Public speaking in English
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- 8 phrases
Say these, not just read them
“Thank you for having me.”
A simple, safe opening line that buys you a breath before the real content starts.
“I want to start with a question.”
A reliable way to open with the room's attention rather than mid-fact.
“Bear with me for a moment.”
A natural way to ask for patience — during a technical point or a pause to find your place.
“Let that sink in for a second.”
An intentional pause after a striking point, framed as deliberate rather than a loss of words.
“I'll leave you with this.”
Signals the closing line clearly, so the audience knows to remember what comes next.
“Thank you for your time.”
A clean, standard close — simple and safe beats an improvised ending under nerves.
“Let me say that again, slightly differently.”
A graceful way to repeat a point for emphasis without sounding like you've simply lost your place.
“I could talk about this for hours, but here's the short version.”
Signals depth of knowledge while respecting the room's time — reassures a nervous speaker it's fine to simplify.
More to try
Give a 60-second short talk introducing yourself to a new professional audience.
Read your own closing line for a talk you're preparing, exactly as you plan to deliver it.
“I'll leave you with this: the details will fade, but the direction we choose today won't. Thank you for your time.”
The delivery metrics worth watching
Pace, pauses, and stress
Word stress carries more meaning in English than most learners expect — the same sentence stressed on a different word changes what it means, so knowing which word in a key sentence to stress is worth more practice time than adding new vocabulary. Read more about how sayit measures pace and clarity on speak-english-clearly.Straight answers
How do I stop speaking too fast when I'm nervous?
Practise the exact opening line slowly, out loud, enough times that it's automatic — nerves compress the part you haven't rehearsed the most, so over-rehearsing the first ten seconds buys control for the rest of the talk.
What is word stress and why does it matter?
It's which syllable or word in a sentence you say more strongly. "I didn't say she took it" means something different depending on which word is stressed — getting it right is often the difference between being understood the first time and having to repeat yourself.
Is a script better than speaking freely for a nervous speaker?
For the first and last lines, yes — script them and practise them until they're automatic. For the body of the talk, a clear structure you can speak from naturally usually sounds more confident than a fully memorized script read under pressure.
Say it the way you would in a real public speaking
Free, no card. Pace, filler words, pauses, and the exact sounds to fix — the same depth a paying member sees.