem is clearly Let me show you… ➢ A case in point is… consideration….
that… Let’s (have a) look at… ➢ By way of illustration…./ ➢ Just a small point,...
➢ Clearly…. On the right/left you can see… ➢ To illustrate, simply (take a) look at… ➢ Perhaps, I should mention/add/
➢ I ought to stress that… ➢ An example/ a few examples include(s)... note/say…
➢ A basic point is that… ➢ Oh, I almost forgot…

Balancing Points Digressing Generalizing Stating Preferences

➢ One the one hand xxx, but on ➢ I might just mention… ➢ On the whole,..../ Overall,.../ In ➢ I’d rather xxx than yyy
the other hand, yyy ➢ Incidentally… general,.... ➢ What I’d prefer….
➢ My preference would be
➢ In spite of zzz, I still think aaa Contrasting ➢ Generally speaking,....
➢ Preferably
➢ Despite (the fact that) bbb, I … ➢ But… ➢ To generalize…. ➢ I prefer xxx to yyy
➢ Although…, we/I should (also) ➢ However… ➢ By and large… ➢ The main advantage of xxx is (that)
think about/remember that… ➢ On the other hand… ➢ All in all,...
➢ In contrast to this… ➢ All things considered,...

Summarizing Transitions: Introducing a New Point Concluding Concluding clues

➢ What I’m trying to say is… ➢ I now want to go on to… ➢ Let me end/conclude by saying… ➢ So…
➢ Let me just try and sum that ➢ This leads/brings me to my next point, which ➢ I’d like to finish by emphasizing/ ➢ So, to sum up…
up before we move on to…
is… conclude by stating that… ➢ Thus…
➢ So far, I’ve presented/ we
have looked at … Now I’d like ➢ The next issue/question I would like to focus ➢ In conclusion I’d like to say/ I would like ➢ Therefore…
to… on/turn to is to reiterate that… ➢ To recap…
➢ Turning to…/ ➢ Allow me to conclude by
➢ Let’s now move on to/turn to… stating/saying/reiterating that…
 Transitions: Introducing a New Point Concluding Closing
➢ This leads me to my next point which is… ➢ Finally, may I say ➢ Thank you for your attention/time.
➢ (Now( I’d like to turn (briefly) to/ address/ ➢ Thank you (for listening/ very much.)
focus on…
➢ I would like to introduce a new
point/matter/consideration
➢ So far we have looked at… Now I’d like to…

Asking General Questions Asking for further information Stalling for Time Saying Nothing
➢ Would you mind…(if I ➢ Could you be a little more precise? ➢ That’s a very interesting question. ➢ Well, it’s (rather/maybe) difficult to
asked)....? ➢ I’m sorry, but could you explain in a little more ➢ That's a difficult question to answer. say…
➢ I was wondering if you…? detail. .. ➢ I’m glad you asked that question. ➢ I’m afraid I don’t have enough
➢ I wonder if you could…? ➢ Could you give us some details about…? ➢ You’ve brought up/raised a information (right now) to answer that.
➢ May I ask…? ➢ Could you expand on that? good/important/ excellent point here. ➢ I’d need/ will need to think about xxx/
➢ Would you please elaborate on that? ➢ You will appreciate how important his learn more about xxx/ look into xxx
➢ I wonder if you could explain that/ elaborate point is. further/in greater detail.
on that…
➢ Would it be possible to…?

Further Questioning/ Looking for Clarifying When Communication Not Heard Clarifying When Communication Not Clarifying After the Point Has Been Made
Clarification ➢ Sorry, I missed that. Could you say that again, Understood ➢ When you were saying/talking about/
It depends. please? ➢ Sorry, I don’t quite follow you/see what describing (to us)/dealing with/
I’m not quite sure what you mean by…
➢ Sorry, I didn’t catch/get that. Could you repeat you mean.. Could you just run through/ summing up/ showing us/ telling us…
I’m afraid I don’t quite follow…
I don’t think it’s quite as simple as it/that, please? explain that again, please? ➢ You quoted/ commented on/ made the
that… ➢ Would you mind repeating xxx, please? ➢ Could we go back to what you were point that/ (may be) said that / spoke
➢ Sorry, I couldn’t quite hear/ hear well. saying about…? on/ about/ referred to…
➢ I think I misunderstood you. Did you say…? ➢ What exactly did you mean by…? ➢ Could you tell us/ say a bit more
➢ How did you arrive at the figure of…?
about/ explain to us what you meant
➢ I’m not sure I fully understood… Can you
run through/ go back to that again, by that/ be a little more specific/ run
please? us through that again.
➢ There’s one thing I’m not clear ➢ You spoke about… Could you explain
about:...Could you go over that again, that in more detail?
please? ➢ You didn’t mention… Why not?
➢ If I understood you correctly,... Is that
right?

PRESENTATION LANGUAGE
INTRODUCTION MAKING AN ARGUMENT (MAIN BODY): ORGANIZATION CLUES; TRANSITION CLUES
CONCLUDING ASKING QUESTIONS ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION
Oral speaking presentation tips.

Here are some checklists to help you with 1) presentation language, 2) Body language and
3) Delivery.

These tips come from The EAP Foundation Website by Sheldon H. Smith (2013) at
https://www.eapfoundation.com/speaking/

Presentation language checklist

Body Language checklist:

Delivery Checklist: