Hold back support/Reject

Making Better Presentations in English

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.

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 faculty.

· My name is John Styles. I run Riversoft’s European operations.

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.

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 (goal) now is to…

List topics

Make a list of the points you’ll talk about.

· Firstly

· Secondly

· Primarily

· Next

· Finally

· To start

· Initially

· Then

· Last but not the least

· To end

Introduce topic one

Open every topic with an introduction.

· I’d like to review…

· We are going to analyze…

· I want to go over…

· I plan to examine…

Link effect to cause

Use these expressions if you want ti highlight the effect over the cause.

· The loss was due to negligence.

· The loss was caused by negligence.

· The loss resulted from negligence.

Link cause to effect

Use these expressions if you want ti highlight the cause over the effect.

· Mismanagement led to losses.

· Mismanagement resulted in losses.

· Mismanagement caused losses.

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 summarizes…

Describe trends

Use these expressions to talk about.

· Increase

· Boost

· Hike

· Rise

· Swell

· Diminish

· Drop

· Shrink

· Slip

· Accumulate

· Escalate

· Raise

· Shoot up

· Decline

· Dip

· Plunge

· Sink

· Descend

Express probability

Use these expressions to express certainty.

· Surety: sure, definite, doubtless, inevitable, without question, unmistakable, certain.

· Likelihood: probable, likely, seeming, expected.

· Possibility: possible, conceivable, feasible.

· Doubt: doubtful, improbable, unlikely, questionable, remote, dubious, unsure.

· Impossibility: impossible, unfeasible, unrealizable, unattainable, not viable.

Compare ideas

Use these expressions to describe contrast.

· But

· Nevertheless

· Although

· Despite

· Even though

· By contrast

· Even If

· However

· Nonetheless

· Though

· On the other hand

· On the contrary

· Conversely

Reinforce ideas

Use these expressions to emphasize ideas.

· Furthermore

· As well as

· Too

· Additionally

· In addition

· Besides

· Moreover

· Likewise

Express opinion

Use these expressions to give your opinion.

· My opinion is

· In my view

· From my angle

· I would say

· It seems to me that

· I see it as

Recommend

Give support

· I urge you to approve

· We back your point

· I would go ahead

· We are for the idea

· We support the plan

· I’ll stand by you

Hold back support/Reject

· I’d deny support

· We should reject

· We ought to discard

· I would eliminate

· We must rule out

· Let’s refuse

Finish the speech

Use the 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…

· Summarize: To sum up… / To recapitulate…

Close the speech

Use the expressions to wrap up your speech.

· Asking for questions: Have you got any query? / Would you like to ask?

· Thanking: Thank you for… / I’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.

Survival Language

In modern English, Presentations tend to be much less formal than they were even twenty years ago. Most Audience these days prefer a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain structure to a Presentation that you should observe.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 985