When we are talking to somebody, we don’t always understand everything they say. There are two useful techniques for dealing with this. Firstly, we can simply ask them to repeat what they said. Could you say that again please? I didn’t follow that. Could you repeat it? Secondly, we can ask them to say again […]
Softening
Sometimes you want to soften the impact of what you are saying and give it less importance. Here are some ways to do that: Little The quality could have been a little better.The speaker should have spoken a little louder. Slight There is a slight problem we need to deal with.I have a slight doubt […]
Emphasis 2
Emphasizing 2 Here is some more language to help you make your presentation more persuasive and make your points stronger : openly admit I openly admit that I have made mistakes.If they openly admit that they were at fault, they may get the public back on their side. totally agree I totally agree with what […]
Emphasis
Make your presentation more persuasive by making your points stronger. Here is some language to help you: a total disaster The whole project was a total disaster from beginning to end. extremely good We have an extremely good chance of getting the contract. a terrible mistake It wasn’t a minor error. It was a terrible […]
Visual aids
When we are giving lots of information, we often use visuals to give an overview. However, we often need to highlight only one or two key points or figures and then comment on them. Here’s some language to help you.
Giving numbers
When we talk about changes, we often show graphs. We don’t need to give precise figures but we do need to comment on them, interpret them and point out relevant facts. Let’s look at some language to do this
Adjectives of change
When we talk about changes, we often need to point out how big or rapid these changes have been. To do this, we need to use adjectives.
Describing changes
When we are giving a presentation, we often talk about changes. Usually we illustrate these changes with visual aids to show these changes. We need, however, to explain these changes. To do this, we need special verbs
State your purpose
It is important to state your purpose clearly at the beginning of your talk. Here are some ways to do this: talk about = to speak about a subject Today I’d like to talk about our plans for the new site. I’m going to be talking to you about the results of our survey. report on = […]
Stand up
I don’t think you’re going to like today’s point. I don’t like it very much myself but it’s got to be done. For most purposes, when you give a presentation you should stand. Not clutching the back of your chair for support, not leaning against the podium but two feet on the floor facing your […]
Emphasis
When we really want to focus the attention of our audience on an important point, we can use this “What ……. is ….” Look at these examples: We must cut costs. What we must do is cut costs. We need more reliable suppliers. What we need is more reliable suppliers.
Microphones
Microphones can be a real problem. Very few of us use them frequently and so, when we have to talk into them in an already nervous state, we can easily make elementary mistakes. As a general rule, try to speak more clearly when you are using a microphone. (It will probably help if you speak […]
A friendly face
When you stand up in front of that audience, you’re going to be really nervous. Poor speakers pay little or no attention to their audience as people. Big mistake. If you can see your audience as a group of individuals, you’ll be much more likely to connect with those individuals. Start looking around your audience. […]
Survival Language
If you get your facts wrong. I am terribly sorry. What I meant to say was this. Sorry. What I meant is this. If you have been going too fast and your audience is having trouble keeping up with you. Let me just recap on that. I want to recap briefly on what I have […]
Starting a presentation
In modern English, Presentations tend to be much less formal than they were even twenty years ago. Most audience these days prefer a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain structure to the opening of a Presentation that you should observe. Get people’s attention Welcome them Introduce yourself State the purpose of your presentation […]