Introduction
A good way to make your presentations effective, interesting and easy to follow is to use signpost language. 'Signpost language' is the words and phrases that people use to tell the listener what has just happened, and what is going to happen next.
In other words, signpost language guides the listener through the presentation. A good presenter will usually use a lot of signpost language, so it is a good idea to learn a few of the common phrases, even if you spend more time listening to presentations than giving them! Signpost language is usually fairly informal, so it is relatively easy to understand.
| Section of presentation | Signpost language |
| Introducing the topic | The subject/topic of my talk is ... I'm going to talk about ... My topic today is… My talk is concerned with ... |
| Overview (outline of presentation) | I’m going to divide this talk into four parts. There are a number of points I'd like to make. Basically/ Briefly, I have three things to say. I'd like to begin/start by ... Let's begin/start by ... First of all, I'll... … and then I’ll go on to … Then/ Next ... Finally/ Lastly ... |
| Finishing a section | That's all I have to say about... We've looked at... So much for... |
| Starting a new section | Moving on now to … Turning to... Let’s turn now to … The next issue/topic/area I’d like to focus on … I’d like to expand/elaborate on … Now we'll move on to... I'd like now to discuss... Let's look now at... |
| Analysing a point and giving recommendations | Where does that lead us? Let's consider this in more detail... What does this mean for...? Translated into real terms... Why is this important? The significance of this is... |
| Giving examples | For example,... A good example of this is... As an illustration,... To give you an example,... To illustrate this point... |
| Summarising and concluding | To sum up ... To summarise... Right, let's sum up, shall we? Let's summarise briefly what we've looked at... If I can just sum up the main points... Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues we've covered... To conclude... In conclusion ... In short ... So, to remind you of what I’ve covered in this talk, … Unfortunately, I seem to have run out of time, so I’ll conclude very briefly by saying that ….. I'd like now to recap... |
| Paraphrasing and clarifying | Simply put... In other words....... So what I’m saying is.... To put it more simply.... To put it another way.... |
| Invitation to discuss / ask questions | I’m happy to answer any queries/ questions. Does anyone have any questions or comments? Please feel free to ask questions. If you would like me to elaborate on any point, please ask. Would you like to ask any questions? Any questions? |
