Activities ModKKK

Presentation Phrasebook
Version 1.1
Academic English material from English for University. Com
Presentation Phrasebook ©English for University. Com Freely downloadable and copiable from
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Giving a presentation
This phrasebook presents useful phrases to help you perform the functions listed below:
Phrases for your introduction Greeting your audience

Introducing yourself
Giving the topic of your
presentation
Justifying the topic of your
presentation
Giving the outline of your
presentation
Phrases for the main parts of your Introducing your first main
presentation point
Referring to research
Referring to visual data
Presenting a point of view
Analysing an argument
Emphasizing important points
Losing your way
Moving to another main point
Making recommendations
Phrases for your conclusion Making conclusions
Summarising your main points
Finishing your presentation
Phrases for managing questions Asking for questions
Answering questions
Dealing with difficult questions
Asking questions to the
presenter
Introduction
Greeting your audience, introducing yourself and giving the topic of your presentation
Good morning. My name’s ............. and I’m going to talk about ...
Good morning everybody. Thank you for coming to my talk today. My name is …… and I’m from
...
Hello. I’m .............. and welcome to my presentation about ...
Hello. My name’s .................... and today I’m going to be talking about ...
I’d like to start by introducing myself. My name’s … and the topic for my presentation today is
…
The theme of my talk is …
My presentation this morning concerns …
This afternoon I would like to talk to you about …
I shall be looking at the following areas:…
What I’d like to do is to discuss ...
I intend to discuss ...
I hope to consider the main issues around ...
This morning I am going to talk about an issue which concerns everyone …
This presentation focuses on the issue of…
Justifying the topic of your presentation
There are many concerns regarding …
… has been the subject of much debate recently and this is the topic of my presentation.
Recent research has shown that…
Did you know...........? This is the reason for my talk today.
... and this is the theme for my presentation today.
… so the purpose of my presentation today is to inform/discuss/present/analyse …
… is a growing problem in the world. For this reason I intend to focus on the issue of …
Giving the outline of your presentation
Firstly, I’m going to look at ...
Secondly, I’ll move on to the issue of ...
Then I’ll move on to examine ...
Lastly/Finally, I’ll look at / focus on ...
I have divided my talk into the following main areas: ...
I am going to divide my presentation into two main parts. First I’m going to describe …
and then I’ll move on to look at …
And in this part of my presentation I’ll be showing you some data/charts/tables …
I’ll also try to explain my findings …
In the third part of my presentation I’ll put forward some ideas about …
I’ll also be offering some recommendations on how we can solve/address/tackle the issues of …
...then I’m going to suggest some possible measures to solve these difficulties.
We’ll finish off with a question and answer session.
My talk will last about ........... minutes and there’ll be time at the end for questions.
At the end of my talk, which will last about ten minutes, I’ll be happy to answer any questions
you may have.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
Please just put your hand up if you would like to ask a question.
I’d like the presentation to be as interactive as possible, so please chip in as we go along.
I’ve got quite a lot to get through, so I’d appreciate it if you kept your questions until the end of
the presentation.
I’m happy to let you have any of the slides or information in my presentation if you would like.
If you leave your contact details I’ll be happy to send you any of the information here.
Main Parts
Introducing your first main point
Now, I’m going to start by …
Now I’d like to focus on …
First we’re going to look at …
Let’s start with …
The first problem I’d like to focus on is that of …
Turning then to my first point, ...
To begin with I’d like to say a few things about…
I’d like to begin by …
OK, so let’s start by looking at ....
I’d like to take a minute or two to define what exactly we mean by ...
I’d like to mention three points here, ...
Referring to research
Researchers have identified three key issues here, they are …
Researchers have shown quite conclusively that …
A number of recent studies, notably the ones by … and …, have shown that …
A number of studies have shown that ...
A study by … shows that ...
Research suggests/indicates that …
According to …
Figures from … show/suggest/indicate that ...
A very interesting study by … shows that…
The study by … is on your reading list and I encourage you to take a look at it. Basically, what
he found was that …
One of the most interesting studies carried out in this area by … showed that …
Referring to visual data
If you look at this table you can see that ...
The data here shows that...
Please take a handout and pass them on.
There are some handouts coming round on …
Presenting a point of view
Those in favour of … argue that …
Advocates of … claim that ...
Some people claim that … but others …
Most people/scientists would argue that …
I think it’s fair to say that ...
Personally, I think there is overwhelming evidence that ...
Evidence does seem to show that ...
Analysing an argument
Let’s take a closer look at the argument put forward by ... His main contention is that ... but he
fails to consider ...
Even if we accept the point that ... that still leaves the question of ...
The argument put forward by ... doesn’t explain ...
The weakness in this argument is that ...
This point of view is very appealing because ...
Emphasizing important points
It must be remembered that …
It should be emphasised that …
I would like to draw your attention to this point …
Losing your way
Now, where was I? Oh yes, …
If you’ll bear with me for a moment while I just glance at my notes, right, …
Erm, I’ll just need a minute to sort out the technology and I’ll be with you ...
Moving to another main point
OK, so now I’d like to turn to my next point, which is ...
Moving on, I’d like to take a look at ….
Now I’d like to move on to ...
Now let’s turn to the issue of ...
I’ll come back to that issue later...
I want to turn now to ...
Turning now to ...
Moving on now to ...
Having looked at ….. let’s now think about ...
My next point is in regards to …
That brings me to …
My final point is in regard to…
Making recommendations
Now I’d like to look at some of the measures that can be taken to alleviate the problems of …
In order to solve these problems, the following action should be considered: ...
Firstly, the government should …
The most important thing that should be done to combat the problem of ... is...
Other possible solutions would be to ...
Conclusion
Making conclusions and summarising your main points
To conclude my presentation, ...
In conclusion, ...
To summarise the main points of my presentation …
In view of the evidence I have presented I think it is fair to say that …
After all is said and done I think we can conclude that …
This is clearly a very complex issue but on the strength of the evidence I have seen I would say
that …/it seems that …
Finishing your presentation
OK we’re coming to the end of the presentation so I’d just like to thank you for listening ...
OK. That bring us to the end of my presentation.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you found it interesting.
Questions
Asking for questions
Would anyone like to ask any questions?
I’m ready to take any questions now.
If anyone has questions I’ll be happy to answer them.
Answering questions
Thanks for your question ...
Good question. I think ...
That’s an interesting question! As I see it ...
Yes, that’s an interesting point ...
Dealing with difficult questions
Hmm, that’s a good question. I don’t have the information to answer that question right now, but
I’d be happy to find out and get back to you later.
I don’t think we have enough time to go into that right now, but I’ll be happy to speak to you
one-to-one after the presentation if you would like.
That’s an interesting point, but I do think I have shown that ...
Asking questions to the presenter
Excuse me. Can you say a bit more about ...
Can you repeat your point about ...
Excuse me. I have a question about ...
I didn’t catch what you said about .... Can you repeat it please?
Are you saying that ...?
Can you suggest some reading on that topic?
ACTIVITIES : WEEK 6
Presentation Skills – Preparing (Part 1)
Surveys show that more people are afraid of speaking in public than of dying. This is not only
astounding, it’s also a problem because being able to speak well in public is an essential skills in
many careers (especially in teaching). If you have a fear of public speaking or feel anxious when
stepping up in front of a group, you are not alone. Even great speakers like Churchill experienced
this fear.
No matter who you are, you may always feel the fear of public speaking and still become
nervous before that important presentation – this is normal and like most things we’re not use to,
the fear of doing something is always worse than actually doing it. The fear of public speaking
might be with you forever. But your audience does not need to know that.
So we decided to put togethersome tips to help you on your way to becoming a successful
speaker.
#1 Key Points
Don’t try to memorize a speech. Instead, use the “key points” approach. The best public speakers
do not memorize their presentation. Instead know your topic and the issues. Then make notes for
yourself. But don’t read your speech. Instead write key words that remind you of your messages.
Write your speech notes on index cards or even your hand.
#2 Presentation structure, opening and closing
When writing your speech, write backwards. Start with the destination and work back to the
opening. You will write your speech faster and clearer if you start with the end in mind. Know
your purpose. Write the closing line that hammers home your message. Then write the points to
support your close.
Start strong with an interesting opening. It doesn’t have to be brilliant, but it has to get the
audience focused on your topic. When closing off your presentation, remember it’s the last
opportunity you have to give your audience something that will stick in their minds. You can go
back to your opening or end on a clever slogan or a call to action.
Like Aristotle said, the plot must be a ‘whole’ with a beginning, middle and end. Think of your
presentation as a story. The beginning needs to spike their interest and hold their attention, the
middle is the journey where you get deeper into the story and the end is where you close with a
lesson learnt or something dramatic that leaves an impression on your audience. How many
times have you watched a movie and switched it off before the ten minute mark? Get them
hooked on your message at the start so you keep them engaged through the presentation. Why
should they care what you’re saying? Tell them…
#3 Communication Skills
Pace, tone and pitch – Try to slow down the pace of your speech. This is a very common
problem as nervous speakers try to rush when speaking (I had this problem to begin with).
Instead, take your time, and your audience will listen more attentively. However, do not be afraid
to speed things up at times and change your pitch and tone of voice – this helps you create a
more engaging and dynamic presentation. Watch Tony Robbins on stage to understand what I
mean, he is a master communicator that does just this. Try and be natural with your audience, if
it’s not you then just relax and be you.
Use of words – Try to use simplified terminology (or ‘simple words’) to get your message across
to the audience. Stay away from jargon, unless it’s required as part of the presentation and
industry specific. Try to use short words instead of long ones as it’s easier for our brains to
process the information. Would a 7 year old kid understand what you are saying? If not, scrap it!
#4 Visual Aids
Be careful when using visual aids, including power-point. They can be both distracting and
confusing unless they are used correctly. Remember that you are presenting – use the power-
point as prompt only to recap key points and to help keep you on track. Too much information
on a visual aid can distract the audience – when they should be focussing on you. If you are
going to be using a power-point, try to reduce the amount of words on each slide to three or four
for maximum effect (just enough for our short term memory) and use pictures instead of words.
When we look at word, we look at it as a picture, so it much easier for our brains to connect with
one picture then it is with two words (hopefully that makes sense). Keep the audience engaged
and remember you are there for a reason! Oh and ditch the bullet points – the moment your
audience see’s these, they will take notes instead of being focussed on what you are saying.
5# Body Language
Body language accounts for over half of our communication, so it is important you get this right.
Anyone can say words, but it’s how you express them that keeps the audience connected to your
message. Persuasive and influential speakers always look smart and deliver significant
information. To be a great speaker, you should not forget to ponder the major communication
tool that is your body. Think about using your hands to emphasise the points, how you stand and
your facial expressions. To build a rapport with the audience they need to know they can trust
you and that comes across subconsciously through body language. Smile, be happy to be there
and emphasise key points through gestures. Don’t be afraid to move about and use the space you
have, this will change the pitch of your voice and speed of your speech, keeping it dynamic and
engaging. Stay away from hands in pockets or on your hips/behind your back.
#6 Eye contact
Many people say, you shouldn’t surf the audience with your eyes – those same people will find it
difficult doing a presentation with five hundred to a thousand people sitting in front of them. If
you can, try and talk directly to each person. The best presentation is delivered as a conversation
to every person in your audience one person at a time. If you want to be believed – talk to every
individual – looking them in the eye. Try and keep looking in all directions to engage the
audience. People usually expect the speaker to look at them when they talk, which results in
building better trust and rapport between the speaker and the audience.
#7 Get to the Point
A 2005 study by the Helsinki institute found that the average adult was able to focus on a loading
web page for only four to eight seconds before looking somewhere else. Attention spans are
short; don’t dwell on a specific subject too long and if you have to, make sure you engage the
audience through interactive questions. To make sure the audience is paying attention to
everything you say; highly persuasive speakers always try to recap the key points a few times. At
the end of the talk, re-affirming the different points covered in the presentation will result in
greater engagement of the audience.
#8 Ask questions
To keep the audience engaged try using questions. This can be something as simple as pausing to
ask if your audience understands everything you’ve presented thus far, asking what their
favourite so and so is (related to the topic) or to raise their hands if they. These type of questions
allow for interaction between the presenter and audience which means a higher level of
engagement.
Before your presentation, prepare two wild card questions. These are questions that you can use
if you lose track on your presentation. [For example if you are doing a life coaching seminar, you
might ask your audience to turn to the person next to them and explain what they appreciate in
their life – when the audience are doing this, you can then check my index note bullets and you
then know where you need to go and your next move.] Be prepared.
#9 Filler and repetitive words
You should avoid filler words such as umm, uh, like, okay, so, err. These words and phrases are
what people use to cover verbal gaps. Presenters often use them out of fear. They think, “I’ve
just finished a statement, and now I’ve got to insert something during the silence or the audience
will be bored and I won’t be able to keep their attention”. The best way of dealing with this is to
just add a pause instead (easier said than done).
#10 Feeling the Fear
We all feel fear when presenting, even the most experienced speakers. It eats you up inside and
scares you in to thinking you can’t do something. It’s linked to comfort zones, we fear the worse
and become overly anxious and enter a state of panic (your panic zone). For most people their
panic zone is standing up and speaking publicly about a subject. We internalise the fear and it
eventually becomes us. We think, ‘what if they laugh at me’, ‘what happens if I make a mistake’.
One great way of dealing with this, is an old acting method called, ‘the fourth wall’.
The concept is simple: the actors do not acknowledge the audience overtly. The audience is
looking at the action through an imaginary fourth wall. The rear of the stage is one wall, the sides
of the stage are two more walls, and the front of the stage is the fourth wall. When the actors
look directly at the audience, they are said to be ‘breaking the fourth wall’. Though sometimes
playwrights instruct actors to break the fourth wall for artistic reasons, actors are told not to look
directly at the audience. They may look at the fourth wall itself, but not at the audience.
However, as a speaker we need to engage the audience and get our message across, so you can
use this method but look in 3 different directions instead. Look to the left, the middle and right
(looking through the audience). Once you start enjoying yourself then forget the fourth wall and
revert back to the audience. However, don’t make the big mistake committed by many beginner
public speakers of just staring at the spot on the back wall. This one technique is a powerful
element of successful presentation skills. Occasionally, you might keep eye contact in one
direction only and then quickly move on. So if you do feel fear, present information to that
fourth wall instead – you’ll be surprised at what a difference this makes.
#11 Practice
Practice, practice, practice… but don’t memorize. It’s different for everybody, but one thing: If
you practice your presentation only once then you’re going to deliver a pretty poor presentation.
Try and practice a month in advance, know all key points and every detail of your slides (if you
have them).
As a presenter you should never turn to your visual aid, focus solely on the audience – know
what you’re presenting inside out. You can talk into a mirror, talk to a wall, or ask a family
member to listen. Do whatever works for you, but make sure it includes practicing out loud so
that you can get a sense of timing. Rehearse your speech on your feet at least three times. You
can rehearse parts of it in your car or sitting at your desk. But because you will eventually deliver
it on your feet (I hope), it’s essential that you rehearse standing. Get used to the feel of delivering
your presentation.
Steve Jobs was noted as somebody who was an excellent storyteller and presenter of
information, Jobs was also legendary for his preparation. He would rehearse on stage for many
hours over many weeks prior to his keynotes and product launches. He knew every detail of
every demo and every word on every slide. As a result the presentation was delivered flawlessly.
Hours and hours of practice made his presentations look polished, casual, and effortless.
#12 Be Confident
You are presenting for a reason, correct? That reason is that you know more about the subject
you are talking about then anyone else, correct? The worse-case scenario is everyone in audience
is going to learn something new. If you follow your script of key points and get across your
points passionately they’re still going to learn from you. Be confident in your ability and why
you are there. Still not confident? Pretend that you’re confident and after a while you will no
longer need to pretend that you are… you simply will be!
Final thoughts
You already have an advantage over other speakers and these twelve tips will get you started as a
successful public speaker. Just a reminder that you are unique just like your audience. Be you
and you only. Watch Gary Vaynerchuk presentations on YouTube for just that – he throws the
rule book out of the window (maybe stomps on it a few times) and does what he feels
comfortable with – which results in powerful, dynamic, interesting and energetic presentations.
Presentation Skills – See or be Seen Exercise
See or be seen is an exercise that will help presenters become less self-concious and explore the
idea of focus. This is exercise is typically used in acting classes, to teach actors how to become
more relaxed and allow them to get the best performance possible with the fear of judgement
from others. See or be seen can also be an excellent exercise for developing presentation and
public speaking skills – especially for those worried about talking in front of others.
Exercise instructions: Half the group will be the audience and remain seated. The other half, the
presenters, stand in a row facing the audience and looking above them into space. Audience
members should carefully study the faces and body language of the presenters.
The instructor tells the presenters to empty their minds and concentrate on simply being
themselves.
After a minute or two, the instructor tells the presenters to mentally visualize a room they know
well and everything in it.
After another minute or two, the instructor tells the audience and presenters to switch roles and
repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other half of the group.
Review questions
How did the presenters feelings show in their behaviour and appearance?
How did you feel with the focus on being yourself?
What did you see when the presenters switched to visualising?
How did you block the feeling of being self-concious?
What strategies could you take to avoid feeling self-concious?
This exercise teaches how worrying it can be to have someone watch you when your mind is
occupied – which is often the case with presentations. You fantasize and build up in your head
how stupid and ungainly the watcher thinks you are. This then causes the presenter to lose track
and begin making mistakes. Another common symptom is when a presenter speaks too fast to try
and rush through the presentation. It results in mental and even physical discomfort and is utterly
disabling for the presenter. Having or making mental work helps occupy the judge we all carry
within, and lets you become more relaxed and normal again.
This exercise is great when teaching presentation fundamentals and for helping new presenters
build in confidence. By learning to change their focus, presenters can become more relaxed and
less self-concious when speaking in public.

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Presentation Phrasebook

Academic English material from English for University. Com

Phrases for your introduction Greeting your audience

Hello. I’m .............. and welcome to my presentation about ...

The theme of my talk is …

My presentation this morning concerns …

This afternoon I would like to talk to you about …

I shall be looking at the following areas:…

What I’d like to do is to discuss ...

I intend to discuss ...

I hope to consider the main issues around ...

This morning I am going to talk about an issue which concerns everyone …

This presentation focuses on the issue of…

Justifying the topic of your presentation

There are many concerns regarding …

Did you know...........? This is the reason for my talk today.

... and this is the theme for my presentation today.

… so the purpose of my presentation today is to inform/discuss/present/analyse …

Giving the outline of your presentation

Firstly, I’m going to look at ...

Secondly, I’ll move on to the issue of ...

Then I’ll move on to examine ...

Lastly/Finally, I’ll look at / focus on ...

I have divided my talk into the following main areas: ...

and then I’ll move on to look at …

And in this part of my presentation I’ll be showing you some data/charts/tables …

I’ll also try to explain my findings …

We’ll finish off with a question and answer session.

I’d like the presentation to be as interactive as possible, so please chip in as we go along.

Introducing your first main point

Now, I’m going to start by …

Now I’d like to focus on …

First we’re going to look at …

Let’s start with …

The first problem I’d like to focus on is that of …

Turning then to my first point, ...

To begin with I’d like to say a few things about…

I’d like to begin by …

OK, so let’s start by looking at ....

I’d like to mention three points here, ...

Researchers have identified three key issues here, they are …

Researchers have shown quite conclusively that …

A number of studies have shown that ...

A study by … shows that ...

Research suggests/indicates that …

Figures from … show/suggest/indicate that ...

A very interesting study by … shows that…

Referring to visual data

If you look at this table you can see that ...

The data here shows that...

Please take a handout and pass them on.

There are some handouts coming round on …

Those in favour of … argue that …

Advocates of … claim that ...

Some people claim that … but others …

Most people/scientists would argue that …

I think it’s fair to say that ...

Personally, I think there is overwhelming evidence that ...

Evidence does seem to show that ...

The argument put forward by ... doesn’t explain ...

The weakness in this argument is that ...

This point of view is very appealing because ...

Emphasizing important points

It must be remembered that …