vocabulary for presentation in english

52 Phrases for Better Flowing English Presentations

/ Steven Hobson / Business English , English Presentations , Vocabulary

Do you give English presentations at work, but feel that you could communicate your message in a more objective, fluid way?

Maybe you have an English presentation coming up and want to make sure that your speech is clear and structured so that your audience doesn’t lose concentration and stays with you all the way to the end.

A technique that can help you achieve objective, clear, and structured English presentations, is to use linking phrases that join the separate parts of your presentation together.

English presentations normally consist of an introduction, the main body, individual parts of the main body, and the ending or conclusion.

To help maintain your audience’s attention, you need to signal when you are going from one part to another.

In this article, I teach you 52 phrases that do exactly this – linking the different parts together, and therefore, making your presentation flow better. You’ll find that these phrases will act as ‘signposts’ for the audience when you finish one part and start another.

52 Phrases to Improve the Flow of Your English Presentations

The introduction.

All good presentations start with a strong introduction.

There are a number of different ways you can begin your English presentation. Here’s a simple, but effective introduction structure which works for most types of business presentations:

Introduce – Introduce yourself and greet your audience. Introduce the presentation topic – Explain the reasons for listening. Outline – Describe the main parts of the presentation. Question policy – Make it clear to your audience when they can ask questions: during or at the end?

Here are some phrases which you can use to structure the introduction in this way:

1. Good morning/afternoon (everyone) (ladies and gentlemen). 2. It’s a pleasure to welcome (the President) here. 3. I’m … (the Director of …)

Introduce the presentation topic

4. By the end of the talk/presentation/session, you’ll know how to… / …you will have learned about… / 5. I plan to say a few words about… 6. I’m going to talk about… 7. The subject of my talk is…

8. My talk will be in (three parts). 9. In the first part… 10. Then in the second part… 11. Finally, I’ll go on to talk about…

Question Policy

12. Please interrupt if you have any questions. 13. After my talk, there will be time for a discussion and any questions.

 Main Body

Now that you have finished the introduction, we now need to transition to the main body, and its individual parts in a smooth way.

There are three parts of the main body of a presentation where linking phrases can be used:

Beginning the Main Body Ending Parts within the Main Body Beginning a New Part

Here are some phrases which you can use for these parts:

Beginning the Main Body

14. Now let’s move to / turn to the first part of my talk which is about… 15. So, first… 16. To begin with…

Ending Parts within the Main Body

17. That completes/concludes… 18. That’s all (I want to say for now) on… 19. Ok, I’ve explained how…

Beginning a New Part

20. Let’s move to (the next part which is)… 21. So now we come to the next point, which is… 22. Now I want to describe… 23. Let’s turn to the next issue… 24. I’d now like to change direction and talk about…

Listing and Sequencing

If you need to talk about goals, challenges, and strategies in your English presentation, listing phrases can help link these together and improve the flow of your speech. If you have to explain processes, sequencing phrases are helpful:

25. There are three things to consider. First… Second… Third… 26. There are two kinds of… The first is… The second is… 27. We can see four advantages and two disadvantages. First, advantages… 28. One is… Another is… A third advantage is… Finally…

29. There are (four) different stages to the process. 30. First / then / next / after that / then (x) / after x there’s y. 31. There are two steps involved. The first step is… The second step is… 32. There are four stages to the project. 33. At the beginning, later, then, finally… 34. I’ll describe the development of the idea. First the background, then the present situation, and then the prospect for the future.

After you have presented the main body of your English presentation, you will want to end it smoothly.

Here are typical sections transitioning from the main body to the ending of the presentation, and then inviting the audience to ask questions:

Ending the Main Body Beginning the Summary and/or Conclusion Concluding An Ending Phrase Inviting Questions and/or Introducing Discussion Thanking the Audience

Ending the Main Body

35. Okay, that ends (the third part of) my talk. 36. That’s all I want to say for now on (the 2017 results).

Beginning the Summary and/or Conclusion

37. To sum up… 38. Ok, in brief, there are several advantages and disadvantages. 39. To conclude… 40. I’d like to end by emphasizing the main points. 41. I’d like to end with a summary of the main points.

42. I think we have seen that we should… 43. In my opinion, we should… 44. I recommend/suggest that we… 45. There are three reasons why I recommend this. First, … / Second, … / Finally,…

An Ending Phrase

46. Well, I’ve covered the points that I needed to present today. 47. That sums up (my description of the new model). 48. That concludes my talk for today.

Inviting Questions and/or Introducing Discussion

49. Now we have (half an hour) for questions and discussion. 50. So, now I’d be very interested to hear your comments.

Thanking the Audience

51. I’d like to thank you for listening to my presentation. 52. Thank you for listening / your attention. / Many thanks for coming.

Linking phrases are like the skeleton which holds your presentation together.

Not only do they improve the flow and help guide the audience, but by memorizing them they can also help you remember the general structure of your presentation, giving you increased confidence.

To help you memorize, I recommend saying the linking phrases on their own from the beginning to the end of your presentation while you practice.

I also suggest memorizing the introduction word for word. By doing this, you will get off to a great start, which will settle your nerves and transmit a positive first impression.

Author: Steven Hobson

Steven is a business English coach, a certified life coach, writer, and entrepreneur. He helps international professionals build confidence and improve fluency speaking English in a business environment.

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Updated for 2024 | 30 useful phrases for presentations in English

For non-native speakers giving a presentation in English can be quite a challenge. There are just so many aspects to consider.  

Firstly, the audience. Do you know them well? If so, more informal language can be used. Or are they unfamiliar to you? If this is the case, then more formal expressions should be adopted. Whether you use more formal or informal language, it is important to engage the audience through positive body language and a warm welcome. Your tone of voice and changes in intonation are additional useful tools and you might consider asking them relevant questions (real or  rhetorical ). 

The  audience  also needs to see a clear and logical structure to follow you effortlessly. Useful linking expressions, when delivered well, provide  effective  ‘bridges’ guiding the audience from one point to the next.

Here are 30 useful phrases for presentations in English for effective  structure and linking.  

Introduction

• Good morning/afternoon everyone and welcome to my presentation. First of all, let me thank you all for coming here today.
• Let me start by saying a few words about my own background.
• As you can see on the screen, our topic today is......
• My talk is particularly relevant to those of you who....
• This talk is designed to act as a springboard for discussion.
• This morning/ afternoon I’m going to take a look at the recent developments in.....

Presentation structure

• In my presentation I’ll focus on three major issues.
• This presentation is structured as follows....
• The subject can be looked at under the following headings.....
• We can break this area down into the following fields....
•  It will take about X minutes to cover these issues.
• Does everybody have a  handout  / copy of my report?
• I’ll be handing out copies of the slides at the end of my talk.
• I can email the PowerPoint presentation to anyone who would like it.  
• Don’t worry about taking notes, I’ve put all the relevant statistics on a  handout  for you
• If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them
• If you don’t mind, I'd like to leave questions until the end of my talk /there will be time for a  Q&A  session at the end...

Sequencing phrases

• My first point concerns...
• First of all, I’d like to give you an overview of....
• Next, I’ll focus on.....and then we’ll consider....
• Then I’ll go on to highlight what I see as the main points of....
• Finally, I’d like to address the problem of.....
• Finally, I’d like to raise briefly the issue of....

Highlighting information

• I’d like to put the situation into some kind of perspective
• I’d like to discuss in more depth the implications of....
• I’d like to make more detailed recommendations regarding....
• I’d like you to think about the significance of this figure here
• Whichever way you look at it, the underlying trend is clear
• I’d just like to finish with the words of a famous scientist/ politician/ author.......
• Now let’s go out and create opportunities for...! 

Improve your confidence in spoken English with our General English course or  Individual English training   in our centre in London or online.

Hopefully, these phrases help you to vary your vocabulary for clear, well-structured presentations with a logical joined-up flow. The most important thing, of course, is that you are comfortable and confident in your delivery, which helps the audience feels relaxed and ready to be engaged by your subject matter. Good luck! 

Glossary 

Rhetorical  -  (of a question) asked in order to produce an effect or to make a statement rather than to elicit information 

Audience  -  spectators or listeners at a public event such as a play, film, concert, or meeting 

Effectiv e -  successful in producing a desired or intended result 

Springboard -  springboard is also something that provides an opportunity to achieve something  

Handout - a document given to students or reporters that contains information about a particular subject 

Q&A  – an abbreviation for ‘question and answer’ 

Related blog posts 

• Business English Work and Careers: 50 words you need to know
• Email writing: how to start and end an email in English  
• 5 Tips for Polite and Diplomatic Language  

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Vocabulary and Phrases for Making Presentations in English

Here’s a step-by-step guide for making presentations in English. You’ll find the phrases you need for each step of your presentation.

After you give your opening statement, give a brief overview of your presentation. Say what your presentation is about, how long you will take and how you are going to handle questions.

For example, a presentation to sales staff could start like this: “Welcome / “Hello everyone.”

(Opening statement) “As you all know, this company is losing its market share. But we are being asked to increase sales by 20 – 25%. How can we possibly increase sales in a shrinking market?”

(Overview) “Today I am going to talk to you about how we can do this. My presentation will be in three parts. Firstly I am going to look at the market and the background. Then I am going to talk to you about our new products and how they fit in. Finally, I’m going to examine some selling strategies that will help us increase our sales by 20%. The presentation will probably take around 20 minutes. There will be time for questions at the end of my talk.”

Useful language for overviews

“My presentation is in three parts.” “My presentation is divided into three main sections.” “Firstly, secondly, thirdly, finally…” “I’m going to… take a look at… talk about… examine… tell you something about the background… give you some facts and figures… fill you in on the history of… concentrate on… limit myself to the question of…

“Please feel free to interrupt me if you have questions.” “There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.” “I’d be grateful if you could ask your questions after the presentation.”

The main body of the presentation

During your presentation, it’s a good idea to occasionally remind your audience why your presentation and ideas are important or relevant.

“As I said at the beginning…” “This, of course, will help you (to achieve the 20% increase).” “As you remember, we are concerned with…” “This ties in with my original statement…” “This relates directly to the question I put to you before…”

Keeping your audience with you

Remember that what you are saying is new to your audience. You are clear about the structure of your talk, but let your audience know when you are moving on to a new point. You can do this by saying something like “right”, or “OK”. You can also use some of the following expressions:

“I’d now like to move on to…” “I’d like to turn to…” “That’s all I have to say about…” “Now I’d like to look at…” “This leads me to my next point…”

If you are using index cards, putting the link on the cards will help you remember to keep the audience with you. In addition, by glancing at your index cards you will be pausing – this will also help your audience to realise that you are moving on to something new.

Phrases for introducing visuals

It’s important to introduce your visual to the audience. You can use the following phrases:

“This graph shows you…” “Take a look at this…” “If you look at this, you will see…” “I’d like you to look at this…” “This chart illustrates the figures…” “This graph gives you a break down of…”

Give your audience enough time to absorb the information on the visual. Pause to allow them to look at the information and then explain why the visual is important:

“As you can see…” “This clearly shows …” “From this, we can understand how / why…” “This area of the chart is interesting…”

Summarising

At the end of your presentation, you should summarise your talk and remind the audience of what you have told them:

“That brings me to the end of my presentation. I’ve talked about…” “Well, that’s about it for now. We’ve covered…” “So, that was our marketing strategy. In brief, we…” “To summarise, I…”

Relate the end of your presentation to your opening statement:

“So I hope that you’re a little clearer on how we can achieve sales growth of 20%.” “To return to the original question, we can achieve…” “So just to round the talk off, I want to go back to the beginning when I asked you…” “I hope that my presentation today will help you with what I said at the beginning…”

Handling questions

Thank the audience for their attention and invite questions.

“Thank you for listening – and now if there are any questions, I would be pleased to answer them.” “That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thank you for your attention. I’d be glad to answer any questions you might have.”

It’s useful to re-word the question, as you can check that you have understood the question and you can give yourself some time to think of an answer. By asking the question again you also make sure that other people in the audience understand the question.

“Thank you. So you would like further clarification on our strategy?” “That’s an interesting question. How are we going to get voluntary redundancy?” “Thank you for asking. What is our plan for next year?”

After you have answered your question, check that the person who asked you is happy with the answer.

“Does this answer your question?” “Do you follow what I am saying?” “I hope this explains the situation for you.” “I hope this was what you wanted to hear!”

If you don’t know the answer to a question, say you don’t know. It’s better to admit to not knowing something than to guess and maybe get it wrong. You can say something like:

“That’s an interesting question. I don’t actually know off the top of my head, but I’ll try to get back to you later with an answer.” “I’m afraid I’m unable to answer that at the moment. Perhaps I can get back to you later.” “Good question. I really don’t know! What do you think?” “That’s a very good question. However, we don’t have any figures on that, so I can’t give you an accurate answer.” “Unfortunately, I’m not the best person to answer that.”

What to say if things go wrong during your presentation

You think you’ve lost your audience? Rephrase what you have said:

“Let me just say that in another way.” “Perhaps I can rephrase that.” “Put another way, this means…” “What I mean to say is…”

Can’t remember the word?

If it’s a difficult word for you – one that you often forget, or one that you have difficulty pronouncing – you should write it on your index card. Pause briefly, look down at your index card and say the word.

Using your voice when making presentations

Don’t speak in a flat monotone – this will bore your audience. By varying your speed and tone, you will be able to keep your audience’s attention. Practise emphasising key words and pause in the right places – usually in between ideas in a sentence. For example “The first strategy involves getting to know our market (pause) and finding out what they want. (pause) Customer surveys (pause) as well as staff training (pause) will help us do this.”

Don’t forget – if you speak too fast you will lose your audience!

Making Presentations

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This is a list of phrases to help you make a professional presentation in English.

Clear structure, logical progression

Good presenters always use language (sometimes single words, sometimes phrases) which shows where they are in their presentation. These ‘signposts’ make it easier for the audience to:

• follow the structure of the presentation
• understand the speaker more easily
• get an idea of the length and content of the presentation.

We’ve divided the phrases and sentences into sections which follow the logical progression of a well-balanced presentation.

1. Welcoming

• Good morning and welcome to [name of company, name of conference hall, hotel, etc.].
• Thank you all very much for coming today.
• I hope you all had a pleasant journey here today.

2. Introducing yourself

• My name is Mark Watson and I am responsible for … .
• My name is Mark Watson from [name of company], where I am responsible for … .
• Let me introduce myself; my name is Mark Watson and I am responsible for … .

3. Introducing your presentation

• The purpose of today’s presentation is to … .
• The purpose of my presentation today is to … .
• In today’s presentation I’d like to … show you … . / explain to you how … .
• In today’s presentation I’m hoping to … give you an update on… / give you an overview of … .
• In today’s presentation I’m planning to … look at … . / explain … .

You can also outline your presentation to give the audience a clear overview of what they can expect:

• In today’s presentation I’m hoping to cover three points:
• firstly, … , after that we will look at … , and finally I’ll … .
• In today’s presentation I’d like to cover three points:
• firstly, … , secondly … , and finally … .

4. Explaining that there will be time for questions at the end

• If you have any questions you’d like to ask, please leave them until the end, when I’ll be happy to answer them.
• If there are any questions you’d like to ask, please leave them until the end, when I’ll do my best to answer them.

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Blog > English Presentation Structure (Introduction, Closing) & useful Phrases

English Presentation Structure (Introduction, Closing) & useful Phrases

02.21.20   •  #powerpoint #presentation #english.

When giving a presentation in english, there are certain guidelines you should follow. Maybe you haven't got a lot of experience presenting - or you would simply like to refresh your already existing knowledge - we're here to teach you the basics about presenting and provide you with a free list of useful phrases and the basic structure you can in your presentation!

1. Structure

The general structure of a presentation is the following:

• Introduction

It is up to you to design these three parts. Using videos or everyday-examples can be a great way to introduce the audience to the topic. The important thing is that you capture the audience's attention from the beginning by making an interesting introduction. The main part is where you present your topic, ideally divided into sections. You can be creative with it - incorporate images, videos, stories or interactive polls . We generally recommend using different kinds of elements, as that makes the presentation more lively. Make sure your main part is well structured, so your audience can follow. In the conclusion, you should give a short summary of the points you made without adding any new information. You can also make an appeal to your audience in the end.

2. Useful Phrases

Here you'll find several phrases that you'll need in every presentation. Of course, you should adapt them and use them in a context that is suitable for your setting. The phrases are divided into subcategories so you can find what you're looking for more easily.

Starting your Presentation

In your introduction, you should:

Welcome your audience

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone!

Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to my presentation about...

Introduce yourself

I am ... (from company ...) and today I would like to introduce you to the topic of ...

My name is ... and I am going to talk about ... today.

Icebreakers (for audience engagement)

Icebreaker polls are an amazing way to engage your audience instantly. They function as a fun and playful element at the beginning, giving you the perfect start you need to give a successful presentation. Click here to read our detailed post about icebreaker polls!

Mention the presentation topic and the reason for giving the presentation

I am grateful to be here today and tell you you about...

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about ...

I am here today to talk to you about ...

The reason why I am here today to talk about ... is ...

The purpose of this presentation is to ...

My goal today is to ...

Hopefully, by the end of the presentation, you will all know more about ...

Give a short overview of the content

To make it as understandable as possible, I divided my presentation into ... parts. In the first part, I will concentrate on ..., the second part will be about ..., ...

First of all, I will give you a short introduction, then we will move on to ...

... and finally, I will give you some insights to ...

Here are a few phrases that you could use during the whole presentation, but especially in the main part.

Engage your audience

In order to raise the audience's attention and improve their engagement, it is extremely important to make contact with them. A great way to do so is by adding interactive elements such as polls. If you would like to know more about this topic, read our article on How To Boost Audience Engagement . You can also use a software like SlideLizard , which allows you to conduct live polls, do Q&A sessions with your audience, share your resources and many more benefits that take your presentation to the next level.

Please raise your hand if you ...

Have you ever thought about ... ?

I would like to do a poll about ...

Please ask any questions as soon as they arrive.

On one hand, … on the other hand…

Comparing … with …, we can see that…

Clearly, … makes more sense than …

Whereas Option A is …, Option B is …

Making new points

Firstly,… Secondly,…

What also has to be mentioned is…

Next, I would like to bring up the topic of…

That being said, now we are going to take a look at…

Let's move on to the next topic.

On the next slide,…

The last thing I would like to mention is…

We made a whole blog post about how to pose questions in your presentation: The Right Way to do a Question Slide .

Talking about images or videos

In this image you can clearly see that ...

We are now going to take a look at a picture/video of ...

I'm going to show you a video by ... about ... now.

I've prepared a video about ...

Talking about statistics and charts

I am now addressing this graph that refers to the results of study XY.

In the graph on this slide, you can see that ...

The average is at ...

This graph clearly shows that the majority ...

According to this graph, the focus should be on ...

What that study tells us for practice is that we should ...

Emphasizing

I would like to emphasize the importance of ...

Moreover, it has to be said that ...

I want to stress the importance of ...

We always have to remember that ...

This is of high significance because ...

That part is especially important because ...

When something goes wrong

I am sorry, but it seems like the projector isn't working.

Could someone please help me with ...?

Is anybody here who knows how to ...?

Could someone give me a hand with ...

I would like to apologize for ...

I apologize for the technical problems, we are going to continue in a minute.

I am sorry for the inconvenience.

End of Presentation

In the conclusion, you should...

Sum up the main points

In conclusion I can say that…

To sum up the main points,…

With all mentioned aspects taken into consideration, I can say that…

Make an appeal

So please, in the future, try to be conscious about...

Please take a moment to think about...

I would like to encourage you to...

Thank your audience and say goodbye

It was a pleasure being here today.

Thank you for listening and goodbye.

Thank you for being such a great, engaged audience. Goodbye.

Thank you so much for listening, see you next time.

What is the structure of a presentation?

Your presentations should always have an Introduction, a Main part and a Conclusion.

What is a good way to begin a presentation?

You can start by introducing yourself, giving an overview of your topic, telling a little story or showing the audience an introductory video or image.

What are good phrases to use in English presentations?

There are many phrases that will make your presentation a lot more professional. Our blog post gives you a detailed overview.

Related articles

About the author.

Pia Lehner-Mittermaier

Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.

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The big SlideLizard presentation glossary

Hybrid event.

When an event consist of both virtual and in-person parts, this is called a hybrid event. This type of event is popular as it combines the benefits of both online and live events.

Break-out-Room

In live online training, it is sometimes useful to divide the students into small groups for certain exercises, as it would be impossible to have conversations at the same time. Break-out-rooms are used so that people can talk to each other without disturbing the others. When the exercise is over, they are sent back to the main room.

Audience Demographics

Audience Demographics are the characteristics of listeners like age, gender, cultural backgrounds, group affiliations and educational level. The speaker has to consider all these characteristics when adapting to an audience.

Informative Presentations

An information presentation is created when no solution is currently available. Facts, data and figures or study results are presented and current processes are described.

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37 Useful Phrases For Presentations In English

• Post author: Harry
• Post last modified: 07/02/2024
• Post category: Business English Vocabulary
• Reading time: 10 mins read

Here you will learn at least 37 useful phrases for presentations in English. Improve your business English skills and feel confident when making presentations in English.

Presentation phrases for setting the scene, recapping, ending a presentation in English and more. 

Listen to the podcast Speak Better English with Harry or watch it on YouTube at Learn English with Harry .

List of phrases for presentations in English

useful phrases for presentations in English

Hi there, this is teacher Harry, and welcome back to my English lessons where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language.

Okay, so what are we going to cover in the lesson today? Well, all of us, myself included, have to make presentations, from time to time to staff or to bosses, or to clients or customers, whoever it may be. And if you’re using English, not as your native language, then it can be a bit of a challenge. You might feel lacking in confidence. You might feel that you’re not up to the other guys.

But you can do it.

So I’m going to give you some useful phrases that you can use in relation to presentations.

give a gift of learning Offer up to 50% off

Great way to improve your English. Use code LOVE24  

setting the scene

You might just simply say at the presentation particularly if it’s online,

• It’s good to see you all here.
• It’s great that you could join me.
• I’m very pleased to be here.
• I’m very pleased to be talking to you today.
• I’m very pleased to be presenting to you today.
• I’m glad you could all make it.
• Thank you all for coming.
• Thank you all for joining in.
• Thank you all for coming together on Zoom.

Whatever it might be, you can adjust the words to suit the media and the medium by which you’re presenting to your guests. Staff, colleagues, clients. 

common  phrases  for starting off  presentations

And then if we talk about other useful expressions and phrases.

It’s a good idea to spend 30 seconds introducing yourself.

So my name is Harry, I work in this department, I’d like to talk to you today about…

• The topic of my presentation today is….
• I’m planning to tell you about today….
• I’d like to introduce you to….

So in those sorts of expressions, you’re setting the scene again, you’re telling them exactly what you’re going to cover. And that’s a really good idea in a presentation because then everybody knows what’s going to be spoken about.

My name is Harry, I work in the marketing department. My presentation today is about a new product. The presentation is probably going to take about 20 minutes. And if you have any questions, then please ask them as we go through the presentation. 

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Introducing a talk.

Now, if you want to introduce the talk, you could say:

• What I’d like to do in this presentation is…
• First of all, I’ll give you a brief overview of…

A brief overview of the product, a brief overview of the background, a brief overview of our plans.

• Okay, then I’ll talk about….
• And after that, I’d like to show you some market research.
• After that, I’d like to show you our projections.
• After that, I’d like to show you this specific plan for the launching of this product.

So you go step by step by step. 

referring to visuals

So in any presentation, visuals are really important, and they can help you.

And they can also support you if you’re a little bit lacking in confidence about the presentation itself.

And you perhaps don’t want to be the focus of everything.

So the type of phrases you might use in that context would be something like:

• You will notice on this chart…
• If you look at this slide, we can see…
• Have a look at these figures…

As I said, it helps you, it supports you and enables you to just sort of hide a little bit behind those slides that focus on the screen, not specifically on you.

Useful Phrases For Presentations In English​

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Finishing off a section.

And when you want to finish off in relation to those sort of aspects, you might just summarise by saying,

• Well, that’s all I wanted to say on that particular topic.
• If you’ve got any questions, I’d be happy to take them now.
• To summarise what I said is…
• If you want to contact me offline, just send me an email.
• As I promised, I’ve now finished the presentation, it only took 20 minutes.
• I appreciate you watching and listening and your attention.
• If I have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them now.
• Have you any questions?

So again, helpful information directly in them, how they can get in touch with you after your presentation.

speak better English podcast - episode 368

Checking and moving on.

So during the presentation, we want to make sure that the people are listening, but you also don’t want to spend too much time on each particular point.

So you check their understanding so far, and then you move on. So you might say to the people,

• Does that sound okay to you?
• Do you follow that?
• Is it clear?
• Can I clarify anything else?
• If not, let’s move on.
• Let’s look at the next slide.
• Now, let’s move on to the really important topic of…
• Let’s turn to the topic of budgets.

So you pinpoint exactly what you want to cover. When you’re going to cover it and then you move on. So you check that they understand it. 

I also find in these types of presentations, particularly if they’re a bit longer than a few short slides, that it’s a good idea to do some recapping.

To recap means to go over what you’ve done before. Not a huge amount of detail because you don’t want to bore them by going through everything, but you recap quite quickly.

• Before I move on…
• I’m going to recap quickly…
• Let me summarise briefly…
• Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve covered today.
• I’d like to recap the main points.
• Let me go over the main points for you once more.

All of those good, acceptable expressions and words that you can use. 

coming to an end

And then when you come to the end of the presentation, you want to sign off, you want to finish them. We can say,

• Well, this is my key point.
• This is the key point in all of this, so let me finish on this.
• This is what I want to say to sum up in a few words.
• I’d like to finish now by thanking you all for your kind attention. 
• I look forward to joining you again soon.
• I look forward to any questions.
• I look forward to receiving your emails.
• I’d be happy to take any questions now. 

All nice and polite ways of informing people that this is the end. 

So there’s somebody out there in the audience who’s asleep, they’ll probably wake up at that point when you say and finally or, in conclusion

Well, hopefully you’ve got something in particular that you can hold onto there. Something that can help you if you’re making presentations in English.

If you have any other queries, come to me, I’m very, very happy to help you. My contact details are www.englishlessonviaskype.com .

And indeed, if you want some help, how to make presentations, if you want some help, how to get through interviews, or you just want general help with your English well, why not try our one-to-one online English lessons . 

Thanks for listening. Join me again soon.

More information

For more information on English grammar rules, English collocations and English idioms, check out the links below:

How to learn English vocabulary easily

English idioms about holidays and travel

You can always study English advanced level at Learning English with the BBC  and British Council Learn English .

English Collocations with Emotions

Here you will learn English collocations with emotions. Collocations are combinations of two or more words that naturally exist in

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150+ essential business presentation phrases (+ 8 tips)

Starting the presentation

Introducing the topic of your presentation , introducing yourself, referencing previously shared materials, addressing technical issues, sharing a roadmap for the presentation , explaining the question policy, starting the main body of your presentation, beginning a new section of the main body, introducing your visual aids, listing and sequencing, sharing examples, emphasizing a point, linking to another topic, paraphrasing or reiterating a point, referencing information, ending the presentation, involving the audience in the discussion, closing the discussion, 1. research your presentation, 2. plan your presentation  , 3. learn useful phrases beforehand, 4. prepare some visual aids, 5. practice aloud, 6. anticipate questions, 7. consider your body language, 8. try to manage your nerves, prepare for your next presentation with online business english tutors.

No matter what field you work in, you will have to give a presentation at some point. This can feel very nerve-wracking at first, if not downright frightening. One study found that 80% of us get the jitters at the thought of public speaking, and even that sounds a bit low! 

The good news is that anxiety motivates thorough preparation — and thorough preparation is the key to a great presentation ! Over time, your ability to effectively communicate ideas will be recognized, paving the way for professional growth and opportunities . We have compiled over 150 business presentation phrases to help you structure your next talk for maximum impact. We’ve also outlined steps to help you plan and deliver a presentation you’ll be proud of. 

150+ must-know business presentation phrases in English

Here is a list of natural-sounding English phrases that you might like to use in your next business presentation . These will give you some building blocks to structure your presentation around and add variety to your business English vocabulary .

Presentation opening lines are the initial phrases or statements used to captivate and engage the audience at the beginning of a business presentation. They set the tone, grab your audience’s attention, and create a positive first impression.

Your presentation introduction is crucial because it helps you immediately connect with your audience . Consider the following tips to make your presentation starting words impactful:

• Start with a thought-provoking question or a powerful quote relevant to your topic. For example: “What would the tech industry look like if 50% of jobs are done by AI?”
• Share an interesting fact or statistic that captures attention. For example: “Did you know that on average, Fortune 500 companies spend 10 million dollars on…”
• Begin with a personal anecdote or story related to your presentation’s core message. For example: “I grew up in a single-parent household, and I received a scholarship to attend university.”
• Use a bold or surprising statement that challenges the audience’s assumptions. For example: “Traditional SEO will be dead in five years.”
• Make sure your opening lines directly address the needs and interests of your audience. For example: “By the end of this presentation, you will know…”

Here are some other examples of how to start a presentation in English:

• Thank you for joining us today.
• I’m thrilled to be here discussing…
• Today’s insights will be invaluable for…
• Let’s embark on a journey through…
• I appreciate the opportunity to share…
• Imagine a world where…
• Did you know that [startling statistic]?
• Have you ever faced a challenge like [relevant situation]?
• I’d like to begin by sharing a personal story that relates to our topic.
• In today’s fast-paced world, it’s crucial to…
• Let’s take a moment to reflect on the impact of [current industry trend].
• I stand before you today to address a critical issue: [presentation topic].
• Before we dive into the details, let me ask you a question: [thought-provoking question].
• As [industry/company name] continues to evolve, we must embrace change and seize opportunities.

Your audience knows why they are there, but it is helpful to re-state it briefly. This is your opportunity to highlight what they can expect to gain from your presentation , whether it’s a project update, new techniques, or a potential strategy. Here are some ways to introduce your topic:

• As you all know, I will talk to you about CPC advertising best practices today .
• In this presentation, I am going to walk you through some of the best practices in CPC advertising .
• For the next forty-five minutes, I am going to be speaking to you about the best practices in CPC advertising .
• By the end of this session, you will all know a little more about the best practices in CPC advertising . 
• My presentation is particularly relevant to those of you who are new to CPC advertising .
• Today, we’re going to look at some of the recent developments in CPC advertising .
• This talk is designed to act as the starting point for discussion.

Briefly tell the audience who you are: give your name, company, and position. You can touch on any other information which explains why you’re well- suited to give this presentation . Here are some examples to help you get started:

• My name is Kenny Jones , and I am the Head of Marketing . 
• For those who haven’t met me yet, I’m Kenny Jones , the Head of Marketing . Let me start with a few words about my background.
• First of all, a little bit about my background. I am the Head of Marketing at Lego and have been with the company for seven years . Before that, I used to work for Booking.com, where I…
• I’d like to introduce myself: I am Kenny Jones, the Head of Marketing at Lego .
• By way of an introduction, my name is Kenny Jones, and I head up the Marketing department at Lego . 
• My role involves creating and executing marketing strategies across all channels…

If your presentation is based on another report or a lot of data, it’s helpful to share this information before the meeting. This allows your audience to review everything beforehand so they can be better prepared for the presentation . Here are some examples:

• Does everyone have a copy of the report we’ll discuss today?
• Don’t worry about taking notes. I’ve put all the relevant statistics in a handout for you, which I’ll pass out now / share a link to in the meeting chat. (A “handout” is a printed or digital document with important information that is given to people in a meeting or presentation for reference.)
• You can refer to the handout I shared earlier throughout the presentation.
• Please go to page 5 of the report.

Today, most presentations involve a technical component, whether you’re projecting a PowerPoint on a screen in the conference room or sharing your screen in a Zoom meeting. It’s best to prepare for any technical problems during your presentation so you don’t feel caught off guard in case something goes wrong.

Below are some examples to help you prepare:

• Can everyone hear me?
• Can you see the presentation I’m sharing on my screen?
• Apologies for the technical problems. Please bear with me for a moment.
• Thank you for your patience. We’ll resume the presentation shortly.
• While we sort out this issue, let’s discuss your thoughts so far.
• Let’s take a brief pause while this gets resolved. In the meantime, feel free to write down any questions.

Even if your presentation is short, it’s helpful for the audience to know what you plan to discuss. It’ll keep you focused and set clear expectations for the audience . Here are some ideas for introducing the structure of your presentation:

• My presentation will take about 45 minutes and is divided into four sections . Section 1 is going to discuss…
• Since we only have 45 minutes to discuss this huge topic, I’m going to keep things brief. This talk will be divided into four sections . To start off…
• I thought sharing a road map of what I plan to cover would be helpful. This talk will be divided into four sections . 
• I’m going to look at four different aspects of CPC advertising in today’s presentation. Number one…
• Today’s presentation will cover three main areas… We’ll start with…, move on to…, and conclude with…
• Here’s a bird’s eye view of our agenda today. (A “bird’s eye view” is a broad overview or summary of a topic, named after the wide view you’d get from high up, like a bird in flight.)

What do you want from your audience? Do you mind being interrupted, or will it distract you? State your expectations, and you won’t have any surprises. Consider whether you need to announce any other rules about audience behavior, like silencing their phones or muting themselves during a video conference call.

• If you have questions about anything, please kindly wait until the end of the presentation to ask them. We’ll have 10 minutes for an open discussion at the end.
• Please save any questions for the end of the presentation when we have time for a Q&A session.
• I’ll be happy to answer any questions at the end of my talk.
• I encourage you to hold any questions until the end.
• We’ve allocated plenty of time for a Q&A session after the presentation. 
• Feel free to share any questions in the chat as we go along.
• Feel free to interrupt if you have any questions.
• If anything isn’t clear, put your hand up, and I’ll do my best to answer your question.
• Unfortunately, photography isn’t allowed during this presentation.
• I would appreciate it if you could all put your phones on silent or turn them off for this talk. 
• I’d like to ask you all to please mute yourselves so we can make sure everyone can hear the presentation.

Your audience now has a good idea of who you are and what to expect. Now, there’s a roomful of people waiting to hear your expertise. It can help to start by turning the topic into a question. Here’s how to do so:

• So, what is CPC advertising ?
• Let’s start at the very beginning. Many people ask…

If that’s not suitable for you, try any of the following phrases to show that your introduction is over and the main body will begin shortly:

• Let’s get started.
• I’d like to start by talking about…
• Let’s kick things off. 
• Let’s dive into the first part of our presentation…
• To set the stage…
• First and foremost…

Once you’ve made your first point, try to sum it up in one sentence. Then, you are ready to start a new part of the presentation . Here are some options for how to do this :

• Okay, so that’s Facebook ads. But what about Google ads ? Well…
• Now, let’s turn to Google ads .
• There’s a lot more to learn about that, but since we have a limited amount of for time, let’s move on to Google ads .
• Next up: Google ads .
• Part two: Google ads .
• Building on that, now let’s explore Google ads .
• Now, shifting our attention to Google ads .
• Let’s move on to Google ads .

It’s best to give your audience something to look at to reinforce your points. Here are some phrases to show people what you want them to notice:

• If you look at this graph, you will see…
• This graph paints a clear picture of…
• From this chart, we can understand how …
• This chart shows the findings of a recent experiment we undertook. The y-axis represents… while the x-axis stands for…
• As you can see from this infographic, our research indicates that…
• Now, direct your attention to this infographic…
• To visualize this concept, take a look at this diagram…
• Here’s a visual representation to simplify this idea.

In Ancient Greece, rhetoricians (professional public speakers) developed tricks to hold an audience’s attention. One of them was to number their ideas on their fingers so that the audience had a visual aid to follow along with. Luckily, this works even better when showing bullet points on a PowerPoint!

Here are some ideas for how to list your points: 

• There are five main advantages to this approach… firstly, … secondly, … thirdly, …
• There are three main reasons why people choose Google ads. It’s primarily because…but another key factor is…some people choose them because…
• There are five stages of the process. You start by… then, you should…after that…
• We’ll start the presentation with a broader perspective on CPC advertising , then move on to specifics about…
• First of all, I’d like to give an overview of…
• My first point concerns…
• Next, I’ll focus on…
• Then we’ll consider…
• From there, I’ll highlight the main points of…
• Finally, I’d like to address the topic of…
• Finally, I’d like to briefly discuss the issue of…

Using examples in a presentation can bridge the gap between theory and practice. They provide clarity, making complex ideas more digestible for the audience . Relating to real-life scenarios or hypothetical situations helps you drive your point home so they retain the information better.

Here are some ways you can introduce examples in a presentation:

• For example, consider the case of…
• For instance…
• As an illustration of my point, let’s discuss…
• Drawing from real life, remember when…
• To put this into context…
• A practical example would be…
• Let’s imagine a scenario where…

Emphasizing key points ensures that your audience grasps the core message of your presentation. It highlights the significance of certain data or ideas so they aren’t lost amidst other information. By stressing what’s truly important, you guide your audience’s attention to where it’s most needed .

Below are some phrases to help you stress the importance of something you just said:

• It’s crucial to understand that…
• I cannot stress this enough…
• Let’s not overlook the fact that…
• This is the crux of our discussion: an omnichannel marketing strategy . (The term “crux” refers to the most important or central point of a matter or discussion.)
• It’s of paramount importance that… (The term “paramount” means of more important than anything else.)

Linking ideas creates a cohesive narrative in your presentation. It ensures a smooth transition between topics that helps the audience follow your train of thought. Drawing connections between different segments will create a comprehensive and interconnected discussion .

Here are some examples of how to make these transitions:

• On a related note…
• This ties in with our earlier discussion about…
• In conjunction with this topic…
• Similarly, we can also consider…
• This draws parallels between…

Paraphrasing is a tool to reinforce key ideas without sounding repetitive. By presenting the same information in a fresh way, you cater to different learning styles in your audience . Reiteration also ensures that crucial points are remembered long after the presentation ends.

Here are some ideas for paraphrasing a previous point:

• To rephrase that…
• In other words…
• To put it differently…
• What I mean to say is…
• Essentially, the idea is…
• Now, let’s further discuss the implications of…
• I’d like to dive into this issue in further detail.
• Let’s consider the significance of this data/result/problem.

Referencing external information lends credibility to your presentation. It shows that your points are backed by research, studies, or credible sources. Grounding your statements in established facts or findings will build trust with your audience and enhance the weight of your arguments .

Below are some helpful phrases for referring to data, studies, or other information:

• According to a study by…
• As per the latest findings…
• Referencing data from…
• Our latest customer survey shows that…
• Recent research suggests…
• To quote the report…
• Let’s take a look at these statistics.
• Based on the results of this survey conducted by our marketing department…

Business presentations usually end with a summary. You can use this to reinforce your main points (in case anyone wasn’t paying attention!) or to share the most important ideas that people should remember.

Here’s how to conclude a presentation:

• That’s it on CPC advertising for today. In brief, we’ve covered…
• Unfortunately, that’s just about all we’ve got time for today. I hope you have learned something about CPC advertising .
• That concludes my presentation today. To refresh your memory, the main takeaways are the following. Number one…
• That brings me to the end of my presentation. I hope you’re clearer on CPC advertising and when to use it .
• So, to draw all that together, next time you think about CPC advertising , consider the following factors…. That’s all from me! 
• To sum up our journey today…
• As we conclude, remember…
• To bring our discussion full circle…

You’ve said your piece, and the audience is full of new information. Thank them for their attention and invite them to ask you for clarifications if you can. Here are some examples:

• Thank you for listening. We have five minutes left over. Are there any questions?
• Thank you for your attention; I hope you’ve found this session useful. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
• Thank you for listening. I’d now like to open up the floor to questions, so just raise your hand if there’s anything else you want to know. 
• I’d love to hear your thoughts on…
• Can anyone share their experiences related to…?
• Does anyone want to share some insights or alternative viewpoints?

When you receive questions, don’t feel you have to leap into the answer straight away . You can buy yourself an extra few seconds with one of the following phrases:

• Thank you for your question, Mike .
• That’s an interesting question.
• I’m glad you asked me that.

If you aren’t sure how best to answer a question, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on the information the asker is looking for. It’s also perfectly professional to admit when you don’t know something. Here are some examples:

• Could you please clarify what exactly you mean by that?
• Are you asking about my experience or data from the industry in general?
• I’m afraid I don’t have those figures off the top of my head, but if you give me your email address at the end, I can follow up with you later.
• Unfortunately, that’s slightly outside of my area of expertise. However, I think you could almost certainly find more information on that by…
• That’s a great question, and I have to say, I don’t know for sure, but my best guess would be that…

To really demonstrate your expertise, check that your answer has addressed the audience member’s question . Here are some ideas:

• I hope that makes sense. Is that the kind of answer you were looking for?
• Does that answer your question?
• Feel free to come and grab me afterward if you want to discuss this further. 

An effective conclusion should provide a sense of closure to the audience while reminding them that you are open to discussing anything further after the presentation . It’s also your last opportunity to thank everyone for their time and attention, which will leave a positive impression on your audience.

Here are some conclusion phrases to inspire you:

• Thank you very much for your attention.
• Thank you all for coming. I really enjoyed speaking to you today and hope this session has been useful.
• Thanks for listening. Please feel free to contact me via my website or email if you have any further questions. 
• Thank you for your active participation in our discussion today.
• I’m available after this if anyone needs clarification on something.
• Let’s continue this conversation at a later time / offline.
• I will email the presentation to anyone who would like it later today.

8 simple steps to put together a winning business presentation

A great presentation is built on more than just a handful of impressive phrases. It’s important to prepare from success as early as possible. Here’s how to create a presentation that will make your clients want to buy from you and inspire your colleagues! 

If you’ve been asked to give a presentation on a topic, then it’s probably within your area of expertise. However, there might be areas where you need a little more knowledge. It’s crucial to figure out what those are early rather than get an unpleasant surprise later. 

To test this, break the subject of your presentation into smaller questions. For instance, if you are presenting the impact of social media in the previous quarter, you might consider: 

• What advertising on social media have we done this quarter?
• How is this different from what we did in the previous quarter?
• What was a successful outcome from social media last quarter?
• Do we have any hard data on this?
• Did we experience any drawbacks to advertising on social media?
• What conclusions might we draw for the next quarter? 

When you break your presentation into chunks, your approach will become more organized. Plus, you can clearly see what data and information you’ll need to back up your points. It might also be worthwhile to speak with colleagues who can give you effective feedback.

Taking a systematic approach to research is a great way to avoid missing anything important! 

Now, you probably have far more information than you could reasonably ask your audience to remember! It’s best to strip everything back to basics: start with making a very simple plan.

Begin by writing down your introduction and the three to four main points you want people to take away from the talk. From there, you can add sub-points and decide how much time to spend on each section. 

Whether English is your second language or not, writing a script of what you intend to say is helpful . You probably won’t stick to it, but it will help clarify your ideas. To make your speech sound natural, use simpler language than usual when writing for business. 

If you want to plan, practice, or improve your business English, why not try learning with a business English tutor ? A tutor can help you with any consistent errors that you make and send you essential vocabulary that you can then save and practice outside the classroom. Try Preply’s search filters to find a tutor specialized in your industry or role.

Now you’ve written a simple script, it’s time to start rehearsing!

Unless you really need to, don’t memorize the whole thing word-for-word. If you do, forgetting a single word might throw you off balance. It’s safer to learn only your key phrases rather than stuffing your brain full of too much information.

If you lose your way, skipping to the next point and resuming your presentation will be easier. Depending on the situation and the length of your presentation, you might also get away with holding a piece of paper with your phrases.bus

We’ve put together a guide to the most useful English vocabulary and phrases for business meetings and presentations . If you need more specific vocabulary, like for a presentation to the board, your manager, or a client on their finances, check out our blog post on the most common English for accounting vocabulary .

These days, most people use a slide deck when presenting business ideas . If you have this option, it’s a great way to keep your audience’s attention. Some people prefer to make their slide decks before even writing their presentation script.

Whichever order you choose to prepare in, don’t overcrowd your slides. Remember: you are the presenter; the slides are just something to look at! Try to keep them to bullet points with the main points you want people to remember. 

It’s also a great idea to include visual elements, like graphics, diagrams, and pictures, throughout your presentation. According to one experiment, when an audience hears new information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of it three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with those same facts, they retain 65% three days later . 

The more you can rehearse your presentation, the more confident you will be on the day.

Try recording yourself giving the presentation a few times and watching it back. It may feel embarrassing, but working through it can help you overcome the fear of presenting! 

When you watch yourself back, listen carefully to your accent. Are there any words or phrases that you find difficult to pronounce? Try looking them up in an online dictionary with an audio facility, like Dictionary.com . If it’s an issue in several places, you could also check out our article on how to improve your pronunciation . 

If the presentation is very important, ask a colleague to watch it through and offer constructive feedback. However, if you’re more worried about sounding natural and fluent than the presentation’s contents, a few sessions with a business English tutor from Preply can work wonders. 

Even if you don’t have a dedicated section for questions, you should expect one or two at the end of your presentation. This is a good thing: questions are a sign that your audience was listening!

Try to come up with a few questions people might ask and research the answers in advance. Better yet, have a colleague watch your presentation and ask for suggestions. 

If you plan to have a question and answer (Q&A) section at the end of your presentation, you should also have a backup plan in case the audience is quiet. Prepare one or two “questions” for yourself to get things started. You might say something like:

• Well, something a lot of people have asked me is…
• While you’re all still thinking about this one, a question that often comes up is…

Don’t worry if your audience says nothing — you might have covered all they need to know. But it’s good to be prepared with a few extra points, just so your presentation doesn’t end in awkward silence! 

When rehearsing your presentation, don’t just read it while sitting at your desk. So much of human communication has nothing to do with words. Try to practice what your body will be doing during the talk.

For example , consider what you will do with your hands — some people gesture a lot when they become nervous, which can be distracting. Put anxious hands to good use by using a pointer to indicate ideas on your slide deck. You could also try holding your notes or even a water bottle. 

You’ve done everything possible to prepare for your presentation. Now, the only thing left is to present it with confidence! Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, especially if you’re presenting in a second language. Try some of the following “hacks” to manage your anxiety. 

Many physical signs of nervousness are similar to those of excitement: an increased heart rate, sweaty palms, and a dry mouth. Tell yourself, “This feeling coming over me is a wave of excitement,” and you might be able to trick your brain into experiencing your nervousness as a positive emotion instead.

Try to have a moment of calm to yourself before the presentation. Go to the bathroom and take four deep breaths. Breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, and exhale for eight seconds. If you’re counting, you will have to really concentrate — it will draw your full attention back to your body and quiet your mind. 

Remember to have a bottle or glass of water on standby during your talk if your mouth goes dry or you want to pause. 

Be aware that you might talk quickly when you are nervous. Make a conscious effort to pause between sentences and slow down your speech so that the full weight of your words can be felt.

By now, you probably feel more prepared to deliver a presentation that will leave your audience speechless! Or at least impressed with your professionalism and flair. 

Remember: if you’re worried about your presentation because English is a second language for you, Preply is here to help. A few sessions with one of our online business English tutors can work wonders.

Our friendly tutors offer personalized lessons tailored to your industry or topic , ensuring you’re well-prepared and confident. With convenient 30-minute sessions, you can easily fit a lesson during a lunch break or before a big meeting.

Preply’s tutors can help you write the best possible script for your presentation and suggest more conversational options for unnatural phrases. Preparation is the key to success, but pair it with expert advice, and you’ll take your presentation skills to a whole new level!

• "Good morning/afternoon/evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining me today."
• "Imagine a world where..."
• "Did you know that [startling statistic]?"
• "Have you ever faced a challenge like [relevant situation]?"
• "I'd like to begin by sharing a personal story that relates to our topic."
• "In today's fast-paced world, it's crucial to..."
• "Let's take a moment to reflect on the impact of [current industry trend]."
• "I stand before you today to address a critical issue: [presentation topic]."
• "Before we dive into the details, let me ask you a question: [thought-provoking question]."
• "As [industry/company name] continues to evolve, we must embrace change and seize opportunities."

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Candice Benjamin is an English teacher with more than 6 years of online teaching experience. Candice has taught English to children and adults alike of various levels, ensuring that each achieves their respective goals. Candice specializes in the IELTS, TOEFL, and Cambridge exams and creates courses and strategies specific to the needs and goals of each student, to help them achieve their desired grade. Candice is patient and determined to produce significant results for her students.

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Elevate Your Presentations: Mastering English Presentation Words and Phrases

The art of delivering a compelling presentation lies in the finesse of your language skills. It’s about crafting resonating sentences, choosing captivating words, and initiating a dialogue that piques curiosity. One must know how to maneuver through this landscape, from setting the scene with a powerful introduction to concluding with a thought-provoking statement. That’s where this guide comes in. It will give you key presentation sentences, phrases, and words to help elevate your communication skills.

Presentation Starting Phrases

In the realm of presentations, first impressions matter tremendously. Your opening words set the stage for the rest of your discourse, establishing the tone and drawing in your audience. The right choice of phrases can create a compelling introduction that commands attention and sparks interest. Here, we will explore a selection of presentation-starting words and phrases to help you set a strong foundation:

• I’d like to start by…
• Today, I’m here to discuss…
• Let’s begin with a look at…
• Good morning/afternoon/evening, my name is…
• It’s a pleasure to be here today to talk about…
• Let’s dive straight into…
• I would like to kick off with…
• Firstly, let’s consider…
• Have you ever wondered about…
• Thank you for joining me as we explore…
• Today’s focus will be on…
• Let’s set the stage by discussing…
• The topic at hand today is…
• To start, let’s examine…
• I want to begin by highlighting…

Crafting an engaging opening with the presentation starting words, is akin to opening the first page of a riveting novel. These phrases serve as a doorway, inviting your audience into the fascinating narrative you are about to share.

Setting the Scene: Key Presentation Phrases

Now that you have your audience’s attention, the next crucial step is to set the scene. It involves using key phrases to keep your audience engaged, clarify, and effectively communicate your main points. A well-set scene guides the audience through your presentation, helping them understand your narrative and easily follow your arguments. Let’s look at some essential phrases that can help you accomplish it:

• Moving on to the next point, we see...
• Delving deeper into this topic, we find...
• An important aspect to consider is...
• It leads us to the question of...
• Another critical point to remember is...
• To illustrate this point, let me share...
• On the other hand, we also have...
• Furthermore, it’s critical to note that...
• Let’s take a moment to examine...
• As an example, let’s look at...
• The evidence suggests that...
• Contrary to popular belief...
• It’s also worth noting that...
• Digging into this further, we discover...
• Expanding on this idea, we can see...
• Turning our attention to...
• The data indicate that...
• To clarify, let’s consider...
• To highlight this, let’s review...
• Putting this into perspective, we can infer...

These phrases help establish your narrative, maintain audience interest, and structure your arguments. They serve as signposts, guiding your audience through the presentation and facilitating understanding and engagement.

Transitioning Gracefully: Phrases for Presentation Flow

Transitioning between points or sections in your presentation is like steering a ship through water. Smooth navigation keeps your audience aboard, maintaining their interest and comprehension. Seamless transitions contribute to a coherent and compelling narrative, preventing abrupt jumps or confusing shifts in your discourse. The following phrases are powerful tools that can ensure your transitions are smooth and effective:

• Moving forward, let’s consider...
• With that said, let’s turn our attention to...
• Now that we’ve discussed X, let’s explore Y...
• Building upon this idea, we can see that...
• Transitioning to our next point, we find...
• Shifting gears, let’s examine...
• Let’s now pivot to discussing...
• Following this line of thought...
• Linking back to our earlier point...
• Let’s segue into our next topic...
• It brings us neatly to our next point...
• To bridge this with our next topic...
• In the same vein, let’s look at...
• Drawing a parallel to our previous point...
• Expanding the scope of our discussion, let’s move to...
• Having established that, we can now consider...
• Correlating this with our next point...
• Let’s transition now to a related idea...
• With this in mind, let’s proceed to...
• Steering our discussion in a new direction, let’s delve into...

These phrases connect threads, linking your ideas and ensuring your presentation flows smoothly. They give your audience cues, signaling that you’re moving from one idea or point to the next, making your discourse easy to follow.

Concluding Your Presentation in English

The conclusion is your final opportunity to leave a lasting impression on your audience. It’s a chance to wrap up your arguments, restate your main points, and leave your audience with a clear and compelling message to ponder. Here are some phrases that can assist you in crafting a memorable conclusion:

• To sum up our discussion today...
• In conclusion, we can say that...
• Wrapping up, the key takeaways from our talk are...
• As we come to an end, let’s revisit the main points...
• Bringing our discussion to a close, we find...
• In the light of our discussion, we can infer...
• To synthesize the main points of our discourse...
• To recap the primary themes of our presentation...
• As we conclude, let’s reflect on...
• Drawing our discussion to a close, the principal conclusions are...
• As our dialogue comes to an end, the core insights are...
• In wrapping up, it’s essential to remember...
• Summarizing our journey today, we can say...
• As we bring this presentation to a close, let’s remember...
• Coming to an end, our central message is...

These phrases help you consolidate your arguments, summarize your main points, and end on a high note. A well-structured conclusion ensures your audience understands your presentation, its key messages, and its implications.

Polished Presentation Vocabulary

Apart from structured sentences and transitional phrases, the vocabulary you use can add a touch of sophistication. An expanded lexicon enriches your language and enhances your ability to express complex ideas with clarity and precision. Let’s explore a list of presentation words that can add depth and dimension:

• Elucidate  -   make something clear, explain.
• Pivotal  -   of crucial importance in relation to the development or success of something else.
• Insights  -   an accurate and deep understanding.
• Nuanced  -   characterized by subtle distinctions or variations.
• Leverage  -   use something to maximum advantage.
• Perspective  -   a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something.
• Synthesize  -   combine   into a coherent whole.
• Salient  -   most noticeable or important.
• Correlation  -   a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things.
• Framework  -   a basic structure underlying a system or concept.
• Paradigm  - a typical example or pattern of something.
• Repercussions  -   an unintended consequence of an event or action.
• Contemplate  -   look thoughtfully for a long time.
• Manifestation - an event, action, or object that embodies something.
• Escalate  -   increase rapidly.
• Inherent  -   existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.
• Validate  -   check or prove the validity or accuracy of.
• Consolidate  -   make something physically more solid.
• Compelling  -   evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way.
• Delineate  -   describe or portray something precisely.

These words add a layer of sophistication to your presentation, conveying your thoughts and ideas more precisely. They expand your expressive capacity and lend an authoritative and professional tone to your speech. By integrating these words into your presentation, you can deliver your message with clarity and depth, engaging your audience more effectively.

The Corporate Edge: Navigating the Nuances of Business English Presentations

In the corporate world, effective communication is the linchpin of success. It’s an art that lies at the heart of all business interactions, from high-stakes meetings to persuasive pitches. And when it comes to delivering such a presentation, the task becomes even more critical. The business English presentation phrases you use, how you present your points, and the overall language command play a significant role in conveying your message effectively.

Presenting in a business setting often involves explaining complex ideas, discussing financial matters, and persuading potential clients or stakeholders. Here, the language must be precise, the tone - professional, and the content - structured. Unlike informal or academic ones, business presentations carry a certain degree of formality and specific jargon that sets them apart. However,  business English idioms and expressions can help soften the formality, adding a touch of personality to your language. 

Navigating the labyrinth of  business English also involves acknowledging the importance of research and planning. A well-researched presentation reflects your dedication, expertise, and credibility. It shows you respect your audience’s time and are prepared to deliver value. It’s not just about memorizing facts and figures; it’s about understanding your topic thoroughly and answering queries convincingly.

Another characteristic of business presentations lies in their persuasive nature. Often, they are geared toward persuading clients, investors, or team members toward a particular course of action. Consequently, using persuasive techniques such as presenting benefits, sharing testimonials, or demonstrating success stories becomes prevalent. You’re not just providing information; you’re trying to influence decisions and drive action.

An essential but often overlooked aspect of business presentations is the importance of a strong opening and closing. The opening is your chance to grab the audience’s attention and make them invested in your talk, so knowing how to start a business presentation is essential. Conversely, the closing is your final shot at reinforcing your message and making a lasting impression.

Finally, business presentations often involve handling criticism or skepticism, especially when proposing new ideas or challenging existing norms. Here, your ability to accept feedback gracefully, address concerns effectively, and maintain your composure can significantly impact the outcome.

Learn Vocabulary for Presentations with Promova

Looking to expand your vocabulary for presentations and  improve your language skills online ? Promova is here to help! Our platform offers various resources and courses to help learners of all levels master new words and expressions quickly, effectively, and confidently.

With personalized lessons from  certified tutors , you can get one-on-one instruction that caters to your specific needs and learning style. Additionally, our app allows you to access interactive exercises, quizzes, and vocabulary lists anytime and anywhere for easy practice on the go. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner looking to fine-tune your language skills – we have got you covered.

Don’t let language barriers hold you back any longer – start your learning journey with Promova today and take the first step toward achieving your goals! Try it out now with a free lesson and see how easy and effective our approach is.

As we conclude, it’s clear that effective presentations in English rely on various linguistic elements. A strong beginning, transitions, and a powerful conclusion, all while using precise vocabulary, are critical. The ability to craft compelling sentences and phrases, set the scene effectively, and transition smoothly between ideas are essential for a successful presentation. And the correct vocabulary can add depth and dimension to your discourse while conveying professionalism.

What role does body language play in presentations?

Body language can significantly impact how your message is perceived. Effective use of gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions can amplify your points, show enthusiasm, and engage the audience. Conversely, negative body language can detract from your message.

How important is it to know your audience before a presentation?

Knowing your audience is crucial. It informs the level of detail you need to include, the words and phrases you use, the examples you choose, and even the humor you might incorporate. Tailoring your presentation to your audience’s knowledge and interests can significantly enhance its effectiveness.

What if I make a mistake during my presentation?

Everyone makes mistakes. If you stumble during your presentation, take a moment, compose yourself, and move on. Don’t let a minor error disrupt your flow. Remember, the audience is there to listen to your ideas, not critique your performance.

Are there some resources with more phrases for presentations?

Indeed, many resources are available if you’re seeking to delve deeper into the world of presentation phrases.  The Cambridge Dictionary and  Merriam-Webster Dictionary offer many valuable collocations, from simple expressions to sophisticated vocabulary.

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Free English Lessons

Presentations in english – video.

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In this lesson, you can learn how to make presentations in English.

Do you have to make presentations in english in your job imagine you have to give an important presentation in english tomorrow. how would you feel about it, this business english lesson will help you learn useful phrases and techniques to introduce yourself and your topic, keep your ideas organised, deal with problems, and respond to questions from audience members., quiz: presentations in english.

Now, test your knowledge of what you learned in the lesson by trying this quiz.

There are 20 questions, following the same order as the lesson.

You will get your score at the end, when you can click on ‘View Questions’ to see all the correct answers.

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A perfect score! Congratulations!

1 . Question

For those who don’t ________ me, my name’s Elaine, and I work in the HR department.

Choose the missing word.

2 . Question

Write the words in the correct gaps. There is one word you don’t need to use.

Before we , let me myself : I’m Jenny and I’m the head of purchasing.

3 . Question

Put the words in order to create something you might say at the start of a presentation.

View Answers:

4 . Question

Put these sentences in order to create the introduction to a presentation.

• Finally, I’ll suggest some solutions for how we might tackle them in the coming year.
• Then I’ll explain what we believe are our greatest challenges.
• I’ll begin by highlighting some of the issues that have faced the retail sector during the pandemic.

5 . Question

I’ll begin by lining out the policies, and then I’ll go on to highlight what they mean for you and your working habits.

The highlighted words are not used correctly; there should be one word (an -ing verb) instead. Write the correct word below.

6 . Question

Write the missing word to complete a common phrase used to introduce an interesting fact.

Did you that the average office worker in London spends more than two hours commuting to and from work?

7 . Question

Complete the gaps in Dale Carnegie’s famous quote about making presentations, using the verbs ‘say’ and ‘tell’ in the correct form.

“ the audience what you’re going to ; it, and then them what you’ve .”

8 . Question

Next, I’d like to talk about the new marketing drive to attract teens.

The highlighted words are an example of what?

• signposting language
• getting the audience’s attention
• inviting questions
• introducing yourself

9 . Question

Let’s move ________ and discuss the latest customer feedback report.

Choose the correct word.

10 . Question

At this , I’d to to the company’s performance on punctuality.

11 . Question

Put the words in order to create an example of signposting language.

12 . Question

Let’s examine this in more ________.

Choose the two words that are possible.

13 . Question

14 . question.

Write a two-word phrasal verb that’s used as signposting language at the end of a presentation. (You use the same phrasal verb to mean put paper around an item before giving it as a present).

To , let’s remind ourselves of why this should matter to everyone here.

15 . Question

So, you’ve heard what I have to say. What conclusions can you take ________ from this?

16 . Question

Which question is not an example of a filler phrase, which you might say if you need some thinking time?

• Where was I?
• So, what was I saying?
• What’s the word in English again?
• What’s your take on this?

The odd one out – in other words, the answer you’re looking for – is a question that asks for someone’s opinion.

17 . Question

Complete this signposting language with a seven-letter word that means ‘make something clear’. You might say this if you realise you need to explain something in a different way.

To , I wanted to say that …

18 . Question

Write the words in the correct gaps to create a sentence you might say to delay answering a question. There is one word you don’t need to use.

I’ve time for questions at the end of this session, so we’ll your idea later.

19 . Question

• You’ve raised an important point there. What does everyone else think about this?

What technique is this an example of?

• delaying the answer to a question
• deflecting the answer to a question
• dismissing a question

20 . Question

Thanks for your putting in , but I don’t see how that’s connected to what I’m saying.

The highlighted words are not used correctly; there should be a one-word noun instead. Write the correct word below.

1. How to Introduce Yourself and Your Topic

If some people in the audience don’t know who you are, you should introduce yourself and your position.

In a more formal setting, you could say something like this:

• Good morning everyone. For those who don’t know me, my name’s Simon, and I work in the marketing department.
• Hello everybody. Before we begin, let me introduce myself briefly: I’m Reese and I’m the head of HR.

If you work in a more informal company, you could say:

• Hi guys; if you don’t know me, I’m Sylvia and I work in digital marketing.
• Hello! I see some new faces, so I’ll introduce myself first: I’m Julia and I’m one of our customer service team.

Next, you need to introduce your topic.

If your presentation topic is simpler, you could just say one sentence, like this:

• Today, I’m going to be talking about our new HR policies and how they affect you.
• I’d like to talk to you today about quality control and why we’re all responsible for quality control, whichever department you work in.

If your topic is more complex, you might add more detail to break your idea into stages. For example:

• Today, I’m going to be talking about our new HR policies and how they affect you. I’ll begin by outlining the policies, and then I’ll go on to highlight what they mean for you and your working habits. Finally, I’ll briefly discuss why we feel these new policies are necessary and beneficial for us all.

Here’s another example:

• I’d like to talk to you today about quality control and why we’re all responsible for quality control, whichever department you work in. First of all, I’ll explain why ‘quality control’ has a broader meaning than you might expect. I’ll continue by giving examples of real quality control, and why this matters for all of us. To finish, I’ll be asking you to think of ways you can incorporate quality control into your working habits.

Here, you saw two examples. You can use these as templates to begin your presentation:

• I’ll begin by… and then I’ll… Finally, I’ll…
• First of all, I’ll… I’ll continue by… To finish, I’ll…

Okay, now you can practice! We’d like you to do two things.

First, practice introducing yourself informally, and explaining your topic in a simple way, with one sentence.

Then, practice introducing yourself formally, and explaining your topic in a more detailed way.

Pause the video and practice speaking. All the language you need is in this section.

Learn more about this topic with another free English video lesson from Oxford Online English: Greetings and Introductions .

Ready? Let’s move on!

2. How to Make a Strong Start

I’m sure that in your life, you’ve heard good speakers and bad speakers.

Good speakers grab your attention and don’t let go. You want to hear what they have to say. You feel interested and energised by listening to them.

Bad speakers are the opposite. Even if you try to make yourself listen, you find that your attention drifts away. Your eyelids feel heavy, and you have to struggle to stay awake.

So, here’s a question: what’s the difference between good speakers and bad speakers? And, how can you make sure you speak effectively when you make your presentation in English?

Here’s one way to think about it: bad speakers don’t think they have to earn your attention. Good speakers understand that no one has to listen to them, so they work hard to make you want to pay attention.

What does this mean for you, and your presentation?

Getting people’s attention starts from the beginning. You need to make it clear what people should expect from your presentation, and why they should care about what you have to say.

Sounds like a nice idea, but how do you do this?

Here are three techniques you can use.

One: establish a problem which many people in your audience have. Then, establish that you have a solution to their problem.

For example:

• Have you ever felt unfairly treated at work, or felt that the work you do isn’t appreciated? We’ve been working to design new HR policies that will make sure all staff get fair recognition for their contribution to the company.

In this way, you take a boring-sounding topic like HR policies, and you make it more relevant to your audience. How? By connecting it with their experiences and feelings.

The second technique? Mention an interesting fact, or a surprising statistic to get people’s attention.

• Did you know that the average office worker spends eight hours a day at work, but only does four hours of productive, useful work? I’m here to tell you about ‘quality control’, and how you can use this idea to make better use of your time.

Finally, you can engage people by telling a short story and connecting it to your topic. Stories are powerful, and they can add an emotional dimension to your topic if you do it well. For example:

• I once met a young salesman—I won’t mention his name. He spent several weeks building a relationship with a potential client. He worked overtime, and he was working so hard that he was under severe stress, which started to affect his personal life. In the end, he didn’t close the deal—the clients signed with another firm. Today, I’m going to talk about confidence as a sales tool, and how you can avoid the traps that this young man fell into.

Use one of these three techniques in your introduction to connect with your audience and show them why they should be interested in what you have to say.

Here’s a question for you: which technique would you prefer to use, and why?

Okay, now you’ve introduced your topic and you have everyone’s attention. What next?

3. Using Signposting Language

There’s a famous quote about making presentations:

• “Tell the audience what you’re going to say; say it, and then tell them what you’ve said.”

Have you heard this before? Do you know who said it?

This comes from Dale Carnegie , a very successful American salesman and writer. He lived a long time ago, but his advice is still relevant today.

So, here’s a question: what does the quote mean?

It means that your presentation shouldn’t just give information. You also need to show people how your information is organized.

To do this, you need signposting language.

Let me give you an example to explain.

Imagine you go to a website. The website is full of really useful, interesting information. But, the information is all on one page. There’s no organization, and you have to scroll up and down, up and down this huge page, trying to find what you need. Would you stay on that website?

Probably not. You’ll find a website which makes it easier for you to find the information you need.

What’s the point here?

The point is that having interesting or relevant information is not enough. How you structure and organize your information is equally important.

If you don’t structure your presentation clearly, people won’t pay attention, just like you won’t stay on a website if you can’t find the information you want.

So, how can you do this?

You use signposting language. This means using words and phrases to show the audience where your points begin and end, to show what’s coming next, and to remind them about things you talked about before.

• Okay, that covers the new policies. Next, I’d like to move on and discuss what these policies mean for you.
• Now that you’ve heard a bit about what not to do, let’s focus on positive advice to help you be more effective salespeople and close more of your leads.

When you say something like this, you aren’t giving people information about the topic of your presentation. Instead, you’re showing people where you are, and where you’re going next.

It’s a kind of signpost. You don’t need signposts to travel from one place to another, but they can make it easier.

What else can you use signposting language for?

You can use signposting language to move from one point to the next. For example:

• Next, I’d like to talk about…
• Let’s move on and discuss…
• At this point, I’d like to turn to…

You can use signposting language to add detail to an idea:

• Let me go into some more detail about…
• Let’s examine … in more depth.
• I’d like to elaborate on…

You can use signposting language to show that you’ve finished your main points, and you’ve reached your conclusion:

• To wrap up, let’s remind ourselves of why this should matter to everyone here.
• Let’s review the key points from this session.
• So, you’ve heard what I have to say. What conclusions can you take away from this?

If you have an important presentation in English, practice using signposting language.

Use signposting language to move between points, to show when you’re giving a summary or going into more detail, and to signal that you’ve reached your conclusion.

Okay, but things don’t always go so smoothly in real life. We know that! Let’s look at some advice and language for dealing with problems during your presentation.

4. Dealing With Problems

Imagine you’re making your presentation in English. What could go wrong? What problems could you have?

There are many common problems:

You might forget where you were, or forget an important word. You might realise that you said something wrong, or you didn’t explain something clearly. You might forget to mention something important. Or, someone might ask you an awkward question, which you have no idea how to answer.

Of course, there are other possibilities!

Let’s think about these problems. What can you do, and more importantly, what can you say in these situations?

First of all, it’s a good idea to make a cue card with key points, as well as any important vocabulary you need. If you lose your place, or you forget a word, it could help.

However, you can’t prepare for everything. So, it’s useful to learn some phrases to deal with problems smoothly.

If you lose your place, and can’t remember what to say next, you can use a filler phrase like:

If you still can’t remember, look at your cue card with your main points.

Of course, forgetting something isn’t ideal. But, if you do, it’s better to keep talking, rather than just standing there in silence.

What if you make a mistake, or you realise that you didn’t explain something well?

You could say:

• Let me rephrase that.
• Actually, what I meant to say is…
• To clarify, I wanted to say that…

In this way, you can correct yourself without admitting that you made a mistake!

What if you realise that you forgot to mention something important?

Use a phrase like this:

• Let me just add one more thing:…
• I’d like to add something to a point we discussed earlier.
• Let me return to an earlier point briefly.

Again, this allows you to correct your mistake in a confident way, so you look like you’re in control.

Finally, what do you do if someone asks you a difficult question, which you can’t answer?

You have a few options. First, you can delay giving an answer. For example:

• I’ve allocated time for questions at the end of this session, so we’ll address your idea later.
• I’m not in a position to answer that right now, but I’ll get back to you later this week.

This gives you time to think of an answer and do some research if you have to!

Next, you can deflect the question, by asking a question back, or maybe by asking other audience members what they think. For example:

• That’s an interesting question. Before I answer, I’d like to know: what’s your take on this?

Finally, if the question is irrelevant, you can dismiss the question and move on. For example:

• Thanks for your input, but I don’t see how that’s connected to what I’m saying.
• I don’t mean to be blunt, but I don’t think that’s relevant to today’s discussion.

Notice how you can use phrases like thanks for your input, but… or I don’t mean to be blunt, but… to make your language more indirect and polite.

So, for dealing with difficult questions, just remember the three d’s: delay, deflect, dismiss!

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Useful English phrases for a presentation

Presentations have the advantage that many standard phrases can be used at various points. Perhaps you wish to welcome the audience, introduce the speaker and the topic, outline the structure, offer a summary, or deal with questions. In all these situations, you can apply a number of useful expressions that will make your presentation a linguistic success.

At the beginning of each presentation, you should welcome your audience. Depending on who you are addressing, you should extend a more or less formal welcome.

Good morning/afternoon/evening, ladies and gentlemen/everyone.

On behalf of “Company X”, allow me to extend a warm welcome to you.

Hi, everyone. Welcome to “Name of the event”.

Introducing the speaker

The level of formality of your welcome address will also apply to how you introduce yourself. Customize it to match your audience.

Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is “John Miller” and I am delighted to be here today to talk to you about…

First, let me introduce myself. My name is “John Miller” and I am the “Position” of “Company X”.

I’m “John” from “Company Y” and today I’d like to talk to you about…

Introducing the topic

After the welcome address and the introduction of the speaker comes the presentation of the topic. Here are some useful introductory phrases.

Today I am here to talk to you about…

What I am going to talk about today is…

I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you about…

I am delighted to be here today to tell you about…

I want to make you a short presentation about…

I’d like to give you a brief breakdown of…

Explanation of goals

It is always recommended to present the goals of your presentation at the beginning. This will help the audience to understand your objectives.

The purpose of this presentation is…

My objective today is…

After presenting the topic and your objectives, give your listeners an overview of the presentation’s structure. Your audience will then know what to expect in detail.

My talk/presentation is divided into “x” parts.

I’ll start with…/First, I will talk about…/I’ll begin with…

…then I will look at…

and finally…

Starting point

After all this preparation, you can finally get started with the main part of the presentation. The following phrases will help you with that.

Let me start with some general information on…

Let me begin by explaining why/how…

I’d like to give you some background information about…

Before I start, does anyone know…

As you are all aware…

I think everybody has heard about…, but hardly anyone knows a lot about it.

End of a section

If you have completed a chapter or section of your presentation, inform your audience, so that they do not lose their train of thought.

That’s all I have to say about…

We’ve looked at…

So much for…

Interim conclusion

Drawing interim conclusions is of utmost importance in a presentation, particularly at the end of a chapter or section. Without interim conclusions, your audience will quickly forget everything you may have said earlier.

Let’s summarize briefly what we have looked at.

Here is a quick recap of the main points of this section.

I’d like to recap the main points.

Well, that’s about it for this part. We’ve covered…

Use one of the following phrases to move on from one chapter to the next.

I’d now like to move on to the next part…

This leads me to my next point, which is…

Turning our attention now to…

Let’s now turn to…

Frequently, you have to give examples in a presentation. The following phrases are useful in that respect.

For example,…

A good example of this is…

As an illustration,…

To give you an example,…

To illustrate this point…

In a presentation, you may often need to provide more details regarding a certain issue. These expressions will help you to do so.

I’d like to expand on this aspect/problem/point.

Let me elaborate further on…

If you want to link to another point in your presentation, the following phrases may come in handy.

As I said at the beginning,…

This relates to what I was saying earlier…

Let me go back to what I said earlier about…

This ties in with…

Reference to the starting point

In longer presentations, you run the risk that after a while the audience may forget your original topic and objective. Therefore, it makes sense to refer to the starting point from time to time.

I hope that you are a little clearer on how we can…

To return to the original question, we can…

Just to round the talk off, I want to go back to the beginning when I…

I hope that my presentation today will help with what I said at the beginning…

Reference to sources

In a presentation, you frequently have to refer to external sources, such as studies and surveys. Here are some useful phrases for marking these references.

Based on our findings,…

According to our study,…

Our data shows/indicates…

Graphs and images

Presentations are usually full of graphs and images. Use the following phrases to give your audience an understanding of your visuals.

Let me use a graphic to explain this.

I’d like to illustrate this point by showing you…

Let the pictures speak for themselves.

I think the graph perfectly shows how/that…

If you look at this table/bar chart/flow chart/line chart/graph, you can see that…

To ensure that your presentation does not sound monotonous, from time to time you should emphasize certain points. Here are some suggestions.

It should be emphasized that…

I would like to draw your attention to this point…

Another significant point is that…

The significance of this is…

This is important because…

We have to remember that…

At times it might happen that you expressed yourself unclearly and your audience did not understand your point. In such a case, you should paraphrase your argument using simpler language.

In other words,…

To put it more simply,…

What I mean to say is…

So, what I’m saying is….

To put it in another way….

Questions during the presentation

Questions are an integral part of a presentation. These phrases allow you to respond to questions during a presentation.

Does anyone have any questions or comments?

I am happy to answer your questions now.

Please feel free to interrupt me if you have questions.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Please stop me if you have any questions.

Do you have any questions before I move on?

If there are no further questions at this point, I’d like to…

Questions at the end of a presentation

To ensure that a presentation is not disrupted by questions, it is advisable to answer questions at the very end. Inform your audience about this by using these phrases.

There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.

I’ll gladly answer any of your questions at the end.

I’d be grateful if you could ask your questions after the presentation.

After answering a question from the audience, check that the addressee has understood your answer and is satisfied with it.

Does this answer your question?

Did I make myself clear?

I hope this explains the situation for you.

Unknown answer

Occasionally, it may happen that you do not have an answer to a question. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Simply use one of the following phrases to address the fact.

That’s an interesting question. I don’t actually know off the top of my head, but I’ll try to get back to you later with an answer.

I’m afraid I’m unable to answer that at the moment. Perhaps, I can get back to you later.

Good question. I really don’t know! What do you think?

That’s a very good question. However, I don’t have any figures on that, so I can’t give you an accurate answer.

Unfortunately, I’m not the best person to answer that.

Summary and conclusion

At the end of the presentation, you should summarize the important facts once again.

I’d like to conclude by…

In conclusion, let me sum up my main points.

Weighing the pros and cons, I come to the conclusion that…

That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thank you for listening/your attention.

Thank you all for listening. It was a pleasure being here today.

Well, that’s it from me. Thanks very much.

That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thanks for your attention.

Handing over

If you are not the only speaker, you can hand over to somebody else by using one of these phrases.

Now I will pass you over to my colleague ‘Jerry’.

‘Jerry’, the floor is yours.

We hope that our article will help you in preparing and holding your next presentation. It goes without saying that our list is just a small extract from the huge world of expressions and phrases. As always, the Internet is an inexhaustible source of further information. Here are the links to two websites that we would recommend to you in this context.

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Presentations Vocabulary

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Presentation Vocabulary Exercises

Below you will find listed all the different exercises that you can do to learn or improve your use of vocabulary in presentations on Blair English.

For each exercise there is a description of what it is about and what level of English you need to do it (from 'lower-intermediate' to 'advanced').

To do or look at an exercise, simply click on the box or the title of the exercise.

• Vocabulary for Beginning a Presentation Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for opening a presentation and introducing its content in a clear and concise way.
• Vocabulary for Describing Data & Charts in Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate How to describe graphs, charts and tables to an audience professionally.
• Expressing Opinion and Referring in Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for expressing your opinion in a presentation and referring to earlier parts of the presentation.
• Vocabulary for Summarizing & Finishing Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for summarizing, predicting the future and finishing in a presentation.
• How to Answer Questions in Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for answering and dealing professionally with questions from the audience.

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Vocabulary Presentation templates

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Business Conversation: 32 Business English Topics

Teaching business English is more or less the same as teaching standard English —with a few twists and tweaks.

Usually you’ll start with advanced students who need English for work-related purposes. 

But what to talk about? The business section of the newspaper? Their company’s financial state? The economy?

This is where I come in to help you with my magical list of 32 business English conversation topics to start off the class with a bang.

These business English topics and questions are great for sparking more in-depth conversations and debates .

After the discussion, you could seamlessly jump into textbook material , creating a harmonious rhythm in your business English class!

1. English for Work

2. businesses, 3. negotiations, 4. job interviews, 5. working abroad, 6. company culture, 9. business presentations, 10. meetings, 11. conferences, 12. termination, 13. managers, 14. small business, 15. work appraisals, 16. retirement, 17. work experience, 18. overtime, 19. business trips, 20. competition, 21. risk management, 22. investing, 23. colleagues, 24. hard times, 27. customers, 28. customer service, 29. marketing, 30. consulting, 31. business ethics, 32. rules & regulations.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Students are often asked why they are learning business English, and being able to discuss this in a clear and informative way will do wonders for their confidence. Here are a few questions:

• Do you think English is the global business language? 
• How often do you use English in your career?
• Do you feel more comfortable calling or emailing someone in English?
• Do you think English will get you promoted?
• Have you ever felt nervous speaking to foreign colleagues or clients in English? 

Talking about other businesses is, essentially, talking business. Other businesses could be friends, foes, inspirations or anything else. A simple topic, yet such a deep one. Some questions you could ask are:

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• What can businesses do to succeed?
• What is your idea of a “business”?
• What businesses are successful in your country/industry? Why?
• Why do you think some businesses fail?
• “Business is a combination of war and sport.” Do you agree? Why/why not?

No verb goes with the word “business” better than “negotiation.” Some could say negotiations are business. It’s a good topic that has students speaking about any and all kinds of negotiations. You could ask questions such as:

• How good are you at negotiating?
• What are some good negotiation tactics?
• Do you do negotiations in your work, personal life or while shopping?
• What have you had to negotiate for in your life? (Examples: House, car, items at a bazaar)
• Do you think men or women are better at negotiations? Why?

Unless your students got a job hookup from a friend or a family member, chances are they have something to say about job interviews. They are the “first dates” of the business world and this topic gets some good chatter going. A few great questions are:

• How do you feel about job interviews?
• What is the most important part of a job interview?
• What advice do you have for a successful interview?
• What questions are common in job interviews in your company/industry/country?
• What was the worst interview you have ever had?

It can be very helpful to show your students actual videos of interviews to give them a better idea of what to expect. For example, you can use FluentU to show them the job interview scene from “The Pursuit of Happyness,” starring Will Smith, and help them pick out some key interview vocabulary:

Some students, especially if they need English for work, may have had some experience working in another country or even have some colleagues who are working abroad. This topic is good since working abroad becomes more and more relevant in this day and age. A few good questions include:

• Have you ever worked in another country?
• What difficulties can working abroad have?
• If you could choose, where would you like to work abroad?
• What work experience have you had with colleagues from abroad?
• What are some cultural differences between your country and foreign countries your company does business with?

Company culture is an essential aspect to any company, and your students will need to understand the value of a good company culture versus a bad one. Here are some questions to try out:

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• Do you believe that company culture is important? If yes, how do companies steer clear of negative company culture?
• What is the company culture of your company? 
• Do you think your company could create a more positive, well-rounded company culture?
• What are some of the perks in your company?
• What perks or benefits do you look for in a prospective company’s culture? Why are these important to you?

An inevitable topic in the world of business, students do enjoy sharing views on crises. They can share their thoughts, questions and opinions about responding to all kinds of crises. Unless a particular crisis is hitting their country terribly hard, where some may feel sensitive about the topic, it’s an excellent topic to speak about. You could bring up questions like:

• How do you manage crises?
• What kinds of crises occur in your workplace?
• What sorts of crises have affected your country?
• What is your back-up plan for a major crisis?
• What have you learned from past crises?

Leaders are the coaches of business. They provide guidance and wisdom to many. Your students may feel inspired by some notable leaders, or they may look up to leaders in their respective countries, companies or industries. They may even dream of becoming leaders themselves. Get students talking about what kinds of people are best equipped to lead businesses. Some questions to ask are:

• What is your definition of a leader?
• What makes an excellent leader?
• How is the leadership in your company/industry/country?
• Describe the best leader you have worked for/with.
• How good of a leader do you believe you are?

In this day and age, presentations are everywhere thanks to modern technology. There’s a good chance that not only do your students have something to say about them, but they may have to give some at their job. Questions you could give them are:

• What makes a good presentation?
• What makes a bad presentation?
• Do you have to give any presentations at work? If so, what are they about?
• How do you feel about giving presentations?
• How do you feel about watching presentations?

Unless your students work an hourly position, they more than likely have meetings and talking about meetings is a nice topic since it’s so relatable. Great questions include:

• How often do you have meetings at work?
• Do you like meetings at work? Why/why not?
• What is often discussed at your meetings?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages to having meetings?
• “If you must have a meeting, lose the chairs.” Do you agree? Why/why not?

Many students may well have an important conference in the very near future and want to prepare. Networking, detailed job descriptions, presentation discussions, gathering information and the general culture exchange are all key areas of a professional conference. Here are some questions:

• How would you open a conversation with someone in English at a conference? Is it any different in your native language?
• Do you normally see all the presentations at a conference? What are some good and bad reasons you might miss a presentation or two?
• Do you find it more challenging making small talk or discussing business at conferences? Why do you think that is?
• Do you go out of your way to meet new people at conferences, or do you stick to your pack of colleagues? What are some great reasons to meet new people?
• Are there parties at conferences? Any good stories?

This is the “getting dumped” experience of the workforce, but it’s something that’s a part of business. If students want to speak better business English, navigate tough interview questions and plan their careers, then it would behoove them to practice talking about getting terminated. A few good questions could be:

• Have you ever been terminated?
• How does one get terminated at your job?
• Have you ever had to terminate anyone?
• How can you prevent getting terminated?
• If you were terminated, what would you do?

Slightly different (or vastly, depending on your work) than leaders, managers are something that everybody has something to say about. Love them or hate them, they’re an essential subject to discuss in business. Perhaps some of your students are managers themselves. You could ask:

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• What do you think about your manager(s)?
• What qualities make a good manager?
• How does your manager spend their time?
• How can a manager motivate employees?
• What is your manager’s managing style?

Small businesses are the cornerstone of growing enterprises and thanks to e-commerce they are on the rise. A few questions to ask the class could be:

• Are small businesses common in your country?
• What challenges do small businesses have in your country?
• What are some successful small businesses in your town/city?
• How can a small business become successful?
• If you had a small business, what kind would it be?

Any decent company gives their employees a sort of appraisal every so often, so it’s a good topic to discuss since appraisals are made to improve the quality of the employee’s work. You could ask things like:

• Do you have performance reviews in your company? How often?
• How do you feel about them?
• What do your performance reviews cover?
• How important do you think appraisals are?
• What happens if you have a good/bad appraisal?
• How do you feel about feedback about yourself?

Even though retirement is the end of the road for business and a long way down the road for some students, it’s a good topic to discuss since it affects everybody eventually. Great questions could be:

• What is the retirement age in your country?
• What do people in your country usually do once they are retired?
• Where do retired people usually live in your country?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages to retirement?
• What do you think you will do when you retire?

Everybody talks about his or her work experience and it helps them with who they are in their career today. Some great questions are:

• What work experience do you have?
• How did you like your previous work?
• What can you gain from work experience?
• What have you learned from your work experience?
• What have you learned about yourself?

Overtime is as enjoyable as it is avoidable. Unfortunately, it’s inevitable but most students will have a thing or two to chime in with about overtime. Good questions could be:

• How much overtime do you usually work?
• How do you feel about working overtime?
• What is the overtime policy like in your company?
• Describe the worst overtime experience you have ever had.
• What is a solution to reducing overtime?

Business trips, whether they be domestic or international, are more and more common these days and are a good topic to discuss. After all, most likely your students that go on business trips need to speak English! You could ask:

• Do you go on business trips at work? Where?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages of business trips?
• What advice do you have for somebody traveling for business?
• Where would you like to go on a business trip? Why?
• What do you think is the future of business trips?

If your students want to speak business English well, then they’ll need to talk about competition. The competition is everywhere and is a great topic to really scope out how your students feel about business in general. Great questions could be:

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• Who exactly is your company’s competition?
• What advantages/disadvantages does your competition have?
• How can your company overcome the competition?
• How competitive is your industry?
• How competitive are you in general? Why?

Most students should be familiar with risk and hopefully more familiar with how to manage it so it’s a fine topic to incite some quality discussion. Great questions are:

• What risks does your company come across?
• How does your company handle these risks?
• What situation could be a big risk to your company?
• What is your plan in case you come across a risk?
• Does your company have a contingency plan?

Investing is an important topic that many business English students know a fair deal about, depending on their business. It’s a relatable topic that could be of special interest to some students. You could ask questions like:

• What is your opinion on investing?
• What investments do you have? Why?
• Are you a conservative or risky investor? Why?
• What do you consider to be a bad investment? Why?
• If you had $1000 to invest, what would you do?

Everybody has something to say about colleagues and talking about them can help get students talking about more personal things, which can really help them exit their comfort zones. A few good questions could be:

• What do you think about your colleagues?
• What are some common problems with colleagues?
• Have you ever had any challenging situations/altercations with your colleagues?
• Do you spend time with your colleagues outside of work? Why/why not?
• Who is your favorite colleague? Why?

Unfortunately, hard times are quite prevalent these days. But talking about them is good for business since it could expand your students’ knowledge of current events. You could ask questions like:

• What hard times is your industry/country going through?
• What hard times have you experienced?
• What have you learned from hard times?
• What are the benefits of hard times?
• Tell me about what you did when you went through some hard times.

Everybody loves raises, but talking about them (especially with a superior) is a different story. Amongst classmates though, talking about raises can bring up some interesting chatter. Questions like these are good:

• How often do you get a raise at your job?
• What does it take to get a raise at your job?
• What advice do you have for someone who wants a raise?
• Do you think raises are important? Why/why not?
• Do you deserve a raise? Why/why not?

Some may say that business is sales and they just might be right. Sales are to business as education is to knowledge. Talking about sales is an important skill in business English, especially if some students need to sell in English. A few great discussion questions are:

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• Have you ever worked in sales?
• How good of a salesperson are you? Why/why not?
• What makes a good salesperson?
• What is the sales process like in your company?
• What strategies do you think are good for sales?

But alas, there can’t be sales—or business for that matter!—without customers. Since everyone has been a customer on more than a few occasions in their lives, it’s a great topic for students! Questions like these work well:

• Who are the customers for your company/industry?
• As a customer in general, what do you usually expect?
• How do you gain more customers?
• How do you lose customers?
• “The customer is always right.” Do you agree/disagree?

Customer service is also another aspect of business that both salespeople and customers know a thing or two about. It’s a fantastic topic that can bring some enlightening discussion. You can ask questions like:

• What is excellent customer service?
• What is poor customer service?
• Have you ever had to deal with customers? How was it?
• How do/would you deal with customer problems?
• Can you think of any companies known for their exceptional customer service?

Marketing is an essential field in the world of business and many students enjoy talking about this diverse subject. You could ask questions such as:

• What is your understanding of marketing?
• What is your company’s target market?
• What kind of marketing does your company use?
• In your opinion what forms of marketing are the most/least successful?
• What kind of marketing is successful in your country?

Many companies, big and small, have experience with consultants and it’s an important topic in the world of business improvement. Some great questions could be:

• What is your definition of “consulting”?
• What is your opinion of consultants?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages of consultants?
• What area of advice are you an expert at? Why?
• “Sometimes you need a consultant to tell you the obvious.” Do you agree/disagree? Why?

Your eager business English students have most likely studied a bit of business ethics in their native language, so why not bring it to life in English? Environmental issues, labor rights, health and wellness are all components of business ethics. You can ask these questions: 

• What are “business ethics” and how do they affect your community?
• Would you consider your company ethical? Are there any business practices you disagree with?
• What are a few companies that have been known for bad business ethics? How about good ones?
• How often do you talk about business ethics with colleagues or managers?
• How can companies improve their business ethics?

Rules and regulations are literally everywhere in the business world and they could present some useful and interesting information. You could give the students questions like:

• What rules and regulations exist at your job?
• What happens if you break any of these rules?
• How do you feel about the regulations at your job?
• Why do you think rules and regulations exist?
• Have you ever had any problems with rules and regulations?

So there you have it, a vast list of various topics that are great for business English students.

Although it’s preferable (and likely) that your students already have jobs to answer these questions but since these topics are so relatable and general, it shouldn’t be a problem to start off the classes with some simple questions on such topics.

You could even choose the topics according to the current business news and mix the questions up a bit. The best piece of advice is to make it relatable, relevant and remarkable this way the students have something to say and never lose interest.

So, let’s talk business!

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Fun Vocabulary Games & Activities in English: #1 List

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: February 26, 2024

You found our list of fun and simple vocabulary games for adults .

Vocabulary games are activities that include language and wordplay. Example games include Word Association and Hang Man. Players can enjoy vocabulary games in person or online. The purpose of these games is to strengthen vocabulary skills. These games are also known as “vocab games”, “letter games” and “vocabulary building games.”

These games make great online classroom activities and communication games , and can be used as online fun activities for employees .

This list includes:

• vocabulary games for adults
• simple vocabulary word games for adults
• fun online vocabulary games and activities
• English vocabulary games
• vocabulary games in English
• games to improve vocabulary
• vocabulary building activities
• vocab review games
• vocabulary games for students

Get ready to play!

List of vocabulary games

From Pictionary to word scrambles to synonym memory, here is a list of fun word games to play in classrooms, at parties, or during meetings.

1. Vocabulary Pictionary

Pictionary is a game of charades where players draw words instead of acting them out.

• Split the group into teams.
• Each round, assign one team member to draw.
• Give the drawing team member a word.
• Allow up to sixty seconds for teammates to guess.
• If the team guesses correctly, then assign one point.

You can give other teams the opportunity to steal, or move onto the next team’s turn. The game is a great way to practice new vocabulary, as players connect the word with an image. Pictionary is a fun game for virtual parties or in-person affairs.

To play Pictionary online, draw on the whiteboard app feature on your online meeting software .

Check out more digital Pictionary games .

2. Word Association

Word Association is one of the best vocabulary games for kids and classrooms since playing does not require a large vocabulary. The rules are simple and easy to understand. Typically, the game involves two players.

• Player one says a word.
• Player two responds with the first word that comes to mind.
• Player one either chooses a new word or responds to player two’s word.
• The game continues until one player repeats a word or pauses too long.

The rapid pace of the game generates excitement and occasionally results in funny answers.

If a student makes a mistake, then the teacher can pause the game and ask the student to explain or find a more fitting word. Ideally, gamemasters should allow players a few extra seconds to respond. Players should never feel embarrassed. There are no wrong answers in word association, but the game can serve as a learning opportunity to find better words.

If playing via Zoom, then player one or the teacher speaks a word, and other students answer in the chat. The class counts up matching answers and discusses different responses, guessing the reasoning behind each answer.

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3. Vocabulary Hangman

Hangman is a classic chalkboard word game that translates easily to online play, thanks to digital whiteboards.

• Assign a player a word.
• The player draws a series of blanks corresponding to the number of letters in the word.
• Other players guess letters.
• If the letter is in the word, then the “executioner” fills in the blank. If not, then the executioner draws one portion of the gallows.
• The game ends when players guess the word, or when the picture is complete.

The best words to use for hangman contain less-used letters like z, x, and q. Examples of hard hangman words include zigzagging, razzmatazz, and quadrants.

4. Word search

Word searches are common classroom vocabulary games. These activities work well for handouts, and you can play during video calls by using the whiteboard feature and enabling annotation.

We made a sample word search you can use.

To make the game more competitive and exciting, turn the challenge into a race and award prizes to the first players to complete the puzzles.

5. Crossword

Crossword puzzles consist of a series of interconnecting boxes, each of which starts blank but contains one letter by the end of the game. Under the puzzle are two lists of clues, across and down respectively. Solvers need to consider the meaning of words, number of letters, and surrounding words, making the game strategic as well as literary.

Here is an example of a crossword puzzle you can use with your class or team.

Here is the answer key.

Crosswords are great word games for any age or skill level because puzzle makers can adjust the difficulty to suit players. To make your own crossword puzzle, use an online crossword creator .

6. Word Scramble

Word scrambles make great games for English class, and adults enjoy these language brain teasers as well. Simply mix up the order of the letters and ask players to unscramble and identify the original words.

Here is a sample to start with.

And here is the answer key.

To make your own word scrambles, use an online letter randomizer .

7. Scrabble

Scrabble is one of the most popular word games for adults or children. Players must use letter tiles to assemble words on the game board.

• Each player draws seven letter tiles.
• During turns, players can play tiles or exchange them for new letters.
• Players build words on the board, with each new word connecting to an existing word.
• Tiles have a point value assigned depending on the challenge of the letter. When a player makes a word, tally the letter and add the score to the point board.

More challenging letters have higher point values. For example, E is one point, while Z is ten. To find the point values for each tile and read more gameplay tips, check out this guide from Hasbro .

To coordinate the game for language lessons, assign higher scores for vocabulary words, and ask players to use the words in a sentence for extra points.

Scrabble is easy to play online, too, making it one of the best online vocabulary games. To play virtually, simply find a multiplayer online version of the game, such as Words With Friends .

8. Scattergories

Scattergories is one of the most fun and simple word games for adults. The game challenges players to think up words all starting with the same letter.

• One player rolls a letter die or uses a letter generator to pick the first letter.
• The timekeeper puts 60 seconds on the clock.
• Players write down one answer per category starting with the letter.
• When time runs out, players read the answers.
• Players receive a point for every answer.

Alliterative phrases count for double or triple points. If two players have the same answer, then they must cross it out and neither receives points. Of course, a player will not receive points for blank answers either. At the end of each round, the player with the most points wins.

Here is a list of sample Scattergories categories:

• A boy’s name, girl’s name, or gender neutral name
• Capital cities
• Four letter words
• Types of drinks
• Careers or professions
• Cartoon characters

You could create more inventive categories for the game, or challenge players to make up prompts.

To play virtually, use the chat, screen-share, whiteboard functions in your virtual meeting platform. You can also share a Google Doc or Form, or join a multiplayer online Scattergories game together.

9. Tree or Bob Ross

Tree or Bob Ross is a fun video conference game that challenges players to guess a word by asking questions.

The player who conjures the word is The Post. The Post answers This or That questions whose answers help players narrow down the word.

The first question of the game is usually “is it more like a tree, or more like Bob Ross?” and The Post must answer accordingly. For instance, a rose is probably more like a tree, but Pinnochio presents an interesting challenge.

Each turn, the guesser adds a new word. For example, the second question might be, “is it more like a tree or a fern?” The game continues until players guess correctly. For more excitement, introduce a time limit, or award more points if players guess the word during earlier rounds.

10. Vocabulary Pyramid

Pyramid challenges players to guess words from context clues. The pyramid is a collection of six words, arranged with three on the bottom, two in the middle, and one at the top. To win, teams must guess all words within the pyramid in the allotted time.

• Divide the group into teams.
• Give one player on each team the pyramid.
• The pyramid holder must give hints to teammates describing each word without using the actual name of the item.
• When players guess correctly, the pyramid master can move to the next word. Or, players can say “pass,” and return to the word later.
• Teams receive a point for every correct guess.

When determining the time limit, consider the age of your players and the difficulty of the words. In general, 30 seconds per word, or three minutes total, is a good place to start, but add or take away time to increase or decrease the challenge.

11. Invisible Bridge

Invisible Bridge is similar to six degrees of Kevin Bacon. In both games, you must figure out a way to connect two seemingly distant concepts. Six degrees of Kevin Bacon uses actors, while Invisible Bridge uses words.

• A player suggests two unrelated words.
• Player one gives a number of planks. This is how many steps other players must use to relate the two words.
• The other players think up words that share similar traits, synonyms, or connector words to move from one term to another.

An example round might look as follows:

Tiger, Astronaut, eight planks

Tiger – Balm – Lip – Service – Customer – Happy – Pills – Capsules – Space – Astronaut

Meanwhile, Tiger, Astronaut, two planks might look like this:

Tiger – meat eater – meteor – Astronaut

One fun aspect about this game is there can be more than one correct answer, and opposing teams can dispute far-reaches. Invisible bridge encourages players to think about the nature of language and the relationship between words.

12. Poetry Improv

Poetry Improv is an exercise that challenges participants to craft verses on the spot.

• Pick a poetry style, such as sonnet, haiku, acrostic, limerick, or free verse.
• Give participants vocabulary words to use within the poem.
• Allow five or ten minutes for groups or individuals to complete the verses. If playing online via meeting software, then send groups to breakout rooms to work.
• Ask poets to share the masterpieces aloud.

For extra fun, turn other players into judges by asking them to rate the poems by holding up scorecards. To make the game more fast-paced, ask players to finish each others’ phrases on the spot for a true poetic improv.

13. Synonym Memory

The rules of Memory are easy: flip over two cards at a time and look for matching pictures or words. When players find pairs, they take the cards off the board. The player with the most pairs of cards at the end of the game wins.

Synonym Memory puts a challenging spin on the simple game. Instead of hunting for exact matches, players pair up words with synonyms.

Here are some sample matches:

• enticing/tempting
• assume/suppose
• patience/restraint
• revoke/rescind
• impact/collision

The game encourages players to think in different ways, as participants will need to remember the location of the cards as well as consider meanings of words.

To play online, make your own virtual synonym memory game with an online tool and share screens to play, with one player flipping over the cards at other players’ request.

List of words to use for vocabulary games

Here is a list of great words to use in word games:

• serendipity
• incorrigible
• contemporary
• quintessential
• regurgitate
• cataclysmic

For further inspiration, use a random word generator or consult online lists of difficult or intersecting words.

Vocabulary games and activities test and strengthen players’ communication skills. These word games minimize frustration by disguising language lessons in the form of an exciting challenge. Not to mention, simple word games are fun for adults and kids alike, and make great icebreaker activities during meetings. Most games only require words and a way to share them, so playing word games online via Zoom or similar platforms is easy.

For even more smart fun, check out our posts on problem solving games , question games and team building brain teasers .

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FAQ: Vocabulary Games

Here are answers to common questions about vocabulary games and activities.

What are vocabulary games?

Vocabulary games are word and language games you can play with students, coworkers, or family and friends. These games challenge players to hunt for words or definitions, brainstorm terms, deduce phrases based on clues, or create words under certain conditions. Language games are a great way to teach new vocabulary and help students practice recognizing and using new words. These activities are also known as “vocabulary building games” and “vocab games”, and are similar to “word games” and “letter games”.

What are some fun word games for groups?

Some fun word games for groups include Pictionary, Tree or Bob Ross, and word scrambles.

What are some online vocabulary games?

By using virtual meeting software like Zoom, you can play any word game online. Some good virtual vocabulary games include Scrabble, Scattergories, and online crossword puzzles.

What are good ESL word games?

The best ESL word games are easy to understand and play yet expand the vocabularies of participants. Good ESL word games include word association, word searches, and hangman.

What are fun ways to teach vocabulary?

Word games are one of the most fun and easy ways to teach vocabulary. While some kids get frustrated with straightforward reading or language exercises, word games disguise vocabulary lessons as a fun challenge. Plus, playing language games together is a great teamwork exercise.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com.

Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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