How to sound more professional in your next English presentation
Margit Dumitrescu, M.Ed.
I Help Global Professionals ?? Get More Job Opportunities And Advance Their Careers By Boosting Their Business English Fluency ?? |Online Business English Teacher |Corporate Expert| DM Me For Info ??
Giving effective presentations in English can be challenging, particularly if it’s not your first language.
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Last week I gave a live class with Kevin Naglich from Deliberate English on ways you can sound more professional when giving English presentations by learning useful phrases.
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The following is a review of the key phrases from our live class that will catch your audience’s attention, keep them engaged, and help you sound more professional and natural when delivering your presentation.
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??? Get down to business
If you get down to business, you start to focus on work or the main purpose of your meeting instead of spending time chatting.
Example:
Thanks for coming today. Since there’s a lot of ground to cover, we’ll get down to business in just a few minutes.
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?? Kick things off
To kick things off means to start an event or an activity.
Example:
So we're ready to kick things off with the first item on our agenda.
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?? Get the ball rolling
Get the ball rolling = a casual term used in business to start meetings, calls, or presentations. It means the same thing as “start.”
Example:
I’ve only got 5 minutes to speak with you, so let’s get the ball rolling.
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?? Ground to cover
If you have a lot of ground to cover, you have a lot of topics to discuss in your presentation.
Example:
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, so I’ve asked Margit to start the presentation promptly at the top of the hour.
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?? Hand you over to
To hand over / pass over to means you are indicating someone else will speak.
Example:
I will hand you over to our director who will explain the results of this last quarter.
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?? Last thing standing
I’m the last thing standing between you and SOMETHING = a simple joke that lets the audience know you’re aware there is something more exciting they’d rather do.
Example:
I know I’m the last thing between you and your vacation, so I’ll be sure not to waste your time.
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?? I’ll keep this brief
I’ll be sure to keep things brief = a way to build rapport with your audience to let them know you won’t waste their time.
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Example:
I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so I’ll keep things brief.
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?? Bear with me
To bear with someone means to be patient and wait while someone does something.
Example:
Please bear with me while I fix the image on my screen.
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?? I take it from
I take it from something = I assume I can do something based on your behavior.
Example:
I take it from your questions that this is an important topic for you. Let’s schedule another call to talk more about it.
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?? Draw your attention to
To draw attention means to cause someone to focus on something.
Example:
I would like to draw your attention to the next point.
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??? Bring up to speed
When you are up to speed, you have all the latest information on a subject or activity.
Example:
The main objective of this presentation today is to bring everyone up to speed on the acquisition.
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?? Dive in
To dive in to a presentation means to start or begin a presentation. It’s casual yet professional and is used a lot.
Example:
Before we dive into the next section, are there any questions?
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?? Get out of
If you get something out of something, you receive a benefit such as more knowledge or a greater understanding.
Example:
I didn’t get anything out of that speech. We already knew everything.?
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If you want to talk about ways you can improve your English communication skills at work, or learn more, send me a DM ?? anytime or follow me for free weekly tips.
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