Verbal versus written style
Presenting orally demands a different style from what you use when writing. Spoken language should be clear, concise, and conversational, avoiding the complex sentences and jargon common in written texts. Adapting your language to sound natural and approachable helps your audience follow your ideas more easily. This shift from written to verbal style (or register) is essential for effective communication.
In oral presentations, the language should feel natural and approachable, as if you are having a conversation with your audience. This conversational tone helps build rapport and keeps listeners attentive. It also allows for greater flexibility in pacing and emphasis, enabling you to highlight key points effectively.
To assist with this transition from written to spoken language, below is a phrasebank of useful expressions commonly used in presentations. These phrases can help you introduce topics, link ideas, emphasise important points, invite audience participation, and conclude your talk smoothly.
Presentation phrasebank
Beginning your presentation
- There are several things that I would like to talk to you about today.
- Many people think that…
- Before we start…
- Today, I’d like to talk about…
- Let’s begin by exploring...
- The focus of this presentation is...
- By the end of this presentation, you’ll…
Providing an overview
- I’ve divided my presentation into X parts.
- First, I’m going to look at...
- After that, I’ll look at
- Next, I’ll turn to...
- And finally, I’ll focus on...
- There’ll be some time to ask questions at the end.
Adding information and linking ideas
- In addition to this…
- Furthermore…
- Perhaps I should say a bit more about…
- This leads us to...
- Another important point is...
Introducing topics and beginning a new section
- Let’s start by looking at…
- This leads us to my next point…
- Moving on to…
- Let’s think about… next.
- Now I’d like to consider…
Referring back to information and digressing
- Going back to my earlier point about…
- In the beginning, I mentioned… this is related to…
- Let me just digress here for a moment.
Emphasising and building arguments
- It’s important to note that...
- What I want to highlight here is...
- Keep in mind that…
- Aside from the fact that... there’s also the issue that...
- But, maybe some of you are thinking about...
- In fact the opposite is true. It has been shown that...
Interacting with visual materials
- As you can see from…
- If you look at this… you’ll see that...
- This diagram shows the connection between…
- The data collected can be seen in this...
- If I could bring your attention to…
Inviting participation and questions
- Does anyone have any questions so far?
- Please feel free to ask any questions during my presentation.
- I’d love to hear your thoughts on...
- Can anyone suggest…
- If anything is unclear or you’d like me to elaborate further, please let me know.
- I hope what I’ve shared has given you some things to think about.
Asking questions as an audience member
- Sorry, I didn’t understand what you were saying about… Could you explain that again?
- Could you be a bit more specific about...?
- When you were talking about… Did you mean...?
Closing your presentation and concluding
- To sum up...
- In conclusion…
- If you could take just one thing from this presentation, it’s…
- In closing, I’d like to finish by saying...
- The main points that I focused on today were…
- If there are no further questions, I’d like to finish my presentation here.
- Thank you very much for your attention. You’ve been a great audience.
Using these phrases can help you structure your presentation more clearly and communicate your ideas with confidence and clarity. Remember, adapting your language for spoken delivery is a key step in making your presentation engaging and effective.