presentation idioms phrases

52 Phrases for Better Flowing English Presentations

/ Steven Hobson / Business English , English Presentations , Vocabulary

Do you give English presentations at work, but feel that you could communicate your message in a more objective, fluid way?

Maybe you have an English presentation coming up and want to make sure that your speech is clear and structured so that your audience doesn’t lose concentration and stays with you all the way to the end.

A technique that can help you achieve objective, clear, and structured English presentations, is to use linking phrases that join the separate parts of your presentation together.

English presentations normally consist of an introduction, the main body, individual parts of the main body, and the ending or conclusion.

To help maintain your audience’s attention, you need to signal when you are going from one part to another.

In this article, I teach you 52 phrases that do exactly this – linking the different parts together, and therefore, making your presentation flow better. You’ll find that these phrases will act as ‘signposts’ for the audience when you finish one part and start another.

52 Phrases to Improve the Flow of Your English Presentations

The introduction.

All good presentations start with a strong introduction.

There are a number of different ways you can begin your English presentation. Here’s a simple, but effective introduction structure which works for most types of business presentations:

Introduce – Introduce yourself and greet your audience. Introduce the presentation topic – Explain the reasons for listening. Outline – Describe the main parts of the presentation. Question policy – Make it clear to your audience when they can ask questions: during or at the end?

Here are some phrases which you can use to structure the introduction in this way:

1. Good morning/afternoon (everyone) (ladies and gentlemen). 2. It’s a pleasure to welcome (the President) here. 3. I’m … (the Director of …)

Introduce the presentation topic

4. By the end of the talk/presentation/session, you’ll know how to… / …you will have learned about… / 5. I plan to say a few words about… 6. I’m going to talk about… 7. The subject of my talk is…

8. My talk will be in (three parts). 9. In the first part… 10. Then in the second part… 11. Finally, I’ll go on to talk about…

Question Policy

12. Please interrupt if you have any questions. 13. After my talk, there will be time for a discussion and any questions.

 Main Body

Now that you have finished the introduction, we now need to transition to the main body, and its individual parts in a smooth way.

There are three parts of the main body of a presentation where linking phrases can be used:

Beginning the Main Body Ending Parts within the Main Body Beginning a New Part

Here are some phrases which you can use for these parts:

Beginning the Main Body

14. Now let’s move to / turn to the first part of my talk which is about… 15. So, first… 16. To begin with…

Ending Parts within the Main Body

17. That completes/concludes… 18. That’s all (I want to say for now) on… 19. Ok, I’ve explained how…

Beginning a New Part

20. Let’s move to (the next part which is)… 21. So now we come to the next point, which is… 22. Now I want to describe… 23. Let’s turn to the next issue… 24. I’d now like to change direction and talk about…

Listing and Sequencing

If you need to talk about goals, challenges, and strategies in your English presentation, listing phrases can help link these together and improve the flow of your speech. If you have to explain processes, sequencing phrases are helpful:

25. There are three things to consider. First… Second… Third… 26. There are two kinds of… The first is… The second is… 27. We can see four advantages and two disadvantages. First, advantages… 28. One is… Another is… A third advantage is… Finally…

29. There are (four) different stages to the process. 30. First / then / next / after that / then (x) / after x there’s y. 31. There are two steps involved. The first step is… The second step is… 32. There are four stages to the project. 33. At the beginning, later, then, finally… 34. I’ll describe the development of the idea. First the background, then the present situation, and then the prospect for the future.

After you have presented the main body of your English presentation, you will want to end it smoothly.

Here are typical sections transitioning from the main body to the ending of the presentation, and then inviting the audience to ask questions:

Ending the Main Body Beginning the Summary and/or Conclusion Concluding An Ending Phrase Inviting Questions and/or Introducing Discussion Thanking the Audience

Ending the Main Body

35. Okay, that ends (the third part of) my talk. 36. That’s all I want to say for now on (the 2017 results).

Beginning the Summary and/or Conclusion

37. To sum up… 38. Ok, in brief, there are several advantages and disadvantages. 39. To conclude… 40. I’d like to end by emphasizing the main points. 41. I’d like to end with a summary of the main points.

42. I think we have seen that we should… 43. In my opinion, we should… 44. I recommend/suggest that we… 45. There are three reasons why I recommend this. First, … / Second, … / Finally,…

An Ending Phrase

46. Well, I’ve covered the points that I needed to present today. 47. That sums up (my description of the new model). 48. That concludes my talk for today.

Inviting Questions and/or Introducing Discussion

49. Now we have (half an hour) for questions and discussion. 50. So, now I’d be very interested to hear your comments.

Thanking the Audience

51. I’d like to thank you for listening to my presentation. 52. Thank you for listening / your attention. / Many thanks for coming.

Linking phrases are like the skeleton which holds your presentation together.

Not only do they improve the flow and help guide the audience, but by memorizing them they can also help you remember the general structure of your presentation, giving you increased confidence.

To help you memorize, I recommend saying the linking phrases on their own from the beginning to the end of your presentation while you practice.

I also suggest memorizing the introduction word for word. By doing this, you will get off to a great start, which will settle your nerves and transmit a positive first impression.

Author: Steven Hobson

Steven is a business English coach, a certified life coach, writer, and entrepreneur. He helps international professionals build confidence and improve fluency speaking English in a business environment.

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37 Useful Phrases For Presentations In English

• Post author: Harry
• Post last modified: 07/02/2024
• Post category: Business English Vocabulary
• Reading time: 10 mins read

Here you will learn at least 37 useful phrases for presentations in English. Improve your business English skills and feel confident when making presentations in English.

Presentation phrases for setting the scene, recapping, ending a presentation in English and more. 

Listen to the podcast Speak Better English with Harry or watch it on YouTube at Learn English with Harry .

List of phrases for presentations in English

useful phrases for presentations in English

Hi there, this is teacher Harry, and welcome back to my English lessons where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language.

Okay, so what are we going to cover in the lesson today? Well, all of us, myself included, have to make presentations, from time to time to staff or to bosses, or to clients or customers, whoever it may be. And if you’re using English, not as your native language, then it can be a bit of a challenge. You might feel lacking in confidence. You might feel that you’re not up to the other guys.

But you can do it.

So I’m going to give you some useful phrases that you can use in relation to presentations.

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setting the scene

You might just simply say at the presentation particularly if it’s online,

• It’s good to see you all here.
• It’s great that you could join me.
• I’m very pleased to be here.
• I’m very pleased to be talking to you today.
• I’m very pleased to be presenting to you today.
• I’m glad you could all make it.
• Thank you all for coming.
• Thank you all for joining in.
• Thank you all for coming together on Zoom.

Whatever it might be, you can adjust the words to suit the media and the medium by which you’re presenting to your guests. Staff, colleagues, clients. 

common  phrases  for starting off  presentations

And then if we talk about other useful expressions and phrases.

It’s a good idea to spend 30 seconds introducing yourself.

So my name is Harry, I work in this department, I’d like to talk to you today about…

• The topic of my presentation today is….
• I’m planning to tell you about today….
• I’d like to introduce you to….

So in those sorts of expressions, you’re setting the scene again, you’re telling them exactly what you’re going to cover. And that’s a really good idea in a presentation because then everybody knows what’s going to be spoken about.

My name is Harry, I work in the marketing department. My presentation today is about a new product. The presentation is probably going to take about 20 minutes. And if you have any questions, then please ask them as we go through the presentation. 

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Introducing a talk.

Now, if you want to introduce the talk, you could say:

• What I’d like to do in this presentation is…
• First of all, I’ll give you a brief overview of…

A brief overview of the product, a brief overview of the background, a brief overview of our plans.

• Okay, then I’ll talk about….
• And after that, I’d like to show you some market research.
• After that, I’d like to show you our projections.
• After that, I’d like to show you this specific plan for the launching of this product.

So you go step by step by step. 

referring to visuals

So in any presentation, visuals are really important, and they can help you.

And they can also support you if you’re a little bit lacking in confidence about the presentation itself.

And you perhaps don’t want to be the focus of everything.

So the type of phrases you might use in that context would be something like:

• You will notice on this chart…
• If you look at this slide, we can see…
• Have a look at these figures…

As I said, it helps you, it supports you and enables you to just sort of hide a little bit behind those slides that focus on the screen, not specifically on you.

Useful Phrases For Presentations In English​

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Finishing off a section.

And when you want to finish off in relation to those sort of aspects, you might just summarise by saying,

• Well, that’s all I wanted to say on that particular topic.
• If you’ve got any questions, I’d be happy to take them now.
• To summarise what I said is…
• If you want to contact me offline, just send me an email.
• As I promised, I’ve now finished the presentation, it only took 20 minutes.
• I appreciate you watching and listening and your attention.
• If I have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them now.
• Have you any questions?

So again, helpful information directly in them, how they can get in touch with you after your presentation.

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Checking and moving on.

So during the presentation, we want to make sure that the people are listening, but you also don’t want to spend too much time on each particular point.

So you check their understanding so far, and then you move on. So you might say to the people,

• Does that sound okay to you?
• Do you follow that?
• Is it clear?
• Can I clarify anything else?
• If not, let’s move on.
• Let’s look at the next slide.
• Now, let’s move on to the really important topic of…
• Let’s turn to the topic of budgets.

So you pinpoint exactly what you want to cover. When you’re going to cover it and then you move on. So you check that they understand it. 

I also find in these types of presentations, particularly if they’re a bit longer than a few short slides, that it’s a good idea to do some recapping.

To recap means to go over what you’ve done before. Not a huge amount of detail because you don’t want to bore them by going through everything, but you recap quite quickly.

• Before I move on…
• I’m going to recap quickly…
• Let me summarise briefly…
• Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve covered today.
• I’d like to recap the main points.
• Let me go over the main points for you once more.

All of those good, acceptable expressions and words that you can use. 

coming to an end

And then when you come to the end of the presentation, you want to sign off, you want to finish them. We can say,

• Well, this is my key point.
• This is the key point in all of this, so let me finish on this.
• This is what I want to say to sum up in a few words.
• I’d like to finish now by thanking you all for your kind attention. 
• I look forward to joining you again soon.
• I look forward to any questions.
• I look forward to receiving your emails.
• I’d be happy to take any questions now. 

All nice and polite ways of informing people that this is the end. 

So there’s somebody out there in the audience who’s asleep, they’ll probably wake up at that point when you say and finally or, in conclusion

Well, hopefully you’ve got something in particular that you can hold onto there. Something that can help you if you’re making presentations in English.

If you have any other queries, come to me, I’m very, very happy to help you. My contact details are www.englishlessonviaskype.com .

And indeed, if you want some help, how to make presentations, if you want some help, how to get through interviews, or you just want general help with your English well, why not try our one-to-one online English lessons . 

Thanks for listening. Join me again soon.

More information

For more information on English grammar rules, English collocations and English idioms, check out the links below:

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35 Powerful Presentation Phrases in English for Engaging Your Audience

Your palms are sweating. 

For a moment, your mind goes blank. 

All eyes are on you.

That moment right before you start presenting – as you take in your audience – is usually the scariest. The nervousness lessens with practice, but even the most frequent public speakers still get butterflies in their stomach sometimes. Whether you’re facing an entire room of people or looking at everyone through your laptop screen, giving a presentation can still be intimidating – or exciting, once you move beyond the fear. 

There’s an extra layer of challenge too if you have to speak in your non-native language. For a more professional-sounding and engaging presentation, we’ve compiled some of the most useful English presentation phrases below.

We’ll also explore what else you can do to make even more of an impact on your audience. With the right intonation, body language, and gestures, you’ll really be able to catch their attention and emphasize your points. 

If this sounds interesting to you, you should check out the Creativa business meeting mastery course . There’s an entire video episode about giving a stunning presentation. You’ll learn about how to structure your ideas, deliver a report, and conclude a discussion. It covers not only fluent native phrases but also body language demonstrations that you can apply to your work right away. 

On top of this, the course has plenty of other engaging, high-quality video episodes that help you present your best self in English. Curious about it? You can access a free video here . 

Delivering a Powerful Presentation 

To lay the groundwork for your presentation in English, here’s what you’ll have to do first:

Consider the audience  

You’re probably always going to need slides, but every presentation will be different – and the audience that you’ll be presenting to won’t always find the same points interesting. Because of this, you’ll have to tailor your message to them. What style of presentation would be a good fit? For example, some audiences would want to see a lot of number-crunching, while others might be looking for more personal storytelling .

Prepare a structure 

Structure is key in presentations. People have short attention spans, and they can be forgetful. At the end of the day, your goal is for them to remember at least the main points in your presentation. What message do you want to convey? Since you might be discussing a lot of information, you can make it more digestible by ensuring that there’s a logical progression and then ending with a summary. 

Whatever your topic is, it’ll benefit from having a well-defined structure to guide your audience from start to finish. For a cheat sheet on this, scroll down here to download a free PDF worksheet with exercises about structuring your presentation so you can be clear and convincing. This way, you can have a presentation that’s strong in all sections – beginning, middle, and end. 

Key Business Phrases

Once you’ve decided on the style and message of your presentation, you can take it up a notch by including certain English presentation phrases all throughout. Let’s break it down from start to finish: 

Introduction

This is when you’ll be warming up your audience before you proceed to your main points. 

Greeting the audience

If you’re presenting to people who aren’t too familiar with you, you can quickly introduce yourself and mention your role or company. 

• Good morning, everyone. I’m glad to be able to present to all of you. 
• Hello, everyone! It’s nice to see all of you today. I’m [name], the [position] from [company].

Describing your topic

After greeting the audience, you’ll be explaining to them what your presentation is all about. To set their expectations, you might show them an outline of the talk and mention if there’ll be any activities such as breakout discussions.

• I’ll be talking about…
• I’ll be talking about our financial metrics over the past year.
• The topic of this presentation will be…
• The topic of this presentation will be major trends in the logistics industry.
• I’ll be discussing first the [first topic], next [second topic], and finally [third topic].
• I’ll be discussing first the project’s ideation process, next our initial trial, and finally, presenting our results.

Addressing questions and technical concerns

People might be wondering if they can ask questions during your presentation, so you can clarify this at the start. If you’re providing handouts or presenting online, it’s useful to ask people to alert you about any technical concerns. 

• Please feel free to ask any questions during the talk.
• For questions, there will be a Q&A section at the end.
• Can all of you see and hear me properly? Please let me know if you have any technical difficulties during the presentation.  

The body will make up the bulk of your presentation. Ideally, you would go through each of your points logically while letting your audience know when you’re moving on to the next section. 

The longer your presentation, the more important it is to use sequencing phrases. These act as cues that let your audience know where you are in the presentation. You can think of these as similar to detour signals that make the audience much more likely to get your meaning. 

• First, let’s discuss the…
• First, let’s discuss the initial spark for this idea.
• Moving into [the next item / point] …
• Moving into item 4, we can see that this is a major pain point for our target market.
• This leads us to the next…
• This leads us to the next section, where we’ll be looking at the facts and figures.

Linking is closely related to sequencing. Similar to writing, you can have a smoother presentation by connecting your ideas rather than suddenly jumping from one point to another. You can also refer back to points that you’ve mentioned before to make your presentation more cohesive. 

• In connection to what I said earlier…
• In connection to what I said earlier about growing our online presence, we can now look into potential social media campaigns.
• What this means is…
• What this means is that most of our growth is coming from a certain sector. Let’s analyze the data for this in the next section.
• This ties in with…
• This ties in with our survey findings about user reactions. I’ll go into detail about changes we’ve made to the app as a result.

Giving examples

To fully convey your point, you can bring up specific examples and case studies. These are much more memorable as well as engaging because you can tell these in the form of a story.

• For example…
• For example, costs were reduced significantly when we switched to the following materials.
• To demonstrate this point…
• To demonstrate this point, I’ll be showing you a video of a business that used this problem-solving method.
• Here’s an example of…
• Here’s an example of a seasonal product that our customers loved.

Showing visuals 

Visuals naturally attract people’s attention. If you’re using slides for your presentation, take the opportunity to include images, diagrams, infographics, or even charts. 

• As you can see from this…
• As you can see from this photo, we’ve redesigned our office space.
• Here’s a diagram / picture / chart that shows…
• Here’s a diagram that shows a high percentage of people are comfortable with online shopping.
• If you look at this…
• If you look at this infographic, you can see that the new color palette comes off as fun and casual.

Citing data

Citing data from research makes your presentation more persuasive. When you’re talking about results that you’ve achieved, try to bring up actual numbers – this can go a long way towards impressing your audience. 

• According to this study…
• According to this study from [journal], 65% of eCommerce companies are looking for more efficient payment methods.
• Based on our research…
• Based on our research, the most enthusiastic buyers of wellness products in this city are in the 20 to 30 age range.
• Looking at the data…
• Looking at the data, you’ll notice that there’s been an 18% spike in sales since we migrated our platform.

Restating an idea

Sometimes you’ll want to restate an idea so it’s easier to understand. This also serves to emphasize it. Because of the repetition, people are more likely to remember it compared to if you’d only mentioned it once. 

• In other words…
• In other words, partnering up with this client can make our operations more efficient and seamless.
• Another way of saying this is…
• Another way of saying this is that there might actually be more demand than supply by next year.
• What I mean is…
• What I mean is we’re already more than halfway to our business objective.

Handling technical issues

When you’re presenting on video call, all kinds of glitches can happen. Someone might have connection issues, you might have to figure out an app feature you’ve never used before, or background noises might keep interrupting your call. The phrases below can be very handy in these kinds of situations.

• If you can’t hear me, can you type in the chat, please?
• Could everyone mute their mic? There’s a lot of background noise.
• Sorry. The call dropped. I’m back through.

Concluding the Presentation 

By this time, the hardest part is already over! Still, you’ll have to wrap up your presentation nicely by going over the key takeaways during the conclusion. Your audience might also have questions that they’ll want you to address.

Summarizing the presentation

Out of everything that you’ve discussed, what would you like people to get out of it? A short summary towards the end serves to highlight your main ideas. 

• To wrap up…
• To wrap up, I’d like to point out three major takeaways.
• As a summary…
• As a summary of this report update, I would say we have seen a positive uptick in our workflow and productivity.
• All in all…
• All in all, we believe we’ve seen good results for this stage of our progress.

Thanking the audience

Similar to your greeting at the start, it’s common to address your audience again towards the end by thanking them for their time. 

• Thank you for listening!
• Thank you to everyone for being here. 
• I’d like to thank you all for coming here.

Addressing questions

If you’re open to questions from your audience, you can have a short question-and-answer session after your presentation. 

• Do you have any questions or clarifications?
• Feel free to ask me about any of the points I made during the presentation.
• Let me know if you have any questions. 

Practice is Crucial

When you’re all set with the content of your presentation, the next step is to practice your delivery. Regardless of how well you know the topic of your presentation, practicing it at least once will help you be more confident. You’ll discover potential issues that you can fix too before you go live. 

Do a run-through

The most basic way to practice is to do a run-through of your entire presentation . Set a timer on your phone, open up your slides, then start talking – all while imagining that you’re already presenting to your audience. Since you’re acting as if it’s in real-time, this means avoiding any pauses where you have to look up information. 

A run-through can pinpoint any weaknesses in your presentation, and you’ll notice any parts where you might be uncomfortable talking. You’ll also be able to see how much time you’ve spent so you can pace yourself accordingly.  

Record yourself

A more intensive version of the run-through basic would be to record yourself presenting. You can either record your voice or take a full video of yourself. People often notice that they use filler words a lot such as “um” or “uh.” You’ll also be able to check your pronunciation and whether you sound confident and natural all throughout.

Since body language can make or break your delivery, watching a video of yourself presenting is an incredibly effective way to improve your performance. Do your facial expressions match what you’re saying? Are you maintaining good posture throughout and making efforts to connect with the audience?   

When you combine a confident, approachable body language with the right business vocabulary, your ideas shine through better than ever. You can get a play-by-play of how exactly to do this with the Creativa business meeting mastery course . It features video sections that are all about making powerful transitions and expressing your points clearly during presentations. You’ll learn about specific native English phrases and gestures so you can move fluidly from one idea to the next. 

Together with the other episodes, the course dives deep into how you can be a strong communicator during professional meetings. For a preview, check out this free episode .  

Presenting on Video Call

Technical issues happen often enough in face-to-face presentations, but they’re even more frequent during video calls. To avoid any awkward delays when you’re presenting, get comfortable with the platform that you’ll be using. 

If it’s a face-to-face presentation, double-check your slides and make sure any images or videos are showing properly. For video calls, try doing a test call on the app or even call up a friend to practice. You can also get familiar with the app’s basic features, such as screen-sharing or inviting people to breakout rooms. 

But sometimes, even when you’ve practiced your presentation perfectly on video call, the unexpected can still happen. Scroll down here to download a free worksheet that we made precisely for dealing with technical issues in presentations. You’ll get an extensive list of English phrases to use for all sorts of video call glitches, along with practical tips for handling them in the moment. With enough preparation, you’ll be able to roll with surprises and conquer even video call presentations. 

Let’s explore some of the most common glitches (and how you can deal with them gracefully!):

Situation 1: You’re having a hard time hearing other people because of their laggy connection. 

For a presentation to work, everyone needs to have a decent internet connection. If someone’s connection drops, they won’t be able to see or hear you properly, and you won’t understand what they’re trying to say, either. In this case, let them know right away that you can’t hear them. You can also ask them to talk to you over chat instead. 

Example Phrases:

• [Name], you’re cutting in and out. Would you mind reconnecting?
• Audio problems – can you type it on chat instead?

Situation 2: You get disconnected from the call. 

In the case that it’s your connection that’s faulty, you might have to disconnect then reconnect your call. This can be awkward because it interrupts the flow of your presentation. Alerting your audience using certain English phrases can reassure them while getting you back on track with what you were saying.

• Sorry, guys, dropped call. But I’m back.
• Connection problems, everyone. Gonna log out and back in. 

Situation 3: People are having a hard time figuring out how to turn on their audio or video.

Another reason why you’d want to be really familiar with the video platform is you might have to coach people when they experience glitches. It’s almost expected that a few people might accidentally forget to turn on their mic while speaking. Alternatively, they might have issues with turning on their camera.

• I can’t see you, [name]. [Give instructions on how to turn on their video.]
• I can’t see you, Fatima. Look for the camera icon and make sure there’s no red line through it.
• Typing in chat: “Make sure your mic’s unmuted.” [Clarify how they’ll know if they’re unmuted.]
• Typing in chat: “ Make sure your mic’s unmuted. There should be no red lines through it.

The best presentations excel in all three areas: content, structure, and delivery. 

Including some of the key English phrases above will upgrade your performance. Aside from setting a professional tone, these English presentation phrases set the pace for your audience so they’re aware of where you are in the discussion. Your message will sound clearer, and your audience will be able to follow your ideas better.

The basic rules for presentations are the same, whether you’re on a video call or stepping in front of a stage. With the tips above, you’re all set to prepare an amazing presentation in English.

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The latest language learning tips, resources, and content from oxford university press., useful phrases for giving a presentation in english.

• by Oxford University Press ELT
• Posted on April 21, 2023 February 2, 2024

Giving a presentation in English can be challenging, but with these helpful phrases, you can feel confident and ready to make a good presentation in English. 

Starting your presentation

So how to start a presentation in English? Begin by saying hello and welcoming everyone. You can also thank the audience for being there with you. 

The beginning of the presentation is one of the most important parts because you need to make sure your audience is interested from the start. 

You could tell a short story, give a fact, or simply tell the audience a little bit about yourself, e.g. ‘ Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself …’ 

Then, introduce what your presentation is about by giving an opening statement or an overview of your session. For example, ‘Today, I am going to talk to you about …’ or, ‘Today, we’ll be looking at/focusing on …’. 

You can also tell the audience, ‘ If you have any questions, please raise your hand and I’ll be happy to answer them’ … or ‘ We’ll have time at the end for questions.’

Presenting the topic

When you get into the main part of giving your presentation in English, remember that what you’re saying to your audience is new information. Speak slowly, organise your ideas, and make sure your pronunciation is clear. You can learn more about boosting your pronunciation here . 

Use expressions to order your ideas and introduce new ones. You can use words and phrases to sequence like, firstly/first of all, secondly, then, next, following this, and lastly/finally. 

If you want to introduce the opposite point of view, you can use language like however, on the other hand, contrary to this and then again. 

It’s a good idea to link what you are saying back to previous things you have said. This shows you have a well-organised presentation and also helps keep people engaged. For example, ‘as I said previously/at the beginning …’, ‘as you may remember’ and ‘this relates to what I said about ….’

Highlighting information during your talk 

When you are giving a presentation in English, you might want to highlight a particular piece of information or something that’s important. You can use phrases such as ‘Let’s focus on …’, ‘I want to highlight …’,   ‘Pay attention to …’, ‘Let’s look at …’, ‘I want to briefly address …’, or ‘Now, let’s discuss ….’ You can use these phrases after your sequencing words to help you with your structure. 

You can also highlight information by asking your audience their opinion of what you are saying or having them engage with the presentation in some way. For example, you could ask a question and have the audience raise their hands if they agree, or disagree, or if you want to find out how many of them have experience with the situation you’re discussing. Asking questions is a good way to make sure you still have the audience’s attention after you’ve been speaking for a while.

You can also highlight information on your visuals if you’re using them. Use bright, impactful pictures and colours, and don’t include too much writing on your slides.  

Finalising the talk 

At the end of the presentation, you should summarise your talk and remind the audience of the things you have discussed, and the new information you have given them. You can say things like ‘In summary, we have looked at …’, ‘I’d like to finish by …’, and ‘We’re coming to the end of the presentation. We’ve discussed …’. 

You can then ask the audience for any questions you haven’t already answered. 

What are your experiences of giving a presentation in English? Do you have any other tips to add? Share below!

Billie Jago is an ELT writer and teacher trainer, specialising in digital & assessments. She is the founder of the professional development podcast ELTcpd and co-founder of the digital ELT content agency, otterelt .

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Every year we help millions of people around the world to learn English. As a department of the University of Oxford, we further the University’s objective of excellence in education by publishing proven and tested language learning books, eBooks, learning materials, and educational technologies. View all posts by Oxford University Press ELT

before You start your presentation ,try please to mention the time duration . sometimes people should be informed so that we can take a coffe break or cigarettes break in order to make evry one happy with the topics

Here is the tip I would add according to my experience :

end your presentation on a positive note, for example with a funny sentence /image /meme / an inspirational quote, in short something that will make your talk pleasant to remember.

Valentina T.

You need to chill out and show calmness and confidence. You should rehearse your presentation on the stage some time before its previously stated time.

Clear, cogent & commanding. Thanks.

I think to get better respond to presentation you can do some mistakes in it and then explain it the end or in the next presentation. Because if anyone would like to learn something also should show involvement.

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101 Must-Know Transition Phrases for Engaging Presentations Online

By Paola Pascual on Jan 17, 2024 1:43:00 PM

Giving presentations is often feared by many professionals, but if the presentation is online  and you're not a native speaker, things get even trickier. One tip to make things easier? Learn useful phrases to help you navigate your presentation. In this article, you will find lots of helpful resources to give remarkable presentations . Listen to the episode above, download the checklist below, and learn some of the phrases we present. If we missed any, tell us in the comments below.

General vocabulary for presentations

Sometimes, the smallest changes in your presentations can make the biggest differences. One of them is to learn a few phrases that give you confidence during your speech. Here are some important verbs to get you started:

• To highlight
• To emphasize
• To walk you through (*very common in business presentations!)
• To send around
• To carry on (similar to  continue)
• To get carried away
• To sum up (similar to  summarize )
• To focus on

Vocabulary to start your presentation

Learn how to powerfully start your presentation with these 4 simple steps. Here's some vocabulary you can use:

Welcome your audience

• Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone. Thank you for joining us today, and welcome to today's webinar.
• Hello everyone, I’m very happy to be speaking with you today.

Introduce yourself

• My name is Susan, and I’m part of the design team here at Globex Corporation.
• First of all, a little bit about my background - I am the Team Lead  at [Company], and I've been in charge of [your main responsibility] for [X] years.
• I'd like to tell you a bit about myself - my name is  Eve  I'm the Operations Manager here at [Company].

Introduce the topic and goal of the presentation

• Today, I'd like to talk about…
• This presentation will take about [X] minutes, and we will discuss...
• We've allocated [X] minutes to this presentation. and I'll talk about...
• I'd like to give you a brief breakdown of...
• I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about...
• The main goal of this presentation is…
• The purpose of this presentation is...
• My objective today is...

Read these 5 tricks the best public speakers use to  captivate their audience .

Addressing questions from the audience

• If you have any questions about anything, feel free to interrupt.
• If anything isn't clear, please click on the 'raise hand' button and I'll do my best to answer your question.
• I'd be happy to answer your questions at the end of the presentation.
• If you have any questions, please kindly wait until the end to ask them. We will have [X] minutes for a Q&A session at the end.
• Since today's audience is considerably large, we will not have time for questions, but please email me at [email protected]

Learning new English words is not easy, but you can achieve effective communication through practice and repetition. If you are a Talaera student, visit the Library to practice your vocabulary for presentations. If are not part of the Talaera community yet, learn how we can help you here .

Clear out technical issues

• Can everyone hear me well? Let me know if you encounter any technical difficulties throughout the presentation.
• If you are not speaking, please put yourselves on mute.
• If you feel that the sound quality is poor throughout the presentation, please let me know.

Transition to the main topic of the presentation

• Hi everyone, I think we might still be missing a few people but I’m going to kick things off now so we have time to get through everything.
• All right, let’s dive right in!
• All right, let’s jump right in!
• Let’s get started.
• Let’s kick things off.
• I’m going to talk about
• The purpose/subject of this presentation is
• I’ve divided the presentation into 3 parts: In the first part, ... / Then in the second part, ... / Finally, I’ll go on to talk about...
• Let me begin by looking at...
• Let me start with some general information on...

Vocabulary for the main body of your presentation

Introduce a topic or section.

• Now let’s move to the first part of the presentation,
• We can see 4 advantages and two disadvantages. First,
• On the one hand… On the other hand…
• There are two steps involved. The first step is… The second step is…
• There are four stages to the project.

Transition to a new section

• All right, let’s turn to...
• Now we come to the next point, which is
• Okay so that’s [topic 1], but what about [topic 2]?
• There’s a lot more to talk about, but since we’re pushed for time , let’s move on to [topic 2].
• This leads me to my next point, which is...

Give examples and details

• For example...
• A good example of this is...
• To illustrate this point...
• This reminds me of...
• To give you an example...
• Let me elaborate further on...

Describe visual aids

• As you can see [from this infographic]
• This chart shows
• If you look at this graph, you will see
• From this chart, we can understand how
• Let me show you this [image, graph, diagram]
• On the right/left
• In the middle of
• At the top/bottom of the picture

Emphasize an idea

• This is important because
• I’d like to emphasize that
• We have to remember that

Repeat the same message with different words

• In other words
• To put it more simply
• So, what I’m saying is that
• Let me say that again.

It's easy to get stuck in the middle of a presentation, especially if English is not your mother tongue. Here are +20 Top Tips You Need To Know if you're learning business English .

Finish your presentation and summarize

The end of a presentation, together with the opening, is one of the most important parts of your speech. Read these 5 effective strategies to close your presentation and use the vocabulary below.

• That’s all I want to say for now about [topic].
• To sum up, ...
• This sums up [topic].
• So in a nutshell, ...
• So to recap, ...
• In brief, ...
• To conclude, ...
• I’d like to conclude by emphasizing the main points...
• That's it on [topic] for today. In short, we've covered...
• So, now I’d be very interested to hear your comments.
• And this brings us to the end of this presentation. I hope [topic] is a little clear after today.
• So to draw all that together, ...

Start and navigate the Q&A session

• Thank you for your attention. I hope you found this presentation useful, and I'd be happy to answer any questions.
• Thank you for listening. We now have [X] minutes left. Do you have any questions?
• Thank you for your question, [Name].
• I'm glad you asked.
• That's an interesting question.
• That's a great question, I must say. I'm not 100% sure, but off the top of my head, I can tell you that...
• Are you asking about [topic 1] or [topic 2]?
• Can you please clarify what exactly you mean by [question]? I'm not sure I fully understand.
• I'm afraid I don't have the exact figures at hand, but if you give me your email address at the end, I can follow up with you later.
• Does that answer your question?
• I hope that makes sense. Is that the kind of answer you were looking for?

Take your presentation skills to the next level. 

Keep reading about presentation skills:

• 21 Helpful Tips For Remarkable and Outstanding Presentation Skills
• How To Start a Presentation: Follow These 4 Easy Steps
• How To Bring Across Your Main Idea In A Presentation Effectively
• 5 Effective Strategies To End A Presentation
• 6 Public Speaking Tricks To Captivate Your Audience
• How To Do Effective Business Storytelling According To Former Prosecutor
• 8 Little Changes That'll Make A Big Difference With Your Presentations
• 3 Quick Public Speaking Tips For Your Next Presentation
• Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are [TED Talk Lesson]

Talaera Talks - Transcript Episode 5

• Topic : Deliver impactful presentations
• Listen : Spotify , Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts
• Duration : 22 min.

Intro Welcome to Talaera Talks , the business English communication podcast for non-native professionals. My name is Paola and I am co-hosting this show with Simon. In this podcast, we're going to be covering communication advice and tips to help express yourself with confidence in English in professional settings. So we hope you enjoy the show!

Okay, welcome back for our third episode of Talaera Talks. This is Simon, and I'm joined with Paola. Paola, how are you doing? 0:37 Hi, Simon. I'm great. Happy to do another episode. 0:41 Yeah, absolutely. And Happy Friday. 0:44 Happy Friday! 0:49 So today, our topic: Presenting in English. I'd like to start this episode with a quote I found on Harvard Business Review that I thought was really interesting. It says, "Even native English speakers often anticipate disaster when making presentations. By but for non-native speakers, the anticipatory and situational anxiety associated with their unique challenges (these challenges - being understandable, choosing the right words, speaking spontaneously), can be overwhelming. Moreover, if these concerns interfere with your willingness or ability to make business presentations, the impact can be career-limiting." So yeah, that's a pretty kind of heavy quote to start. But it is something that we see from a lot of our clients, right? 1:52 Yeah, it's super interesting. It was super interesting to read. It's something we know, but it's important to remind it that it is presentations, the topic we have today is something that is not pleasurable for anyone, not for non-native speakers, but also for native speakers. So that's something to point out. And today, we talked about that... We said that we wanted to start with those challenges or fears that we see from our clients, our learners. 2:25 Yeah, and it's usually around the same things, you know, we, at least for me, I come into contact with so many of these, so many of our students who are so competent in their, in their daily lives, what they're doing in their professional lives. And they come to me with these with these fears, like this just general lack of confidence, or imposter syndrome, right? This I don't know if I really deserve to be speaking and, you know, kind of explaining this concept to all these people. 3:05 Mm-hmm. Yes. And also the fear of not being understood, well, they know what I'm saying, well, they understand my accent. There's a lot of worries and concern around accent and our pronunciation expert, Lisa hosted a webinar, actually last week, where she explained that accent matters. But as long as people understand you, it's fine. You don't need to be perfect. Everyone has an accent. So that's also totally fine. 3:37 And this being Yeah, this being one of I think, at least for me, in my experience, one of the most frequently asked for aspects from students. So you know, and just to like, again, just say that this is a challenge for everyone, not just, you know, non-native English speakers. You know, I think all of us have a tough experience or somebody that we think of when we think about public speaking, it's, it's like this, yeah, really anxiety-riddled thing. I mean, I don't have any, you know, funny personal stories, but uh, do you, Paola? 4:20 You want me to tell my embarrassing story, don't you? 4:22 Please, you must. 4:25 So I used to teach at a university in Vietnam when I lived there, and the classes where it rains, you know, from perhaps 50 students to up to what 300 there's was a class with, you know, 2-300 students and there was a little stage it wasn't too high, but there was a little stage and I fell off. 4:46 You fell off the stage. This was during or after the presentation, or...? 4:56 It was around the beginning of the presentation. So... 5:01 During! Oh, I thought it was it was like after like you were walking off? 5:06 No, I move a lot. I use my body language quite a lot. And that was one of the moments where I overdid it, probably, and fell off. 5:17 Wow. Well, I'm glad that you're still here with us. 5:21 Yeah, you know, but that's the story that I sometimes not always tell it. But I sometimes tell it when my students say, Oh, I'm nervous, and I assume that it can happen, you know, I thought it was going to be a disaster. And then I actually ended up making friends with the students that turned out okay. 5:39 Right. Well, yeah, I mean, today, we're not necessarily going to go into the physical dimensions of how to avoid falling off the stage. But we do have some, some good tips, right? 5:54 Yes. And to provide some advice on how to deliver presentations, and lose that fear, we've divided it into three main blocks. And those are what to do before the presentation, tips for during the presentation. And then even after there's things you can do to, to get better. 6:18 Right, let's start with the first, right, what can we do before the presentation in terms of getting ready, preparing? 6:30 So preparing, it's a very general term, but one of the tips that we like to give is, think of the WHAT, WHY and NEXT. So WHAT is your presentation about? WHY should they listen to you and not look it up online (or listen to a podcast, like ours)? And in what NEXT means - what is supposed to happen next? Do they need to do anything, go on a website, send you feedback? Are you going to send them the materials? So what why our next is so straightforward and simple. But when I asked this question to our clients that are so thrown off, and they don't know what to answer sometimes, 7:10 Yeah, I think that's one of those things. And I struggle with this all the time is, when I get an idea or something like that. It's so easy to just jump over those most basic things of, you know, what, why and index, those are so, so basic, but it's such it's, they're so foundational, right? And in terms of creating something that people will understand and be able to, to really attach to. 7:41 Yep. And do you have any tips around how much you should learn? Should you write the whole thing? Or should you memorize? 7:52 Yeah, that, you know, this is a good question as well, that a lot of our learners ask in terms of, yeah, you know, I'm just going to go and write it all out. And then I'll have an idea. And I'll feel better because I can write it and change it so that it sounds more professional. It sounds like I know what I'm talking about. And I always tell people, please don't try to prepare a presentation where you're reading a script, it is just the most unnatural thing ever. And, and it, you won't end up sounding more professional, if anything, your audience is going to detach, because they're going to sense that something's not really right here, it doesn't seem genuine, right doesn't seem real, it just seems like this person is doing what he's doing, which is reading off of a script. And even still a lot of times with a lot of our learners where they know that, okay, I know this material. But I'm going to put all of my effort into making this perfect slide this perfect presentation. So I would say, focus on actually knowing the material itself really well. More than focusing on how the presentation looks, you know, these kinds of things. Because once you're in that situation where you're on the stage, and people are looking at you, at least you'll be able to Windows like kind of red Sirens of you know, panic and anxiety show up. You'll have learned the material itself so well that you can roll with that. 9:29 Yes. And you also have room for improvisation because your brain is so used to the content and you know, so well what you want to say that that's when your brain starts to come up with anecdotes and that's the fun thing that gets you hooked. And that's the main Why should people listen to you instead of reading an article online? 9:49 Exactly. Because for most of our students, you know what you're talking about. That's why you're up there. That's why you have the opportunities to speak there is because someone thinks you're qualified enough to speak to all these people. So trust in that and go with that. So yeah, so we have right not, not over learning. Don't script it right? What else can we do? 10:14 Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice in your mind, but more importantly verbalize it, say it out loud. And recording yourself is uncomfortable for everyone. But it works. I have never tried it. I always told my students should record yourself, you should record yourself and they were like, Huh. And just a few of them did it. And when we started with the webinars, I haven't done something like it before. And I said, Okay, I'll use my own tip. And it was one I'm comfortable. And two, super helpful. So if you get to go over the sound of your own voice, I would say do it. 10:54 Yeah. You know, this is one thing that I have to be totally honest here. Doing these podcasts is the first time I've actually recorded myself for a long time. And I've learned a lot about, you know, not saying the word Absolutely. 500 times, yeah, within the span of 20 minutes. So those are good learning lessons. Definitely. Okay, and then so we have that. And then the last little tip is, I would say get an English mindset before 30 minutes to an hour before the presentation. And that could be listening to a podcast, you know, like Talaera Talks, or, you know, watching a show on Netflix that's, that's in English, whatever you can do to get your kind of English mind, you know, in the zone before you go up and actually speak English. So So those are all of our kind of pre presentation tips, what you can do before, so what about during, 11:58 so for during, there's a lot of things that you can you can do to improve your presentations. But the first tip is to learn how to start to have a mind map of what am I going to do at the beginning. So you start confident already. So welcome, everyone, introduce the people introduce the topic and go to the main point, those four parts will help you have a nice start. Welcome, everyone. For example. Hi, everyone. Welcome to today's presentation. Today, we'll be talking about business events, introduce the people, you can introduce yourself , like, Hi, my name is Paula and I'm a business English instructor at Telstra, and perhaps even the audience. Today we have with us students from all different nationalities and levels, or, you know, whatever the audiences, that's also helpful for everyone to understand, introduce the topic, or give you some best practices for business emails , and a few templates, and then go to the main point. So a simple sentence like Alright, let's get down to business. So having those welcome introducing people introducing the topic and going to the main point will help you have a nice start. 13:16 Yeah, and I like that concept of that the mind map is so good. Because it's it's not the scripting, like we were talking about before, it's having a kind of a little mental checklist. So that when those first few minutes, were you're up there on the on stage, and you're like, oh god, oh, god, here we go. Here we go. You have that little checklist that I created. Okay, so I welcomed introduced the people the topic, and now to the main point, and that can get you in the zone and going I really liked that. Yeah, so so having that, that starting template. And then another thing would be, I would say slowing down, slowing it down. And this is really I think it touches on a lot of aspects. The first would be just the general anxiety, we tend to speak a lot faster when we're really anxious, you know, but by slowing down, it really helps with non native English speakers because it helps with the accent. And it helps with giving you some time to really think through your next thoughts. Now, I'm not saying that you should, while you're speaking, try to think steps three, four or five ahead of you. But giving yourself a little bit of time to Okay, I'm going through this pattern now. Now I can go to the next one, right. And doing that, you know, another with the slowing down a tip if you're really nervous to go in is prefacing your speech. So before you really get into everything, maybe after the welcome part is just to say, Hey, you know, I'm going to try to speak as clearly as possible, as English as myself. first language and really smile and maybe make a little joke about that. And I think that's a good way to open it out for the audience to show some vulnerability and and help. I mean, what do you think about that? 15:13 Yeah, I mean, we see that with, sometimes with celebrities, when they're not native speakers, and they admitted, and they, they kind of put yourself put themselves, as you said, in that vulnerable position, and that makes them even cuter. 15:28 Mm hmm. 15:29 So it's making yourself human, I think it's always a good tip. And you were saying that slowing down helps with your accent and also for yourself to gain time to really know what you're going to say. But also for the for the audience. We don't mind people making some little pulses, so that they also have time to collect their thoughts. 15:50 Right, right. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Those are, those are two really good aspects, starting, you know, the template and then slowing down, right. Yeah, kind of diffusing the anxiety by saying, Hey, you know, this isn't my first language. And that really gets the audience on your side, right. And then another would be not reading off of your slides. I mean, this is kind of the basic, you know, what you learn in school, but it's also something that a lot of people get, yeah, get, get hooked on, just because it's like a safety net. And I would say that's where the overlearning the material that we talked about beforehand comes into play. Anything else in this? 16:42 Oh, recap for sure. After every section, do a little recap, and at the end to recap where you summarize the main points of the whole presentation? 16:54 Yeah, yeah. Good. Good. So So summarize. Yeah, yeah. And that's a that's a good, you know, I would say three aspects, four aspects that during the presentation, if you keep these in, in your mind, it's, it's, I would say, it's going to help a lot. And so now we're going to move to what can we do after the presentation? We've done it, we've walked off the stage. Whoo, I'm so glad that's over. Now, is all of our work done? No. 17:27 No, not really. That's now it's your chance to actually learn from, from everything you did. So one of the tips we suggest is try to ask for feedback. But that's not so easy, right, Simon? 17:42 Yeah, it's, I think, a big question. And that is, who do you get the feedback from? Right?

17:50 So we, we would always suggest to try and find someone you can trust someone who is honest, and who can give you objective feedback. So in some cases, that can be your manager, but sometimes it's a colleague that understands the topic, and can really provide some feedback on how you did. 18:13 Yeah. And that's, I think, in terms of learning, this is one of the most crucial thing is reflecting back on what you did, and seeing what worked, what didn't work, and how can I take that and move forward? Because especially with presenting, it's a skill, and it takes practice, practice, practice. And, and I think, for a lot of people, you should jump at the chance to do this. So that you can continue to learn and continue to grow. But be sure to reflect by Yeah, by asking for feedback and seeing what worked, 18:47 for sure. And ideally, that would be someone, perhaps from work that can see how you did and like the actual show, if not Talaera teachers also do that. So you can present your own presentation, pretending it's the actual one. And that's how we can provide feedback on the structure, the vocabulary, the language in general. 19:08 Yeah, absolutely. I do that. Oh, there you go. Absolutely. Definitely. See, I'm reflecting back and learning as we go. I'm working. I'm learning that. Yeah. But I've done that recently with a couple of students where we've gone through their deck and looked at what are their plans in terms of presenting and we've kind of gone through in detail that together. So So yeah, so that was kind of I would say the biggest thing in terms of afterward. 19:40 So we have the pre-presentation, just as a quick recap for the pre-presentation and before your presentation, always remember the what why next, what is your presentation about? Why should people listen to you and what should happen next overnight Learn the content. be super confident about what you want to talk about. But don't script it. Don't write everything down. Otherwise, it would sound like you're just reading. 20:11 Write and practice through verbalization. record yourself, even though it may be awkward, but it's a great learning technique. And then get in that English mindset beforehand by Yeah, listening to a podcast or what have you. And then during the presentation, right, starting with the template, Paolo was discussing the welcome introducing the people the topic, and then going to the main point, 20:37 slowing down a little bit. It's not necessary to go super fast. It's not only not necessary, but people will understand you better if you take your time and make some pauses. Of course, don't read off their slides. Tell them the story. 20:54 Right, right. And remember 20:56 to recap, just like we're doing now. Send them or tell them a quick summary and the main points, 21:03 right, and don't fall off the stage as well. That's ideally we forgot. Ideally, it's final for then, as the final point, right, asking for feedback, finding that person that can get you that feedback that's so important to you. Finding what worked and moving forward. 21:21 That's right. All right. Do we have it for today? 21:25 I think that is it for today. Yeah. I had a lot of Thanks. Yeah, I had a blast. And thanks for meeting up. And we have a lot of good stuff coming up with Talaera. Right. 21:38 We have webinars, our blog is busier than ever. So go on the http://blog.talaera.com/ , check out the resources. And what else? 21:51 Find us on LinkedIn. And yeah, please ask any questions, we'd be glad to get back to you. So that is it for today. And thank you to all of our listeners. So far, we're excited to keep growing this. And as always, keep learning! 22:11 And that's all we have for you today. We hope you enjoyed it, and remember to  subscribe to Talaera Talks . We'll be back soon with more! And visit our website at  https://talaera.com  for more valuable content on business English. You can also  request a free consultation  on the best ways for you and your team to improve your communication skills. So have a great day and keep learning!

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Useful English phrases for a presentation

Presentations have the advantage that many standard phrases can be used at various points. Perhaps you wish to welcome the audience, introduce the speaker and the topic, outline the structure, offer a summary, or deal with questions. In all these situations, you can apply a number of useful expressions that will make your presentation a linguistic success.

At the beginning of each presentation, you should welcome your audience. Depending on who you are addressing, you should extend a more or less formal welcome.

Good morning/afternoon/evening, ladies and gentlemen/everyone.

On behalf of “Company X”, allow me to extend a warm welcome to you.

Hi, everyone. Welcome to “Name of the event”.

Introducing the speaker

The level of formality of your welcome address will also apply to how you introduce yourself. Customize it to match your audience.

Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is “John Miller” and I am delighted to be here today to talk to you about…

First, let me introduce myself. My name is “John Miller” and I am the “Position” of “Company X”.

I’m “John” from “Company Y” and today I’d like to talk to you about…

Introducing the topic

After the welcome address and the introduction of the speaker comes the presentation of the topic. Here are some useful introductory phrases.

Today I am here to talk to you about…

What I am going to talk about today is…

I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you about…

I am delighted to be here today to tell you about…

I want to make you a short presentation about…

I’d like to give you a brief breakdown of…

Explanation of goals

It is always recommended to present the goals of your presentation at the beginning. This will help the audience to understand your objectives.

The purpose of this presentation is…

My objective today is…

After presenting the topic and your objectives, give your listeners an overview of the presentation’s structure. Your audience will then know what to expect in detail.

My talk/presentation is divided into “x” parts.

I’ll start with…/First, I will talk about…/I’ll begin with…

…then I will look at…

and finally…

Starting point

After all this preparation, you can finally get started with the main part of the presentation. The following phrases will help you with that.

Let me start with some general information on…

Let me begin by explaining why/how…

I’d like to give you some background information about…

Before I start, does anyone know…

As you are all aware…

I think everybody has heard about…, but hardly anyone knows a lot about it.

End of a section

If you have completed a chapter or section of your presentation, inform your audience, so that they do not lose their train of thought.

That’s all I have to say about…

We’ve looked at…

So much for…

Interim conclusion

Drawing interim conclusions is of utmost importance in a presentation, particularly at the end of a chapter or section. Without interim conclusions, your audience will quickly forget everything you may have said earlier.

Let’s summarize briefly what we have looked at.

Here is a quick recap of the main points of this section.

I’d like to recap the main points.

Well, that’s about it for this part. We’ve covered…

Use one of the following phrases to move on from one chapter to the next.

I’d now like to move on to the next part…

This leads me to my next point, which is…

Turning our attention now to…

Let’s now turn to…

Frequently, you have to give examples in a presentation. The following phrases are useful in that respect.

For example,…

A good example of this is…

As an illustration,…

To give you an example,…

To illustrate this point…

In a presentation, you may often need to provide more details regarding a certain issue. These expressions will help you to do so.

I’d like to expand on this aspect/problem/point.

Let me elaborate further on…

If you want to link to another point in your presentation, the following phrases may come in handy.

As I said at the beginning,…

This relates to what I was saying earlier…

Let me go back to what I said earlier about…

This ties in with…

Reference to the starting point

In longer presentations, you run the risk that after a while the audience may forget your original topic and objective. Therefore, it makes sense to refer to the starting point from time to time.

I hope that you are a little clearer on how we can…

To return to the original question, we can…

Just to round the talk off, I want to go back to the beginning when I…

I hope that my presentation today will help with what I said at the beginning…

Reference to sources

In a presentation, you frequently have to refer to external sources, such as studies and surveys. Here are some useful phrases for marking these references.

Based on our findings,…

According to our study,…

Our data shows/indicates…

Graphs and images

Presentations are usually full of graphs and images. Use the following phrases to give your audience an understanding of your visuals.

Let me use a graphic to explain this.

I’d like to illustrate this point by showing you…

Let the pictures speak for themselves.

I think the graph perfectly shows how/that…

If you look at this table/bar chart/flow chart/line chart/graph, you can see that…

To ensure that your presentation does not sound monotonous, from time to time you should emphasize certain points. Here are some suggestions.

It should be emphasized that…

I would like to draw your attention to this point…

Another significant point is that…

The significance of this is…

This is important because…

We have to remember that…

At times it might happen that you expressed yourself unclearly and your audience did not understand your point. In such a case, you should paraphrase your argument using simpler language.

In other words,…

To put it more simply,…

What I mean to say is…

So, what I’m saying is….

To put it in another way….

Questions during the presentation

Questions are an integral part of a presentation. These phrases allow you to respond to questions during a presentation.

Does anyone have any questions or comments?

I am happy to answer your questions now.

Please feel free to interrupt me if you have questions.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Please stop me if you have any questions.

Do you have any questions before I move on?

If there are no further questions at this point, I’d like to…

Questions at the end of a presentation

To ensure that a presentation is not disrupted by questions, it is advisable to answer questions at the very end. Inform your audience about this by using these phrases.

There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.

I’ll gladly answer any of your questions at the end.

I’d be grateful if you could ask your questions after the presentation.

After answering a question from the audience, check that the addressee has understood your answer and is satisfied with it.

Does this answer your question?

Did I make myself clear?

I hope this explains the situation for you.

Unknown answer

Occasionally, it may happen that you do not have an answer to a question. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Simply use one of the following phrases to address the fact.

That’s an interesting question. I don’t actually know off the top of my head, but I’ll try to get back to you later with an answer.

I’m afraid I’m unable to answer that at the moment. Perhaps, I can get back to you later.

Good question. I really don’t know! What do you think?

That’s a very good question. However, I don’t have any figures on that, so I can’t give you an accurate answer.

Unfortunately, I’m not the best person to answer that.

Summary and conclusion

At the end of the presentation, you should summarize the important facts once again.

I’d like to conclude by…

In conclusion, let me sum up my main points.

Weighing the pros and cons, I come to the conclusion that…

That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thank you for listening/your attention.

Thank you all for listening. It was a pleasure being here today.

Well, that’s it from me. Thanks very much.

That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thanks for your attention.

Handing over

If you are not the only speaker, you can hand over to somebody else by using one of these phrases.

Now I will pass you over to my colleague ‘Jerry’.

‘Jerry’, the floor is yours.

We hope that our article will help you in preparing and holding your next presentation. It goes without saying that our list is just a small extract from the huge world of expressions and phrases. As always, the Internet is an inexhaustible source of further information. Here are the links to two websites that we would recommend to you in this context.

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140 Must-Know Business English Idioms and Phrases

English is a universal language having more than one billion people who speak it as a first or second language. Because English is a broad language with different functions, there are English expressions and idioms suited for the business world.

Business English is a language spoken in the corporate environment or the business setting. If you want to navigate business situations well, then you should master these idiomatic expressions and phrases.

Here are 140 English business phrases and common business idioms that you should know to communicate with your colleagues effectively:

The Alphabet of Business English Idioms

Business English idioms are expressions that don’t translate literally into standard English. Your colleagues, especially native speakers, may use idioms during conference calls, business emails, presentations, and meetings.

Knowing the common business idioms in English will make you sound like a native speaker.

Here are 50 business idioms or expressions in business that you should use in your conversation:

1. A ballpark figure 

Usually used in quick conversations, a ballpark figure means a rough estimate of a number. Note that you should try to give an exact number during business negotiations, not a ballpark figure. Examples: Can you give a ballpark figure of the additional profit we need to generate this quarter before the actual meeting starts? Can you give me a  ballpark figure for the cost of this marketing project?

2. All hands on deck

Every person present or in the team is needed to address a situation.

Examples: Our current situation is not looking good. I need all hands on deck until we stabilize this issue. The restaurant’s business owner needs all his staff to be all hands on deck during the Holiday.

3. A win-win situation

All parties will benefit from the outcome of a decision or agreement. Examples: It’s a win-win situation because when you purchase all the machines from us, we will give you free installation, training, and a two-year warranty. And won’t worry about hiring experts to install those delicate machines. Putting up an online store is a win-win situatio n for both customers and our business.

4. Back to the drawing board

Go back to the planning stage to find a better idea, solution, or proposal. It is an alternative expression to back to square one . Examples: Let’s start the actual meeting and go back to the drawing board to plan a creative solution. The upper management rejected the proposal.

Tell the project manager to gather his team of employees to go back to the drawing board .

5. Beck and call

Being always prepared to be called for a task, and to be ready to respond immediately.

Examples: The executive secretary is at the beck and call of the CEO.

I expect you to be at my beck and call during the accreditation period.

6. Bring to the table

Provide or contribute a skill or expertise which benefits the team or completes a task. Examples: I’m done gathering the data but, we need someone who can bring data analysis expertise to the table for us to complete the report. We should hire Lilly as the project manager. She brings three years of experience and successful marketing projects to the table.

7. By the book

Performing a task according to the rules, laws, or company policies. Examples: Kindly tell the accountant to compute the portion of profits our business partners will receive by the book .

Prepare for this annual business meeting by the book, and do not forget to reserve the venue in advance.

8. Call it a day

Wrapping up and ending a work day, especially after a rigorous task. It could also mean taking a break after an unsuccessful solution to an unfortunate situation.

Examples: Alright, team, all of you did great! Let’s call it a day and go home early. The machines are still under maintenance. I’m afraid we have to call it a day and continue the production tomorrow.

9. Cold-call

A term used in sales that means an unsolicited call to sell a product or service. Examples: Cold-calling takes lots of energy, especially when you encounter rude people who scream at you before you even finish explaining. It is hard to cold-call  busy people for they tend to rush the conversation and sometimes they just drop the call.

10. Deal breaker 

During business negotiations, a deal breaker is a factor or part of the proposal or product that one party does not agree with. If unresolved, a deal breaker would cause a potential business partner to withdraw.

Examples: During the actual meeting, he said that the deal breaker for him is that the application doesn’t run on Android phones. 

Taking into consideration our financial situation, the 20% increase in the price of materials you sell is a deal breaker for us.

11. Drop the ball

To  drop the ball means to make a mistake or miss an opportunity. Examples: Tad dropped the ball when he did not schedule the job interview at his earliest convenience. Someone else got the position. This is an important business meeting, and I’m giving you one month to prepare the agenda folders. Please don’t drop the ball , I trust you.

12. Elephant in the room

A critical issue or problem that a team is avoiding because it is convenient to do so. Examples: No one likes to address the  elephant in the room  during the actual meeting, so I gathered my courage to raise the issue. Inflation is the elephant in the room that no one wants to discuss.

13. Foot in the door

Achieving a goal or success by gaining entry to a job or organization. Examples: I heard there’s a position open for a senior manager. You better get your foot in the door and apply for the role for your career growth. This internship will get my foot in the door of the corporate world.

14. From the ground up

To build or start something from the ground up  means to start from the bottom or on the first step of a process. This is an alternative expression for  starting from scratch . Examples: I wish we had a time machine to travel back in time and witness the hardships they had to go through to build this business from the ground up. You have to create the business presentation slides from the ground up , don’t use our previous template as it is not applicable for this project.

15. Get down to business 

This English expression means to start and focus on the task at hand before doing something else. Usually used to start the actual meeting or business activity after the team has a small talk and to redirect the focus on the agenda.

Examples: Okay, team, the attendees are all in, so let’s get down to busines s and discuss the topic of presentation for this meeting.

I understand we are all busy people, so let’s get down to business  and finish this meeting quickly.

16. Game plan 

A detailed plan of action or strategy to get ahead of a task.

Examples: The marketing team is creating a game plan for the launch of our new product.

We must anticipate all the risks and craft a game plan to mitigate them.

17. Go the extra mile

This means exerting more effort and doing more than what is expected of someone. Examples: The project manager encouraged the team to go the extra mile and exceed their key performance indicators. A team of employees has gone the extra mile to craft a clear-cut business proposal and closed the deal successfully.

18. A Gray Area

A confusing or undefined part of a communication or document. Examples: Our business partners are busy people, so write the contract clearly to avoid any gray areas and going back and forth with them. Profit sharing is the gray area that the upper management is currently trying to define in the meeting.

19. Green light

Greenlight is a signal for something to proceed or start.

Examples: Give me the green light to mass produce the newsletter after you negotiate with the manager. We have not received that  green light  to send the email campaign so just stand by and wait for the directive.

20. Hands are tied 

Someone’s hands are tied when they have a limited capacity to act on something. This idiom implies that a situation is out of someone’s control.

Examples: I can’t release more funds for this project. My hands are tied due to the budget cuts. Sorry, you can’t join this business activity, I’m just following the protocol, and my hands are tied — I can’t let you in without an invitation.

21. Heads-up

Inform or warn someone ahead of time. A heads-up is given to give someone time to prepare. Examples: I called to give you a heads-up on the agenda before the actual meeting starts. The project manager called to give us a heads up that our proposal was approved, and we must prepare for the implementation now.

22. Hit the nail on the head 

This means providing the correct answer or performing a task with accuracy. Examples: That’s right, you hit the nail on the head ! We need to use project management software to improve our efficiency.  Our clients are busy people that’s why it’s important to  hit the nail on the head  on your first try, or else they will lose interest.

23. In a nutshell

A brief summary of a statement, report, or meeting. It also means to say something in a few words Examples: I won’t tell you how about the whole meeting, but in a nutshell , we need to operate with a tight budget starting next month due to the dire financial situation. I don’t have much time to spare as I have to attend a business activity shortly. But can you brief me in a nutshell about this project?

24. In the driver’s seat

To be  in the driver’s seat  means to take ownership of a process and be in control. Examples: Congrats on your promotion! Now that you are a project manager, I expect you to be in the driver’s seat of your team. I will guide and orient you for a month, but you have to be in the driver’s seat  and lead the planning of marketing projects after that.

25. In the loop

Keeping someone in the loop means informing them about something they need to know. In short, it means to keep someone updated.

Examples: I will be away for a business meeting, but please keep me in the loop about how things are going in the office.

I CC-ed the hiring manager in this email to keep her in the loop of the whole hiring process.

26. Jack of all trades

A jack of all trades means someone with various skills but is not specializing in any particular area. Examples: Lilly is a jack of all trades because she served in the accounting, IT, and advertising departments over her tenure here. But eventually, she needs to find her niche. We need to hire a jack of all trades for an executive secretary since the tasks are broad and immense.

27. Keep an eye on the ball

Keeping an eye on the ball means that someone should be aware and focused on what’s going on so they can make a good decision.

Examples: Business people need to keep an eye on the ball and plan accordingly to survive this crisis. I know we can get out of this unfortunate situation. We just have to keep an eye on the ball and find a creative solution.

28. Learn the ropes

Being trained to know the basics of an activity or process or to gain a new skill and knowledge for something new.

Examples: You have to  learn the ropes  of reading your client’s body language to be successful in sales. I’m starting to feel comfortable in my role as an auditor because I have already learned the ropes of performing my tasks.

29. Learning curve

Refers to the period required for someone to learn or adjust to new technology or technique.

Examples: Lilly shifted to a new career and is experiencing a learning curve in the real estate industry.

Since it’s your first time performing a business negotiation, it’s normal to have a learning curve before you master the process.

30. Lose one’s ground

To lose one’s ground is an expression in business which means to fail to maintain one’s position or authority; to be forced out of an advantageous position. Examples: I think he lost his ground because he became too complacent after his first success. You are now ahead of the competition, do not lose your ground and fall back to where you started.

31. Movers and shakers

Movers and shakers are the people who have an important role in any organization. They can be managers, owners, directors, executives, or even workers. Examples: Tad is one of the  movers and shakers in our company. He developed the prototype of our product. The movers and shakers of the modern architecture industry led the opening of the business conference.

32. Nine-to-five

This business English expression came into existence because people usually work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nine-to-five means working for eight hours. Examples: I have to quit my  nine-to-five  job to focus on my small business. It’s hard to get to work a nine-to-five job in winter because I have to shovel snow off my driveway almost daily.

33. No strings attached

If there are no strings attached , it means you don’t need to make promises or give anything in return. Examples: You can use the application for two weeks for free. There are no strings attached , you don’t have to link your credit card account, and you can cancel your subscription anytime. Since you have been our client for two years, I can upgrade your account for free, with no strings attached .

34. On the back burner

A task is not urgent but will be performed later. On the back burner is business jargon which means a low-priority task or activity. Examples: The floor plan is not our priority today. Let’s put it on the back burner for later. The team leader forgot the tasks he paced on the back burner last week.

35. On the same page 

To agree with someone regarding an issue; to have the same opinion about something. Examples: We’re all on the same page here. We want this strategy to be successful so let’s work together to achieve our goal. Are we on the same page regarding this matter, or do you have a different perspective?

36. Play hardball 

To  play hardball means being firm, doing everything, and not taking “no” for an answer to produce positive results. Examples: As a team leader, I need to play hardball sometimes to meet the quarterly target. Our business partner won’t budge and played hardball during the negotiation. They want a 60-40 profit sharing, but we are pushing for 50-50.

37. Pull the plug

Discontinuing or stopping an activity or service; not giving support or funding an activity. Examples: The company pulled the plug on the charity event after the controversy. The CEO plans to pull the plug on the software we use because of the data breach.

38. Raise the bar 

Raising the bar means setting the standard or expectations higher, usually through an exemplary achievement or creation. Examples: Lilly raised the bar by increasing our sales by 150%. She deserves the employee award of the year. The company raised the bar by using new technology for its product.

39. Rule of thumb

A general guideline based on practical experience and common sense. Examples: The rule of thumb is to read the content of the agenda folder before the actual meeting begins. Always arrive fifteen minutes early for a job interview. That’s a rule of thumb.

40. Second nature

Having second nature means becoming so accustomed to doing something that you do it without thinking about it. Examples: Tad has been a computer programmer for more than a decade, so programming has become second nature for him. She’s a skilled and seasoned corporate accountant, and crunching those figures is her second nature .

41. State-of-the-art

State of the art is a business phrase that refers to the most recent developments in an area of technology, science, engineering, or industry. Examples: The engineering department is raving about the state-of-the-art skyscraper project they will build. A piece of state-of-the-art virtual reality equipment was the center of attention during the technology expo.

42. Team player

A person who works well within a group and helps others achieve their goals. Examples: Our new supervisor is a team player for creating a collaborative work environment in our department and going the extra mile to assist us with our tasks. Please be a team player and assist the intern after you finish your task.

43. The big picture

To see the big picture is a common expression that means to view the entire perspective of a task or issue instead of focusing on individual details. Examples: I strive to see the big picture in my job as a data analyst. As a project manager, I need to handle the big picture instead of getting caught up with the details.

44. Think outside the box

To think outside of the box means to provide a creative or abstract solution instead of an obvious solution for a problem.  Examples: Our client wants us to t hink outside of the box for the launching of their new clothing line. We implemented that strategy before, and it didn’t work. Please think outside of the box and give me a better solution.

45. Tighten one’s belt

This English expression is usually used during an unfortunate financial situation. It means cutting costs and spending less money because the company is operating on a tight budget.

Examples: Let’s switch to electronic documents and save expenses on printing documents. We have to tighten our belts due to inflation. The upper management sent a directive to cut 20% of the overhead cost and to tighten our belts .

46. Touch base

In business English, “touch base” means to have an informal meeting, usually to discuss current events or give updates at work.

Examples: Hi, team! Let’s touch base using the video conference program this afternoon. We will update each other on the marketing projects we are working on.

We can touch base using the team chat app on Friday to update each other on our weekly accomplishments.

47. Up in the air

Used to express that something is still undecided or uncertain; an issue is still unresolved. Examples: Our plan for a company team-building activity is still up in the air —the CEO will review the documents when he reports back from his business trip. I have no idea who will be invited to the closed-door meeting. The list of attendees is up in the air .

48. Walking papers 

When someone is given the walking papers , it means that they are let go or fired from the job. Examples: Have you heard the news? The management served the admin assistant her walking papers for not following the protocol. I noticed her desk was cleared this morning. The HR must have given her the walking papers yesterday.

49. Weigh in 

To express an opinion or analysis to influence a decision or to mediate between two opposing views. Examples: Lilly, you haven’t weighed in on the issue yet. What’s your take on this problem? Let me weigh in on why I think it would be better for the company to hire more employees.

50. Word of mouth 

Word of Mouth (WOM) is an informal communication channel that involves sharing information about products or services. WOM is described as “the most powerful marketing tool available.” Examples: Many small businesses rely on word of mouth to market their goods and services. Our sales suddenly peaked because of word of mouth. Let’s maintain our growth by providing quality products.

40 Useful Business English Phrases in Conducting a Meeting

A business meeting is an integral part of the corporate business world. To ensure effective communication between participants, it is necessary to know business phrases used in business meetings, business presentations, business negotiations, and general business settings.

The language of business English would help you foster an open-minded and non-judgmental environment, build healthy discussions, and avoid miscommunication during meetings.

English speakers who know how to navigate meetings and exercise their English skills for business purposes can easily get ahead of others.

Here are 40 useful business English phrases that can help you conduct a meeting effectively.

Signal the Start of a Meeting

Remote work challenges our conference call skills and how we manage a meeting. There is usually a wait time after entering a video conference program; participants stand by until all members are in the virtual meeting room. You can signal the start of a meeting by saying:

• Alright. Shall we start the meeting?  
• Is everybody already here?
• Let’s get started.
• It’s time to begin.
• Okay. Let’s get going.

Presenting Information In Order

After giving the topic introduction or the topic of the presentation, you have to present the details to avoid misunderstanding. Here are five helpful phrases you can use:

• To start with… To conclude… To start with, I’d like you to know that we are operating with a tight budget. To conclude, we have to gain additional profits for the next quarter.
• Initially… Finally… Initially, our business partners wanted to fast-track the production. Finally, we have to deliver earlier than the scheduled time.
• Let’s start by… Last but not least… I Let’s start by discussing the business terms and conditions. Last but not the least, our lawyers will review the agreement before our business partners sign.
• Firstly, secondly, and lastly Firstly, Lilly will give us the meeting overview. Secondly, I will discuss further details. Lastly, I will answer questions you may have.
• Next… To finish… The vice president for finance will discuss our financial situation next. To finish, we will decide on the portion of profits our employees will receive as their bonus.

Giving updates on Current Projects

When handling a project with lots of preparations to be completed, you may be required to give updates on its development during business meetings. Here are handy phrases you can use:

• We have started the process of…   We have started the process of contacting our suppliers for business negotiations.
• We are involved in… We are involved in creating an advertising strategy for our business partners,
• We remain occupied with… We remain occupied with creating presentations for the video conference program.
• We are working on… We are working on the business presentation for the marketing project next week.
• We are currently doing… We are currently doing the requests of our business partners.

Keeping the Meeting on Track

There are times when the meeting agenda is not followed due to plenty of topics members want to discuss. To go back on topic, you can use these English business phrases:

• Let’s concentrate on…  Let’s concentrate on producing a creative solution for this issue.
• That’s outside the scope… That’s outside the scope of this meeting. We will refer that to our project manager.
• We can’t discuss… We cant discuss our financial situation here. Better raise your question to the finance department.
• That’s another subject… That’s another subject this business presentation won’t cover.
• Let’s get back on track…   Let’s get back on track and finalize the details for hiring two project managers.

Checking the Consensus

You can use the following business English expressions or phrases to check if the members of the business meeting are on the same boat:

• Do we agree? Do we agree to let go of this marketing project?
• Is there anyone who…  Is there anyone who has a different opinion regarding this matter?
• Do we all share…  Do we all share the same opinion on how to handle our financial situation?
• Are we on the same page about… Are we on the same page about this creative solution for the project?
• Are you all with me… Are you all with me when I said we must proceed with the business negotiations on their terms?

Going back to a topic

During business meetings, members sometimes lose track of the agenda because there are plenty of topics to be discussed. To go back to the main subject, you can use these business English phrases:

• This leads us back to…   This leads us back to how we will resolve the issues in our financial situation.
• As I was explaining…  As I was explaining, we need to improve this marketing project.
• What were we discussing?  What were we discussing before we got interrupted?
• Now, where were we?  Now, where were we? That’s right, we are on the topic regarding our budget.
• Let’s return to… Let’s return to our agenda.

Finishing a Speech

Before ending your business presentation, you have to finalize and wrap up your speech with a good summary. You can use these English business phrases:

• Let me end by… Let me end by reiterating the importance of this marketing project.
• To conclude.. To conclude, we have to close the deal for the business negotiation next week.
• To summarize… To summarize, we are trying to mitigate the risks through budget cuts.
• The conclusion is… The conclusion is our project was a success because of our collaborative work environment.
• To sum it all up… To sum it all up, a positive result of the business negotiations will generate more jobs for the people.

Thanking attendees of a meeting

It is important to express your gratitude to the meeting attendees. Thanking people for attending an event builds a good relationship. Here are English business phrases and expressions you can use:

• Thank you for attending today’s meeting.
• I would like to thank everyone for coming today.
• It was a pleasure having you in this meeting.
• I’m delighted to hear all your input today.
• I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who attended this meeting.

40 Business English Phrases in Daily Real Life Scenarios

Aside from the business meetings, there are other situations in the corporate environment that you encounter especially when you are networking. Below are 40 business English phrases you can use in eight common situations:

Inviting someone formally

• I would like to invite you to… I would like to invite you to our company gathering.
• Are you free on? Are you free on Monday? We could schedule a meeting if you’re free.
• Would you care to join? Would you care to join us for lunch?
• We would be delighted to… We would be delighted to have you as our resource speaker.
• Would you like to… Would you like to visit our art gallery?

Requesting for information

• Could you please share… Could you please share the contract with me?
• I wonder if you could… I wonder if you could provide me with the minutes of the meeting.
• Do you have? Do you have any information about the merger?
• Would you mind.. Would you mind telling me about this project?
• What do you know about? What do you know about our current situation?

Giving a recommendation

• Put in a good word I can put in a good word for you because you did well in this company.
• Vouch for Their project management team is great! I can vouch for the effectiveness of their strategy.
• Say good things I can only say good things about this product, it really helped me a lot.
• I/we recommend you.. We recommend you try this product and see it for yourself.
• I/we suggest I suggest that you confirm the information first.

Correcting a misunderstanding

• This isn’t what I meant… This isn’t what I meant. Yes, there are budget cuts but it won’t affect our salaries.
• It is not my intention… It is not my intention to take over the project. I was just offering my opinion.
• I’m afraid there has been a   misunderstanding I’m afraid there has been a misunderstanding. The meeting is set for Monday and not today.
• (This) is different to… The information you received is different from what I said in the meeting. 
• I would like to clarify that… I would like to clarify that there is a 10% increase, not 5%.

Apologizing

• My apologies for.. Please accept my apologies for being late. I was stuck in heavy traffic.
• I owe you an apology. I owe you an apology. I should have kept my cool and not raised my voice during the meeting.
• I take full responsibility for… I take full responsibility for causing the delay in the project.
• I regret… I regret not informing you ahead of time. It won’t happen again.
• It was wrong of me to… It was wrong of me to keep that crucial information from you.

Offering help

• What can I do for you?
• How can I help you?
• Is there anything I can do for you?
• Would you like my assistance?
• Can I lend you a hand?

Congratulating someone

• Well done! Well done! I know you can deliver good results.
• You’re the best! You’re the best! We would not have closed the deal without you.
• I would like to compliment… I would like to compliment you on a job well done!
• My sincere   congratulations… My sincere congratulations to you and your team for finishing the project successfully.
• I commend you on… I commend you on your stellar accomplishment as a project manager.

Business English is the most commonly used form of English in the work environment.  As a language learner, it is crucial to understand business English phrases, expressions, and idioms and use them appropriately in conversations. Your knowledge of the most common business English phrases will make you sound like a native English speaker.

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Blog > English Presentation Structure (Introduction, Closing) & useful Phrases

English Presentation Structure (Introduction, Closing) & useful Phrases

02.21.20   •  #powerpoint #presentation #english.

When giving a presentation in english, there are certain guidelines you should follow. Maybe you haven't got a lot of experience presenting - or you would simply like to refresh your already existing knowledge - we're here to teach you the basics about presenting and provide you with a free list of useful phrases and the basic structure you can in your presentation!

1. Structure

The general structure of a presentation is the following:

• Introduction

It is up to you to design these three parts. Using videos or everyday-examples can be a great way to introduce the audience to the topic. The important thing is that you capture the audience's attention from the beginning by making an interesting introduction. The main part is where you present your topic, ideally divided into sections. You can be creative with it - incorporate images, videos, stories or interactive polls . We generally recommend using different kinds of elements, as that makes the presentation more lively. Make sure your main part is well structured, so your audience can follow. In the conclusion, you should give a short summary of the points you made without adding any new information. You can also make an appeal to your audience in the end.

2. Useful Phrases

Here you'll find several phrases that you'll need in every presentation. Of course, you should adapt them and use them in a context that is suitable for your setting. The phrases are divided into subcategories so you can find what you're looking for more easily.

Starting your Presentation

In your introduction, you should:

Welcome your audience

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone!

Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to my presentation about...

Introduce yourself

I am ... (from company ...) and today I would like to introduce you to the topic of ...

My name is ... and I am going to talk about ... today.

Icebreakers (for audience engagement)

Icebreaker polls are an amazing way to engage your audience instantly. They function as a fun and playful element at the beginning, giving you the perfect start you need to give a successful presentation. Click here to read our detailed post about icebreaker polls!

Mention the presentation topic and the reason for giving the presentation

I am grateful to be here today and tell you you about...

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about ...

I am here today to talk to you about ...

The reason why I am here today to talk about ... is ...

The purpose of this presentation is to ...

My goal today is to ...

Hopefully, by the end of the presentation, you will all know more about ...

Give a short overview of the content

To make it as understandable as possible, I divided my presentation into ... parts. In the first part, I will concentrate on ..., the second part will be about ..., ...

First of all, I will give you a short introduction, then we will move on to ...

... and finally, I will give you some insights to ...

Here are a few phrases that you could use during the whole presentation, but especially in the main part.

Engage your audience

In order to raise the audience's attention and improve their engagement, it is extremely important to make contact with them. A great way to do so is by adding interactive elements such as polls. If you would like to know more about this topic, read our article on How To Boost Audience Engagement . You can also use a software like SlideLizard , which allows you to conduct live polls, do Q&A sessions with your audience, share your resources and many more benefits that take your presentation to the next level.

Please raise your hand if you ...

Have you ever thought about ... ?

I would like to do a poll about ...

Please ask any questions as soon as they arrive.

On one hand, … on the other hand…

Comparing … with …, we can see that…

Clearly, … makes more sense than …

Whereas Option A is …, Option B is …

Making new points

Firstly,… Secondly,…

What also has to be mentioned is…

Next, I would like to bring up the topic of…

That being said, now we are going to take a look at…

Let's move on to the next topic.

On the next slide,…

The last thing I would like to mention is…

We made a whole blog post about how to pose questions in your presentation: The Right Way to do a Question Slide .

Talking about images or videos

In this image you can clearly see that ...

We are now going to take a look at a picture/video of ...

I'm going to show you a video by ... about ... now.

I've prepared a video about ...

Talking about statistics and charts

I am now addressing this graph that refers to the results of study XY.

In the graph on this slide, you can see that ...

The average is at ...

This graph clearly shows that the majority ...

According to this graph, the focus should be on ...

What that study tells us for practice is that we should ...

Emphasizing

I would like to emphasize the importance of ...

Moreover, it has to be said that ...

I want to stress the importance of ...

We always have to remember that ...

This is of high significance because ...

That part is especially important because ...

When something goes wrong

I am sorry, but it seems like the projector isn't working.

Could someone please help me with ...?

Is anybody here who knows how to ...?

Could someone give me a hand with ...

I would like to apologize for ...

I apologize for the technical problems, we are going to continue in a minute.

I am sorry for the inconvenience.

End of Presentation

In the conclusion, you should...

Sum up the main points

In conclusion I can say that…

To sum up the main points,…

With all mentioned aspects taken into consideration, I can say that…

Make an appeal

So please, in the future, try to be conscious about...

Please take a moment to think about...

I would like to encourage you to...

Thank your audience and say goodbye

It was a pleasure being here today.

Thank you for listening and goodbye.

Thank you for being such a great, engaged audience. Goodbye.

Thank you so much for listening, see you next time.

What is the structure of a presentation?

Your presentations should always have an Introduction, a Main part and a Conclusion.

What is a good way to begin a presentation?

You can start by introducing yourself, giving an overview of your topic, telling a little story or showing the audience an introductory video or image.

What are good phrases to use in English presentations?

There are many phrases that will make your presentation a lot more professional. Our blog post gives you a detailed overview.

Related articles

About the author.

Pia Lehner-Mittermaier

Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.

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Vocabulary and Phrases for Making Presentations in English

Here’s a step-by-step guide for making presentations in English. You’ll find the phrases you need for each step of your presentation.

After you give your opening statement, give a brief overview of your presentation. Say what your presentation is about, how long you will take and how you are going to handle questions.

For example, a presentation to sales staff could start like this: “Welcome / “Hello everyone.”

(Opening statement) “As you all know, this company is losing its market share. But we are being asked to increase sales by 20 – 25%. How can we possibly increase sales in a shrinking market?”

(Overview) “Today I am going to talk to you about how we can do this. My presentation will be in three parts. Firstly I am going to look at the market and the background. Then I am going to talk to you about our new products and how they fit in. Finally, I’m going to examine some selling strategies that will help us increase our sales by 20%. The presentation will probably take around 20 minutes. There will be time for questions at the end of my talk.”

Useful language for overviews

“My presentation is in three parts.” “My presentation is divided into three main sections.” “Firstly, secondly, thirdly, finally…” “I’m going to… take a look at… talk about… examine… tell you something about the background… give you some facts and figures… fill you in on the history of… concentrate on… limit myself to the question of…

“Please feel free to interrupt me if you have questions.” “There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.” “I’d be grateful if you could ask your questions after the presentation.”

The main body of the presentation

During your presentation, it’s a good idea to occasionally remind your audience why your presentation and ideas are important or relevant.

“As I said at the beginning…” “This, of course, will help you (to achieve the 20% increase).” “As you remember, we are concerned with…” “This ties in with my original statement…” “This relates directly to the question I put to you before…”

Keeping your audience with you

Remember that what you are saying is new to your audience. You are clear about the structure of your talk, but let your audience know when you are moving on to a new point. You can do this by saying something like “right”, or “OK”. You can also use some of the following expressions:

“I’d now like to move on to…” “I’d like to turn to…” “That’s all I have to say about…” “Now I’d like to look at…” “This leads me to my next point…”

If you are using index cards, putting the link on the cards will help you remember to keep the audience with you. In addition, by glancing at your index cards you will be pausing – this will also help your audience to realise that you are moving on to something new.

Phrases for introducing visuals

It’s important to introduce your visual to the audience. You can use the following phrases:

“This graph shows you…” “Take a look at this…” “If you look at this, you will see…” “I’d like you to look at this…” “This chart illustrates the figures…” “This graph gives you a break down of…”

Give your audience enough time to absorb the information on the visual. Pause to allow them to look at the information and then explain why the visual is important:

“As you can see…” “This clearly shows …” “From this, we can understand how / why…” “This area of the chart is interesting…”

Summarising

At the end of your presentation, you should summarise your talk and remind the audience of what you have told them:

“That brings me to the end of my presentation. I’ve talked about…” “Well, that’s about it for now. We’ve covered…” “So, that was our marketing strategy. In brief, we…” “To summarise, I…”

Relate the end of your presentation to your opening statement:

“So I hope that you’re a little clearer on how we can achieve sales growth of 20%.” “To return to the original question, we can achieve…” “So just to round the talk off, I want to go back to the beginning when I asked you…” “I hope that my presentation today will help you with what I said at the beginning…”

Handling questions

Thank the audience for their attention and invite questions.

“Thank you for listening – and now if there are any questions, I would be pleased to answer them.” “That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thank you for your attention. I’d be glad to answer any questions you might have.”

It’s useful to re-word the question, as you can check that you have understood the question and you can give yourself some time to think of an answer. By asking the question again you also make sure that other people in the audience understand the question.

“Thank you. So you would like further clarification on our strategy?” “That’s an interesting question. How are we going to get voluntary redundancy?” “Thank you for asking. What is our plan for next year?”

After you have answered your question, check that the person who asked you is happy with the answer.

“Does this answer your question?” “Do you follow what I am saying?” “I hope this explains the situation for you.” “I hope this was what you wanted to hear!”

If you don’t know the answer to a question, say you don’t know. It’s better to admit to not knowing something than to guess and maybe get it wrong. You can say something like:

“That’s an interesting question. I don’t actually know off the top of my head, but I’ll try to get back to you later with an answer.” “I’m afraid I’m unable to answer that at the moment. Perhaps I can get back to you later.” “Good question. I really don’t know! What do you think?” “That’s a very good question. However, we don’t have any figures on that, so I can’t give you an accurate answer.” “Unfortunately, I’m not the best person to answer that.”

What to say if things go wrong during your presentation

You think you’ve lost your audience? Rephrase what you have said:

“Let me just say that in another way.” “Perhaps I can rephrase that.” “Put another way, this means…” “What I mean to say is…”

Can’t remember the word?

If it’s a difficult word for you – one that you often forget, or one that you have difficulty pronouncing – you should write it on your index card. Pause briefly, look down at your index card and say the word.

Using your voice when making presentations

Don’t speak in a flat monotone – this will bore your audience. By varying your speed and tone, you will be able to keep your audience’s attention. Practise emphasising key words and pause in the right places – usually in between ideas in a sentence. For example “The first strategy involves getting to know our market (pause) and finding out what they want. (pause) Customer surveys (pause) as well as staff training (pause) will help us do this.”

Don’t forget – if you speak too fast you will lose your audience!

Making Presentations

Your answer:

Correct answer:

Your Answers

10 Business Idioms You Could Use In Your Next Presentation

by Shanthi Streat | 17 Mar, 2016 | Business English , Idioms | 0 comments

When was the last time your mind went blank while giving a presentation or sales pitch? What did you do? Do you get carried away when talking about your service or product? And do you always do your homework before a presentation?

It’s time for some more business idioms.   Well, I say business idioms but it’s not strictly true. You can use the following idioms outside a business context too. I’ve decided, however in this post, to show you how you could use it in your next business presentation. You could also think of where else you’d use them and share your ideas with me in the comments box.

So here goes.

1. Do your homework If you want your presentation to be a success, you need to make sure you do your homework , in other words, do your research.

2. Green light As you can see, the systems are all in place, so all we need is the green light from you to get started. ( the permission )

3. Fire away! We’ll now take your questions so fire away ! ( over to you – informal)

4. At your finger tips You should always have the latest sales figures at your finger tips in case you are asked about them. ( easily available )

5. The personal touch I always like to give my presentation the personal touch ( aim it directly at your audience’s needs )

6. Go with the flow You might get some technical interruptions,but don’t worry. Just go with the flow ( let things happen )

7. Get carried away In my excitement over our product, I can sometimes get too carried away when presenting. ( over-enthusiastic )

8. Up your sleeve I like to have a few extra tips up my sleeve in case they are needed. ( to have a few secret plans )

9. Mind goes blank My biggest fear about giving a presentation to a large audience is my mind going blank . ( forgetting )

10. Be ahead of the game The key to winning a sales pitch is to try to always be ahead of the game ( to know more than your competitors )

Try using some of these idioms in your next presentation. It will make you sound more natural in English.

If you think your colleagues would benefit from this post, please share it with them. And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for more weekly lessons.

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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

• Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

• Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
• Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
• Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
• Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

• Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

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Idioms are phrases which people use in everyday language which do not make sense literally but we understand what they mean

An idiom is an expression that has a meaning apart from the meanings of its individual words.�

• For example: It’s raining cats and dogs. Its literal meaning suggests that cats and dogs are falling from the sky. We interpret it to mean that it is raining hard.
• Other Examples:
• To stick your neck out is to say or do something that is bold and a bit dangerous. A similar idiom that is used for slightly more dangerous situations is to "go out on a limb." In both idioms, the idea is that you put yourself in a vulnerable position.
• To break the ice is to be the first one to say or do something, with the expectation that others will then follow. Another idiom that means something similar is "get the ball rolling."
• To get long in the tooth means to get old. The expression was originally used when referring to horses since gums recede with age. So the longer the teeth a horse has, the older it is said to be.
• To have a chip on one's shoulder is usually an expression to describe a person who acts, as you say, rudely or aggressively, but also in a manner that could be described as "aggressively defensive." The person seems always ready for a fight.

Food for thought� These idioms are all about food. Can you explain what they really mean?

• Taking two bits of the cherry
• Selling like hot cakes
• Playing gooseberry
• Going bananas

Feel like a fish out of water�Be like a fish out of water�

Feel uncomfortable because you are in an unfamiliar situation.

If you feel like a fish out of water , you feel awkward or uncomfortable because you are in an unusual or unfamiliar situation.

I don't like going to the big parties they have. I always feel like a fish out of water there.��Todd is a country boy raised in a small town in Northumberland and was like a fish out of water when he visited bustling London.��

What does this mean really?

And what about this one?

Numbers up� Lots of idioms are about numbers. See if you can fill in the missing numbers in these says. What do they mean?

• Dressed up to the ______
• Talking ___ to the dozen
• One in a ______
• Playing ______ fiddle
• In _______ heaven

Animal Crackers

• It’s raining ____ and dogs!
• I’ve got a ____ in my throat
• Those are just ______tears
• He’s taken the lion share
• I can smell a ___

Let’s see, if you understand the peculiar meaning of some common idioms!

So can you define ‘idiom’?

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English Idioms

Jan 01, 2020

940 likes | 1.95k Views

English Idioms. What are idioms?. Idioms are expressions which have a meaning that is not obvious from the individual words. The best way to understand an idiom is to see it in context. Most idioms are fixed in their form and cannot be changed or varied.

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Presentation Transcript

What are idioms? • Idioms are expressions which have a meaning that is not obvious from the individual words. • The best way to understand an idiom is to see it in context. • Most idioms are fixed in their form and cannot be changed or varied. • As it can be difficult to work out what an idiom means, you will often need to look them up in a dictionary. Why do we learn idioms? • To improve our level of English • To understand native speakers

Types of idioms: • Some idioms are imaginative expressions such as proverbs and sayings e.g.: Too many cooks spoil the broth. • Other idioms are short expressions that are used for a particular purpose: Get lost! • Some are considered as idioms because their form is fixed: for certain • Similes: white like a chalk • Bionimals: safe and sound (trionimals) • From grammatical point of view we distinguish: verb+object/complement, prepositional phrase, compound or whole clauses or sentences, e.g. to cut a short story long

He spilled the beans He told the secret

Get off my back! Leave me alone!

We were in stitches! We were laughing very hard!

He kicked the bucket! He died

Go fly a kite! Go away!

She was dressed to kill She was dressed in her finest clothing

I’m at the end of my rope! I am so-o-o frustrated!

You have to bite the bullet You need to put up with this difficult situation

Teachers always stick to their guns Teachers never change their opinions

Money talks Money influences a lot of people. Have you heard about that new TV?

Common Idiomatic Phrases & Expressions Idiom Meaning This idiom is used as a way of asking someone what they are thinking about. To make a bad situation even worse. When something happens very rarely. idiom is used to say that two (or more people) agree on something. This means ‘to hear a rumor' about something or someone. This idiom is used to say that someone missed his or her chance at something. • A penny for your thoughts • Add insult to injury • Once in a blue moon • See eye to eye • Hear it on the grapevine • Miss the boat

Common Idiomatic Phrases & Expressions Idiom Meaning This means ‘to do two things at the same time'. When someone understands the situation well. When something is done badly to save money. To hear something from the authoritative source. When something is very expensive. The final problem in a series of problems • Kill two birds with one stone • On the ball • Cut corners • To hear something straight from the horse's mouth • Costs an arm and a leg • The last straw

Common Idiomatic Phrases & Expressions Idiom Meaning This means not to take what someone says too seriously. There is a big possibility that what he/she says is only partly true. This is used when someone does not want to choose or make a decision. All the advantages. This means to deceive someone into thinking well of them. • Take what someone says with a grain of salt • Sit on the fence • The best of both worlds • Put wool over other people's eyes

Common Idiomatic Phrases & Expressions Idiom Meaning This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives. Feeling ill. • Speak of the devil! • Feeling a bit under the weather

We can divide idioms into different categories: e.g. • Body parts • Animals • Nature • Food • Money • Sport • Colours etc.

Body parts • two-faced = someone deceitful or insincere • take the words out of somebody's mouth = to say exactly what someone else was going to say • catch somebody's eye = someone you find attractive • all ears = you are listening very attentively • turn up one's nose at something = st you reject because you think it is not good enough for you • a pain in the neck = a person who is very irritating or annoying • to get cold feet = to begin to hesitate about doing st; (you are no longer sure whether you want to do it or not) • foot the bill = pay for st • keep someone on their toes = make them stay alert and ready for action at any time • give sb the cold shoulder = to deliberately ignore sb • pull sb’s leg = teasing sb by telling them something that is not true • on the tip of your tongue = a word or an answer that you're sure you know but have difficulty finding it • have your hands full = you are very busy or you have a lot to do • keep your fingers crossed = hope that something will be successful Watch the Foot Idioms here!

Animals • like a bat out of hell = something that moves very quickly • kill two birds with one stone = to succeed in doing two things at the same time • as the crow flies = This expression refers to distance measured in a straight line • let the cat out of the bag = reveal a secret, often not intentionally • raining cats and dogs = it's raining very heavily • work like a dog = very hard • have kittens = a dramatic way of expressing worry, anxiety or fear • sounds or smells fishy = you are suspicious about it • guinea pig = people on whom new methods, treatment or ideas are tested • mouse potato = This term refers to a person who spends a lot of time in front of the computer • pigs might fly = expresses disbelief, or the idea that miracles might happen but are extremely unlikely • asnake in the grass = refers to someone who pretends to be your friend while actually betraying you Watch the Dog Idioms here!

Nature • in the dark = someone who is kept or left in the dark about something, is not informed about it • save (something) for a rainyday = to keep an amount of money for a time in the future when it might be needed • Once in a blue moon = something that occurs very rarely • chasing rainbows = Someone trying to get something they will never obtain • storm in a teacup = refers to something you think people are making a lot of unnecessary fuss or excitement about and is unimportant • face like thunder = someone who looks very angry • under the weather = not feeling very well

Food • cool as a cucumber = a person who is not anxious, but relaxed and non-emotional • spill the beans = reveal a secret or talk about something private • The best thing since sliced bread • the icing on the cake = an extra benefit that makes a good situation even better • food for thought = something that makes you think very hard about something • hot potato = a very sensitive and controversial matter which is difficult to deal with • easy as pie = something that it is very easy to do • The proof of the pudding is in the eating = means that something new can only be judged after it has been tested. Watch the Pie Idioms here!

Money • burn your fingers = suffer financially as a result of foolish behaviour • cost an arm and a leg = something that is very expensive • goDutch with sb = to share the cost of something, such as a meal or a concert • feelthepinch = begin to suffer from a lack of money • golden handshake = generous sum of money given to a person when they leave a company or retire • money to burn = People who have so much money that they can spend it on anything they want • money talks = means that people with a lot of money have power and influence • nestegg = a reserve of money which you put aside for future needs • be paid peanuts = have a very low salary • splash out on something = spend a lot of money on it

Sport • have a ball = tohave a good time or enjoy yourself • the ball is in your court = it is your turn to speak or act next • play the game = to accept to do things according to the rules laid down by others • give the game away = to reveal a secret or a plan, often unintentionally • paddle one's own canoe = to do what you want to do without help or interference from anyone • sail through something = (e.g. a test or an exam) to succeed in doing it without difficulty • skating on thin ice = doing or saying something that could cause disagreement or trouble • take someone for a ride = to deceive or cheat someone

Colours • black mood = to be irritable, angry or even depressed • blue chip company = refers to a company with a solid reputation for the quality of its products and the stability of its growth and earnings • blue-eyed boy = somebody's favourite • golden opportunity = a favourable time or excellent occasion which should not be missed • silver spoon = to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth means that your family is very rich and privileged • to have green fingers = to be good at gardening • green with envy = a person who is very envious • to have a grey existence = to lead a dull, monotonous life • in the pink of health = to be in excellent physical condition or extremely healthy • to be in the red = to owe money or have a negative account • see red = become very angry or annoyed about st

Others • burn the candle at both ends = exhaust yourself by doing too much, especially going to bed late and getting up early • dig one's own grave = a person who does something which causes their own downfall • hard as nails = a person who is unsentimental and shows no sympathy • speak off the cuff = say st spontaneously, without previous thought or preparation • tell a white lie = to say something which is not true in order to protect someone or to avoid hurting their feelings • turn over a new leaf = to decide to change your behaviour and lead a better life • in someone's shoes = to imagine how you would react if you were in a similar situation as that person

Test your knowledge

TEST 1 Fill in the gaps. • I won the lottery today!- Really? No, I was pulling your ………… • By studying on the train on the way home every week-end,Claire kills two ………… with one stone. • We'll have to cancel the picnic I'm afraid. It's raining ………………………… • It's two miles from here to the station as ……………………, but of course it's much further by road. • Do you believe what she said? Her story sounds ………… to me. • My grandmother buying a computer? ... Yeah, and ………… might fly! • My son and his friends are all mouse …………… - constantly glued to the computer! • His mother nearly had ………… when Alex announced that he wanted to be a trapeze artist. • Come on! Spill the …………! What did he say? • The documentary on poverty in the world really gave me ………… for thought. /See the results in KEY/

TEST 2 part 1/3 Choose the right answer. • I don't trust Jack. I find him ……………… a) two-headed b) three-eyed c) two-faced • I entirely agree with you. You took the words out of my ………… a) head b) mouth c) hand • When Dad is really angry, he has a face like ………… a) thunder b) storm c) cloud

TEST 2 part 2/3 • Good news! I get the job and the ……… on the cake is that I get a company car too. a) cherry b) cream c) icing • Don't mention that subject during the negotiations or you could be ………… on thin ice. a) running b) walking c) skating • Don't expect any sympathy from him. He's as hard as ………… a) nails b) hammer c) stone

TEST 2 part 3/3 • I'm doing my driving test tomorrow. Keep your ………… crossed for me. a) fingers b) fists c) toes • Young people today tend to go ………… when they go out together. a) French b) Dutch c) Danish • It's usually safe to invest in a …………-chip company. a) golden b) blue c) white /See the results in KEY/

TEST 3 Correct the mistakes. • Of course I'm not going to buy a sports car. I was just pulling your arm! • After giving my opinion, he gave me the hot shoulder. • Of course I want to know - I'm one ear! • How did the English test go? - No problem - it was easy as cake! • Bill has very little contact with his brother. They see each other once in a full moon. • She's trying to get into Harvard but I think she's chasing cats. • When Charlie left prison, he was determined to turn over a new page. • The house cost us an arm and a hand, but we have no regrets. • Anne has a very interesting job but she's paid grains. Her salary is very low. • Our parents consider the money from the sale of their house as a bed egg for their old age. • If you drop out of college now, with such high unemployment, you'll be digging your own tomb! /See the results in KEY/

KEY 1 Fill in the gaps: 1) leg 2) birds 3) cats and dogs 4) the crow flies 5) fishy 6) pigs 7) potatoes 8) kittens 9) beans 10) food

KEY 2 Choose the rightanswer: 1) C 2) B 3) A 4) C 5) C 6) A 7) A 8) B 9) B You should not try to guess! If you did, we can say: „It was just a blind guess.“

KEY 3 Correct the mistakes: 1) pulling your leg 2) cold shoulder 3) all ears 4) easy as pie 5) blue moon 6) chasing rainbows 7) new leaf 8) an arm and a leg 9) peanuts 10) nest egg 11) grave

Congratulations for passing the tests ! ! ! To those who failed: If you’ve obtained less than 70% don’t run away and go through the theory again!

Other study resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_idioms http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/anglais/Henry/idioms.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/the_teacher/ http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/ http://www.learn-english-today.com/idioms/idioms_proverbs.html http://web1.150240.vserver.de/wm/main.cgi http://www.goenglish.com/Idioms.asp http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/idioms.htm http://www.idiomsite.com/ http://www.english-at-home.com/idioms/ http://www.edict.com.hk/vlc/idioms/ http://www.cambridge.org/elt/inuse/pdfs/idioms_quiz.pdf http://www.world-english.org/englishidiomstest.htm http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html

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