Presentations
Structure a clear talk with signposting language, describe data and handle questions.
💡 Tips from the pros
- Tell them what you will tell them: an agenda slide makes you sound organised.
- Signposting phrases ("Moving on to…") help listeners follow — use them between every section.
- Describe trends with precise verbs: rise, increase, drop, fall, level off, peak.
- Pause after important points. Slower speech sounds more confident, not less fluent.
- In Q&A it's fine to say "I'll check and get back to you" — never invent numbers.
Listen to each phrase, then press the mic and say it.
Opening
Good morning, everyone. Thanks for being here.
Today I'm going to talk about…
I've divided my presentation into three parts.
Feel free to ask questions at the end.
Signposting
Let's start with…
Moving on to…
This brings me to my next point.
As I mentioned earlier, …
To give you an example, …
Describing data
As you can see from this chart, …
Sales rose sharply in Q2.
big fast increase
Costs fell slightly.
small decrease
Revenue levelled off in the summer.
stopped changing
Profits peaked in December.
highest point
Emphasising
What is really important here is…
I'd like to highlight…
The key takeaway is…
Concluding
To conclude, …
Let me briefly summarise the main points.
Thank you for your attention. I'm happy to take any questions.
Handling questions
That's a great question.
Let me put that into context.
I don't have that figure with me, but I'll send it to you.
Does that answer your question?