Graphs, Charts & Diagrams

Data can be represented in many ways. The 4 main types of graphs are a bar
graph or bar chart, line graph, pie chart, and diagram.

Bar graphs are used to show relationships between different data

series that are independent of each other. In this case, the
height or length of the bar indicates the measured value or
frequency. Below, you can see the example of a bar graph which
is the most widespread visual for presenting statistical data.

Line graphs represent how data has changed over time. This type
of charts is especially useful when you want to demonstrate
trends or numbers that are connected. For example, how sales
vary within one year. In this case, financial vocabulary will
come in handy. Besides, line graphs can show dependencies
between two objects during a particular period.

Pie charts are designed to visualize how a whole is divided into

various parts. Each segment of the pie is a particular category
within the total data set. In this way, it represents a
percentage distribution.

Diagram is a plan, drawing, or outline created to illustrate how

separate parts work and overlap at the connecting points.
How to begin a description
Once you create a fascinating graph for your presentation, it is
time to know how to describe graphs, charts, and diagrams. To
catch your audience’s attention from the very beginning, you can
use the following phrases for introduction:

• Let me show you this bar graph…

• Let’s turn to this diagram…

• I’d like you to look at this map…

• If you look at this graph, you will notice…

• Let’s have a look at this pie chart…

• If you look at this line chart, you will understand…

• To illustrate my point, let’s look at some charts…

How to describe diagrams and other

visuals: naming the parts
To describe diagrams or any other type of graphs as clearly as
possible, you should name each visual element. For example:

• The vertical axis shows… • The solid line shows…

• The horizontal axis represents… • The shaded area describes…
• This curve illustrates… • This colored segment is for…

• The red bar…

How to describe bar graphs
Bar graphs transform the data into separate bars or columns.
Generally, this type of visuals have categories on the x-axis
and the numbers on the y-axis. So, you can compare statistical
data between different groups.

The bar graphs show which category is the largest and which is
the smallest one. Each group should be independent so that the
changes in one do not influence others. The bars or columns can
be drawn either vertically or horizontally, as it doesn’t make
any difference.

The words used to describe bar chart are pretty similar to ones
used for the line charts. Let’s have a look at the exam question
to IELTS writing test, as it’s one of the major English-language
tests for non-native English speakers in the world:

And here is an excellent example of writing about bar graphs

prepared by the British Council as an answer to this exam
question. You can also use the following vocabulary to talk
about bar charts used in your presentation:
How to describe line graphs
Now, when you know how to describe bar charts, what about line
graphs? This type of charts converts information into points on
a grid that is connected with a line to represent trends,
changes, or relationship between objects, numbers, dates, etc.
These lines show movement over time affected by the increase or
decrease in the key factors.

To express the movement of the line, you should use

appropriate verbs, adjectives, and adverbs depending on the kind
of action you need to show. For this, you should use the
following vocabulary:

Verbs: rise, increase, grow, go up to, climb, boom, peak, fall,

decline, decrease, drop, dip, go down, reduce, level up, remain
stable, no change, remain steady, stay constant, stay, maintain
the same level, crash, collapse, plunge, plummet.

Adjectives: sharp, rapid, huge, dramatic, substantial,

considerable, significant, slight, small, minimal, massive.
Adverbs: dramatically, rapidly, hugely, massive, sharply,
steeply, considerably, substantially, significantly, slightly,
minimally, markedly.

There is also a list of adverbs to describe the speed of a

change: rapidly, quickly, swiftly, suddenly, steadily,
gradually, slowly.

To help you understand how you can use these words in your
presentation speech, pay attention to the sample of a line chart
with the exam question for IELTS:

The appropriate vocabulary below will help you understand how to describe such
charts:
How to describe pie charts
The pie chart is primarily used to illustrate how different parts make up a whole. The
best way to present your data in a pie chart is to compare the categories with each other.
The following comparison words can be used interchangeably:

• to compare • the majority of

• compared to • only a small monitory
• as opposed to • greater than
• versus • less than
• more than
Here we have an example of a pie chart that represents how internet users aged 16+
prefer to browse the web:
This example demonstrates the best way to summarize data by selecting and reporting
the main features:
How do you describe a bar graph?
Bar graphs divide the data into separate bars and lets you track progress over time. To
describe the graph, follow the trend from left to right and describe if it does down, up,
or stays the same.

How do you describe a line graph?

A line graph plots data in a single line over time. To describe the graph, follow it’s
progress along the horizontal access and describe whether it goes down, up, or stays the
same.

How do you describe a pie chart?

A pie chart divides data into separate sections to show which individual parts make up
the whole. To describe the chart, compare each “slice” of the chart to the others to
determine what share of the total each category has.

63 must-know business presentation phrases

Here is a list of natural-sounding phrases which you might like
to use in your next business presentation. They won’t all be
useful to everyone, but they will give you some building blocks
to structure your presentation around.

Welcoming your audience

Open with a greeting and thank people for coming. Here are some
opening statements, ranging from formal to informal:

1. Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone. Thanks for

coming. On behalf of Lego, I’d like to welcome you all to
our offices.
2. Hello everyone. I’d like to welcome you to Lego head
office, I trust that you all found us okay.
3. Hello everyone, I’m delighted to be speaking with you
today.
4. Hi everyone, I think we might still be missing a few
people but I’m going to kick things off now so we have
time to get through everything.
5. Hello and thank you all for coming. I appreciate you being
here on such a rainy Monday morning / last thing on a
Friday afternoon.
Give the topic of the presentation

Your audience knows why they are there, but it is helpful to re-
state it briefly.

6. As you all know, I am going to be talking to you about CPC

advertising best practices.
7. In this presentation, I am going to walk you through some
of the best practices in CPC advertising.
8. For the next forty-five minutes, I am going to be speaking
to you about the best practices in CPC advertising.
9. By the end of this session, you will all know a little
more about the best practices in CPC advertising.

Introducing yourself

Briefly tell the audience who you are: give your name, company,
and position. You can touch on any other information which
explains why you’re well-placed to give this presentation.

• 10. My name is Kenny Jones, and I am The Head of Marketing

here.
• 11. First of all, a little bit about my background. I
am the Head of Marketing at Lego, and I have been with the
company for seven years. Before that, I used to work
for Booking.com where I…
• 12. To introduce myself, my name is Kenny and I am
the Head of Marketing at Lego.
• 13. By way of an introduction, my name is Kenny and I head
up the Marketing department at Lego.

Give a roadmap for the presentation

Even if your presentation is short, it’s helpful for the

audience to know what you plan to discuss. It’ll keep you
focussed, and ensure that they hear facts, rather than an
endless stream of information.

• 14. My presentation will take about 45 minutes and is

divided into four sections. Section 1 is going to discuss…
 • 15. Since we only have 45 minutes to discuss this huge
topic, I’m going to keep things brief. This talk will be
divided into four sections. To start off…
• 16. I thought it would be helpful to share a road map of
what I’m planning to cover. This talk will be divided
into four sections.
• 17. I’m going to look at four different aspects of CPC
advertising in today’s presentation. Number one…

Question policy and any rules

What do you want from your audience? Do you mind being

interrupted, or will it distract you? State your expectations
and you won’t have any surprises. Consider whether you need to
announce any other rules about audience behavior.

• 18. If you have questions about anything, please kindly

wait until the end of the presentation to ask them. We’ll
have ten minutes for an open discussion at the end.
• 19. Feel free to interrupt if you have any questions.
• 20. If anything isn’t clear, put your hand up and I’ll do
my best to answer your question.
• 21. I’d be happy to answer any questions at the end of my
talk.
• 22. Unfortunately, photography isn’t allowed during this
presentation.
• 23. I would appreciate it if you could all put your phones
on silent, or turn them off for the duration of this
talk.

Beginning the main body of your presentation

Your audience now has a good idea of who you are and what to
expect. Now there’s a roomful of eyes waiting to hear your
expertise. It can help to start by turning the topic into a
question.

24. So, what is CPC advertising?

• 25. Let’s start at the very beginning. Many people ask…

If that’s not suitable for you, then try any of the following
phrases to show that your introduction is over, and the main
body will shortly begin.

• 26. Without further ado.

• 27. Let’s get started.
• 28. I’d like to start by talking about…

• 29. Let’s kick things off.

Beginning a new section of the main body

Once you’ve made your first point, try to sum it up in one

sentence. Then you are ready to start a new phrase. Here are
some options for that:

• 30. Okay so that’s Facebook ads. But what about Google

ads? Well…
• 31. Now let’s turn to Google ads.
• 32. There’s a lot more to learn about that but since we’re
pushed for time, let’s move on to Google ads.
• 33. Next up: Google ads.
• 34. Part two: Google ads.

Useful words for listing

In Ancient Greece, rhetoricians (professional public speakers)

developed tricks to hold an audience’s attention. One of them
was to number their ideas on their fingers, so that the audience
had a visual aid to follow along with. Luckily, this works even
better when showing bullet points on a PowerPoint! Here are some
ideas for how to list your points:

• 35. There are five main advantages to this approach…

firstly, … secondly, … thirdly, …
• 36. There are three main reasons why people choose Google
ads. It’s primarily because…but another key factor is…some
people choose them because…
• 37. There are five stages of the process. You start by…
then, you should…after that,
Introduce your visual aids

It’s best to give your audience something to look at to

reinforce your points. Here are some phrases to show people what
you want them to notice.

• 38. If you look at this graph, you will see…

• 39. From this chart, we can understand how …
• 40. As you can see from this infographic, our research
indicates that…
• 41. This chart shows our findings of a recent experiment
we undertook. The y-axis represents… while the x-axis
stands for…

Ending the presentation

Business presentations usually end with a summary. You can use

this to reinforce your main points (in case anyone dozed off!)
or to return to the question you discussed.

• 42. That’s it on CPC advertising for today. In brief,

we’ve covered …
• 43. Well, that’s just about all we’ve got time for today,
unfortunately. I hope you have learned something about CPC
advertising.
• 44. Well, that concludes my presentation today. To refresh
your memory, the main takeaways are the following. Number
one…
• 45. That brings me to the end of my presentation. I hope
you’re a little clearer on what CPC advertising is and
when to use it.
• 46. So to draw all that together, next time you think
about CPC advertising, consider the following factors….
That’s all from me!

Involving the audience in the discussion

You’ve said your piece, and the audience is full of new

information. Thank them for their attention and, if you feel
able to, invite them to ask you for clarifications.
 • 47. Thank you for listening. We have five minutes left
over. Are there any questions?
• 48. Thank you for your attention, I hope you’ve found this
session useful. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
• 49. Thank you for listening. I’d now like to open up the
floor to questions, so just raise your hand if there’s
anything else you want to know.

When you receive questions, don’t feel you have to leap into the
answer straight away. You can buy yourself an extra few seconds
with one of the following phrases.

• 50. Thank you for your question, Mike.

• 51. That’s an interesting question.
• 52. I’m glad you asked me that.

If you aren’t sure how best to answer a question, don’t be

afraid to ask for clarification as to exactly what information
the asker is looking for. It’s also perfectly professional to
admit when you don’t know something.

• 53. Could you clarify what exactly you mean by that,

please?
• 54. Are you asking about my experience or data from the
industry in general?
• 55. I’m afraid I don’t have those figures off the top of
my head, but if you give me your email address at the end,
I can follow up with you later.
• 56. Unfortunately, that’s slightly outside of my area of
expertise. However, I think you could almost certainly
find more information on that by…
• 57. That’s a great question and I have to say, I don’t
know for sure, but my best guess would be that…

Check in with the question asker

To really demonstrate your expertise, check that your question

has impressed the audience member who raised it.

• 58. I hope that makes sense. Is that the kind of answer

you were looking for?
 • 59. Does that answer your question?
• 60. Feel free to come and grab me afterward if you want to
discuss this further.

Thank your audience

• 61. Thank you very much for your attention.

• 62. Thank you all for coming, I really enjoyed speaking to
you today and hope this session has been useful.
• 63. Thanks for listening, do feel free to contact me via
my website or email if you think of any further
questions.