Business English for presentations
- Free
- No card
- 8 phrases
Say these, not just read them
“Today I'll cover three things.”
Sets the map before the territory — the single highest-value sentence in any presentation.
“Let's start with some context.”
Signals a background section is coming, so the audience doesn't mistake it for the main point.
“This brings me to my next point.”
The clean transition between sections — better than a silent pause or a repeated "so."
“To put that in perspective…”
Signals a comparison or example is about to make an abstract number concrete.
“I'll pause here for questions.”
Names the moment explicitly, rather than trailing off and hoping someone speaks up.
“Let me come back to that in a moment.”
Defers a question without dropping it — safer than "good question" alone, which promises nothing.
“To sum up…”
The clear verbal cue that the close is starting — audiences relax and refocus on this phrase.
“The key takeaway here is…”
Names the one sentence you want remembered, in case nothing else is.
More to try
Give a 45-second opening for a presentation on a topic you know well: what you'll cover and why it matters.
Practise your own opening line for an upcoming presentation, read exactly as you plan to say it.
“Thank you for having me. Over the next few minutes, I want to walk you through what we found, why it matters, and what we think should happen next.”
The delivery metrics worth watching
Pace, pauses, and stress
In a presentation, pace and pauses do more work than most speakers expect — a deliberate pause after a signposting phrase gives the room a second to reset, and a steady pace through the body keeps a dense point from blurring together. Read more about how sayit measures pace and clarity on speak-english-clearly.Straight answers
What's the most important sentence in a presentation opening?
"Today I'll cover three things" (or your own version of it). Naming the structure up front is the single change that most improves how an audience follows a talk in a second language.
How long should I pause after a signposting phrase?
About one full second — long enough to register as a real break, short enough that it doesn't read as losing your place. Practising against a timer is the fastest way to calibrate it.
Should I read from a script or speak freely?
Script your opening and closing lines word for word — they carry the most weight and the most nerves — and speak the middle more freely from a structure, not a script, so it still sounds like you.
Say it the way you would in a real presentations
Free, no card. Pace, filler words, pauses, and the exact sounds to fix — the same depth a paying member sees.