Presentation Language for Non-native Speakers
Useful expressions for non-native speakers giving presentations
Presenting well is a challenge for everyone. As a non-native English speaker, you may find it particularly frightening to do presentations in English. The table below will help you learn the English phrases and expressions you need to deliver more effective presentations. You don’t need to learn all of them; read them aloud and mark just the one or two expressions, in each category, that you feel most comfortable with. Then, use them as you rehearse for your upcoming presentations.
Introduction
| Function | Language Possibilities |
|---|---|
| Getting Started |
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Good afternoon. Good evening. Morning, everyone. (informal) OK, let’s get started. (informal) |
| Introducing Yourself |
My name is… For those of you who don’t know me, my name is… I’m the Manager of the Marketing Division. I’m responsible for… I’m in charge of… |
| Welcoming the audience |
Welcome to this seminar on… On behalf of ABC Company, I’d like to welcome you to… Thanks for coming. (informal) |
| Stating your Purpose |
I’d like to talk to you about… I’d like to begin by showing you… I’ll begin by outlining… This morning, I’m going to be discussing… This afternoon, I’ll be giving you an overview… |
| Giving an Overview |
First, I’ll be… Next, I’ll… Last, I’ll… To start with, I’m going to… To begin, I’ll… After that, I’ll… Lastly, I’ll… |
Body
| Function | Language Possibilities |
|---|---|
| Signposting |
To move on, To go back, To recap, To summarize, To digress, To conclude, Next, What I’d like to do is… Now let’s turn to… |
| Clarifying |
Sorry, let me just clarify… Sorry, let me explain… Sorry, let me rephrase that… What I meant is… |
| Introducing Visuals |
As you can see, Let’s take a look at… On this chart, you can see… Let’s have a look at… |
| Highlighting Information |
I’d like to draw (your) attention to the fact that… I’d like to point out that… I’d like to highlight the fact that… I’d like you to focus on… If you look closely, you will notice that… |
| Building Rapport |
As we know, As we can see, As we can tell, I know what you’re thinking. If you’re anything like me,… |
| Giving Examples |
For example, For instance, To illustrate, A good example of this is… |
Conclusion
| Function | Language Possibilities |
|---|---|
| Inviting Questions |
Feel free to ask any questions as we go along. ( in the beginning of the presentation) At this point, if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them. ( at the end of the presentation) Now I’l try to answer any questions you may have. So, does anyone have any questions? Are there any more questions? Are there any final questions? |
Asking Questions |
Could you please elaborate on… Could you please explain what you meant by… Could you please tell me how you arrived at those figures Could you please tell us… What are the long-term effects of… How can you be sure that… How can you explain… How do you justify… |
| Concluding |
To conclude, To sum up, To summarize, |
| Making Recommendations |
I suggest… I recommend… I think… I believe… I propose… My recommendations are… |
| Thanking the Audience |
Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me here today. Thank you for being such an attentive audience.(formal) Thank you for being such a great audience. (informal) |
