How to Give a Presentation in English

A presentation in English tests speaking in its most demanding form: sustained, structured and public. What makes it manageable is that presentations follow a clear shape, and each stage has its own set phrases. If you know the language for opening, moving between sections, pointing to visuals, concluding and taking questions, you can focus on your message rather than your words. This guide walks through the language stage by stage.

Opening

The opening sets the tone and tells the audience what is coming.

• Greeting and introduction: "Good morning, everyone. For those who don't know me, I'm Ana from the design team."
• Stating the topic: "Today I'm going to talk about our new website."
• Giving the outline: "I'll cover three main points: the problem, our solution, and the results."
• Setting rules for questions: "Feel free to interrupt, or I'm happy to take questions at the end."

Signposting between sections

Signposting is what keeps an audience with you. These phrases mark each move.

• "Let's start with..."
• "That brings me to my second point..."
• "Let's move on to..."
• "I'll come back to that in a moment."

Without these signs, even good content can feel like it is drifting.

Referring to visuals

• "As you can see on this slide..."
• "This chart shows..."
• "If you look at the figures here..."
• "I'd like to draw your attention to..."

Tell the audience what to look at and what it means, rather than leaving a slide to speak for itself. The same skill is tested on its own in speaking exams, where you are handed an image and asked to talk about it; our guide to describing a picture in English covers the structure for that.

Emphasising the main ideas

• "The important thing to remember is..."
• "What this really means is..."
• "If you take one thing away today, it's this."

Concluding

• "So, to sum up..."
• "Let me leave you with this thought..."
• "Thank you for listening."

A clear conclusion that restates your main message is what the audience will remember.

Handling questions

• Inviting: "I'm happy to take any questions now."
• Clarifying: "Sorry, could you repeat the question?"
• Buying time: "That's a good question. Let me think for a second."
• Deferring: "I don't have that figure to hand, but I'll get back to you."

Building presentation confidence

A presentation combines structure, clear speech and grace under pressure, which is why it is such a strong test of spoken English. Rehearsing the set phrases until they are automatic lets you concentrate on delivery. Presentations lean on the same functional language as our guides to making suggestions, business meetings and informal emails. Our Eng4Skills assessment grades your spoken English against the CEFR, so you can see how ready your speaking is for a real audience.