Making Better

Presentations
in English
by
Andrew D. Miles

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
1. SIGNAL THE START

Start your speech with a phrase that catches the

public’s attention.

 Right ladies and gentlemen

 Shall we begin?
 Fine everybody. Let’s get started
 OK Guys. Are you all ready?

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
2. INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Mention your name, position and where you
come from.

 I’d like to introduce myself. I am Steve Platt,

Chief of Maintenance for Motorway Inc.
 I am Dr. Jack Smith from Barcelona. I work as a
research assistant in our R&D facility.
 My name is John Styles. I run Riversoft’s
European operations.
Making Better Presentations in English
by A. D. Miles
3. …OR SOMEONE ELSE
Always ask people how they would like to be
introduced.

 I’d like you to meet Dr Grant. She’s the Head Surgeon

at Houston Memorial Hospital.
 Let me introduce John Oats. He comes from the
Helsinki branch and will be joining our sales team.
 This is Arthur Spleen, from Marketing.

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
4. EXPRESS PURPOSE
Start by saying why you’re here.

 I’m here today to…

 What I’d like to do is…
 My objective is to…
 My aim now is to…

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
5. LIST TOPICS
Make a list of the points you’ll talk about.

 Firstly  Then
 To start  Next
 Secondly  Last but not least
 Initially  Finally
 Primarily  To end

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
6. INTRODUCE TOPIC ONE
Open every topic with an introduction.

 I’d like to review…

 I want to go over…
 We are going to analyse…
 I plan to examine…

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
7. LINK EFFECT TO CAUSE
Use these expressions if you want to
highlight the effect over the cause.

 The loss was due to negligence.

 The loss was caused bynegligence.
 The loss resulted from negligence.

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
8. LINK CAUSE TO EFFECT
Use these expressions if you want to
highlight the cause over the effect.

 Mismanagement led to losses.

 Mismanagement resulted in losses.
 Mismanagement caused losses.

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
9. EXPLAIN GRAPHS
Use these expressions to describe graphic aids.

 I´d like you to see this graph. It shows…

 Please observe this matrix. You’ll see that…
 Have a look at this model. What’s wrong with it?
 Let me show you a chart that summarises…

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
 10. DESCRIBE TRENDS
Use these expressions to talk about

 Increase  Decline
 Accumulate  Diminish
 Boost  Dip
 Escalate  Drop
 Hike  Plunge
 Raise  Shrink
 Rise  Sink
 Shoot up  Slip
 Swell  Descend

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
11. EXPRESS PROBABILITY
Use these expressions to express certainty.

 Surety: sure, definite, doubtless, inevitable, without

question, unmistakable, certain.
 Likelihood: Probable probable, likely, seeming,
expected.
 Possibility: possible, conceivable, feasible.
 Doubt: doubtful, improbable, unlikely, questionable,
remote, dubious, unsure.
 Impossibility: impossible, unfeasible, unrealisable,
unattainable, not viable.

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
12. COMPARE IDEAS
Use these expressions to describe contrast.

 But  Despite
 On the other hand
 However  Even though
 Nevertheless  On the contrary
 Nonetheless  By contrast
 Although  Conversely
 Though  Even if
 Despite
Making Better Presentations in English
by A. D. Miles
13. REINFORCE IDEAS
Use these expressions to emphasize ideas.

 Furthermore
 in addition
 as well as
 Besides
 Too
 Moreover
 Additionally
 likewise

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
14. EXPRESS OPINION
Use these expressions to give your opinion.

 My opinion is
 I would say
 In my view
 It seems to me that
 From my angle
 I see it as

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
15. RECOMMEND / REJECT
Give support Hold back support

 I urge you to approve  I’d deny support

 We are for the idea  I would eliminate
 We back your point  We should reject
 We support the plan  We must rule out
 I would go ahead  We ought to discard
 I’ll stand by you.  Let’s refuse

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
16. FINISH THE SPEECH
Use these expressions to close your
presentation.

 Move to action:
Now’s the time to / We’d better move.
 Refer back to…:
Going back to our figures / As I said before
 Summarise:
To sum up / To recapitulate

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles
17. CLOSE THE SPEECH
Use these expressions to wrap up your
speech
 Asking for questions
Have you got any query? / Would you like to ask?
 Thanking
Thank you for / It’s been a pleasure to
 Introduce the next speaker
Now, I’ll leave you with / I’d like to introduce
 Say goodbye
Goodbye / Good afternoon, everyone

Making Better Presentations in English

by A. D. Miles