Presentation Phrases in English at B2: Signposting from Opening to Close
Giving a presentation in a second language is easier when the structure does the work. Signposting phrases tell the audience where you are, where you are going and why, which lets them follow you even when your accent or a missing word makes you nervous. Here are the phrases, grouped by moment, with short notes on when to use each.
A presentation at work does not have to be brilliant. It has to be clear. Native speakers use a small set of reusable phrases to guide the audience, and you can learn them in an afternoon. They are called signposts, because they work like road signs: now we are turning, this is the last section, here is the main point.
If you have already practised short spoken situations, such as phone calls in English, you will notice the same idea. Fixed phrases protect you from freezing, because you never have to build the sentence from nothing. The tables below are meant to be read aloud, not only read.
Opening: say who you are and what will happen
A good opening does three things in about thirty seconds: greets the audience, states the topic, and tells them how the talk is organised. You do not need a joke, and you do not need to say you are nervous. A simple, calm start is enough.
| Purpose | Phrase | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Greet | Good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming. | Neutral, works everywhere |
| Introduce yourself | For those who do not know me, I am Marta and I lead the support team. | Short, no life story |
| State the topic | Today I would like to talk about our plan for the next quarter. | Clear and simple |
| Give the purpose | By the end, you will know what changes and what you need to do. | Tells the audience why to listen |
| Outline | I will cover three points. First, the results. Second, the problems. Third, the next steps. | Fixes the structure in the mind |
| Explain questions | Please feel free to interrupt, or we can leave time for questions at the end. | Say which one you prefer |
Moving between points
This is the most useful group. Without transitions, listeners lose track of where the talk is, and non-native speakers often move to a new point by simply changing the slide. Say it aloud instead. A transition needs only one short sentence: what you finished and what starts now.
- "That covers the results. Let me now turn to the problems."
- "Moving on to the next point, I would like to look at the budget."
- "So far we have looked at the past. Now let us look ahead."
- "This brings me to my last point."
- "To give you a bit of background before I go on, ..."
- "I will come back to this in a moment."
- "Let me go back to what I said earlier about the deadline."
- "In other words, ..." when you want to repeat something more simply.
Referring to slides and data
Never read a slide word for word. Point to it, say what to look at, and then say what it means. The verbs matter here: you look at a chart, you point out a trend, you draw attention to an exception. These collocations sound natural, and the same pairs return in most professional talks, so they are worth saving as whole units. You can find more of them in the list of English collocations.
| Situation | Phrase |
|---|---|
| Show a slide | As you can see on this slide, sales went up in March. |
| Direct attention | If you look at the graph on the right, you will notice a drop. |
| Highlight | I would like to draw your attention to this figure. |
| Explain a trend | The number has risen steadily over the last six months. |
| Compare | Compared with last year, the cost is slightly lower. |
| Give the meaning | What this means for us is that we need more time. |
| Skip something | I will not go into detail here, but the full data is in the appendix. |
| Summarise a slide | The key point on this slide is that the risk is low. |
Questions you cannot answer
Every speaker gets one. The worst reply is silence or a guess, and the second worst is an apology that lasts a minute. In English-speaking workplaces "I do not know" is perfectly acceptable if you say what you will do about it. Aim for calm and specific: admit the gap, offer a route to the answer, and move on.
If you did not understand the question, ask for it again without embarrassment. Native speakers do this all the time, especially with a long or fast question. Repeating the question in your own words also gives you thinking time and lets the room hear it.
| Problem | Phrase |
|---|---|
| You did not hear | Sorry, could you repeat the question, please? |
| You did not understand | Just to check that I understand, are you asking about the cost or the timing? |
| You do not know | That is a good question. I do not have the exact figure with me, but I will find out and email you by tomorrow. |
| Not your area | That is really a question for the finance team. I can put you in touch. |
| Too long for now | That is a big topic. Could we discuss it after the session? |
| Disagreement | Thank you for raising that. I see it slightly differently, and this is why. |
| Check the answer | Does that answer your question? |
Closing well
A close is not a slide that says "Thank you". It is a short summary, a clear request and a friendly end. Repeat the main point in one sentence, say what you want the audience to do, and invite questions. Then stop. Many speakers weaken a good talk with a long, apologetic ending.
Try this shape: "To sum up, we have three priorities: reduce delays, fix the handover, and hire one person. What I would ask from you is a decision by Friday. Thank you for listening, and I would be happy to take any questions." If time is short, "That is all from me. Thank you" is also complete and polite.
- "To sum up, ..." or "In summary, ..." for the recap.
- "The main takeaway is ..." for the one sentence you want remembered.
- "The next step is ..." for what happens after the talk.
- "Thank you for your time. I would be happy to answer any questions."
Practising the phrases
Read your talk aloud with the signposts, and time it. If a phrase feels awkward in your mouth, replace it with a simpler one you can say without thinking. Choose five or six phrases and reuse them, since repetition of signposts is not boring for the audience, only helpful.
For keeping the phrases, save the ones you like as cards in MindDory and go through them in the app in the days before the talk. The work vocabulary list has the general words you will need for the content itself.