USING LANGUAGE

Scope and Sequence

1. The Importance of Language

2. Common Expressions in Speech
The Importance of Language
 Language is a tool  Harmony with audience
 Always on audience English proficiency level
 use words accurately, correctly, clearly, vividly, and
appropriately.
 take advantage of such concrete language as simile
and metaphor
In short, here are some practical points about language
you should remember:

 The aim of a presentation is to communicate. So, using words

that your audience may not understand does not help.
 Using jargon is fine if your audience understands the words
you are using.
If not, you are obliged to explain those jargons or technical
terms.
 Use accurate, correct, clear, vivid, and appropriate words, and
avoid using sexist language.
 In normal conversation, we tend to use simple words. Think of
your presentation as a conversation.
Common Expressions in Speech
This part exemplifies some common expressions that you may
utter in your presentation. These examples are only examples.
They are outlined here not as an end. You are free to create your
own versions to deliver your message at every stage of your
presentation. The examples are categorized in accordance with
the stages of a presentation: opening, body, and closing.
Examples of Opening
Here are some examples of expressions you can say for
opening:
 First of all I'd like to extend my sincere gratitude to the organizing
committee who has given me this opportunity to deliver a speech on ….
 It is a great pleasure for me to be given the opportunity to deliver speech
on the subject of ….
 May I tell you first, how pleased I am to have an opportunity to stick here
and deliver a speech before you. My speech title is ….
 I am greatly honored and grateful for the opportunity given to me in
addressing a speech on …
 Examples of Expressions for Introduction

Here are some examples of expressions you can say for :

1. introducing yourself,
2. your topic,
3. and dealing with questions
1. Introducing yourself
 Good morning ladies and gentlemen
 Good afternoon everyone
 I'd like to begin by introducing myself. My name is
…. And I come from ….
 I work for …. as ….
 2. Introducing the topic
 Today, I'd like to talk about ….  My fourth point deals with ….
 The subject of my presentation today is ….  Then, I'll move on to ….
 I have divided my speech into five sections  After that, I'll say something about ….
….  Next, I'd like to talk about ….
 I have put the subject into four sections ….  Finally, I'll describe ….
 I've divided my presentation into …. parts.  I'd like to consider ….
 First, I'd like to talk about ….  Finally, I'd like to talk a little about ….
 First of all, I'll give you a short history of  And, finally allow me to raise briefly the
…. issues of ….
 I'd like firstly to talk about ….
 The first point I'm going to make concerns
….
 In the third part, I deal with ….
 My fourth part of my talk will concern ….
 The fourth part of my talk will concern ….
3. Dealing with questions
If you have any questions, please feel free to
interrupt, and ….
If you don't mind we'll leave questions till the end,
but ….
Expressions Used in the Body of Speech
Here are some examples of expressions 7. Showing that something is enough
you can say for elaborating the body of to discuss and move to the other
your speech: thing
1. Expressions used in opening the 8. Referring to visuals and handouts
main part of the speech.
9. Referring to common knowledge
2. Expressions used in bringing to the
10. Giving an example
next part
11. Preventing an interruption
3. Expressions used in developing an
idea. 12. Balancing
4. Expressions used in postponing a 13. Generalizing
topic to be discussed later. 14. Stating preferences
5. Expressions used for coming back 15. Correcting misunderstanding
to a point. 16. Re-phrasing
6. Emphasizing the main point
 1. Expressions used in opening the main part of the
speech.

- Let me start by asking you the following questions ….

- Let me start by posing the question ….
- I'd like to begin by suggesting that ….
- I'd like to start by drawing your attention to ….
- Let me begin by noting that ….
- Let me begin by telling you an anecdote ….
2. Expressions used in bringing to
the next part.
- Let me now turn to ….
- Let me now turn to the issue of ….
- Can we now turn to ….
- Now, let's see another part of our talk
- I would now focus on ….
- - Let‟s start by looking at ….
- First of all let‟s look at ….
- Now let‟s move on to ….
- This leads me to my next point ….
- Finally, I‟d like to discuss ….
-This brings me to my final point ….
3. Expressions used in developing
an idea.
- Let me speak this more detail.
- I‟d like to look at this in a bit more detail.
- Let me elaborate on this point.
- Let‟s look at this problem in a bit more detail
5. Expressions used in postponing a
topic to be discussed later.
- I'll discuss it later.
- I'll be returning to this point later.
- As I'll show later.
- I'll come on this later.
- Later, I'll come on to ….
- In the following part, we'll come on to it.
6. Expressions used for coming
back to a point.
- As I mentioned earlier ….
- As I said earlier ….
- As I discussed analytically earlier ….
- As I was saying ….
- As we saw earlier ….
- Can I now go back to the question I posed to at the beginning?
- I'd like now to return to the question ….
- Coming back to what I was saying ….
- Perhaps I could resume ….
- If I may just go back to the point I was making ….
- If I could continue ….
- Your question leads us back to ….
- To return to ….
7. Emphasizing the main point.
- The interesting thing about …. is ….
- The significant thing about …. is ….
- The most important thing about …. is ….
- The thing to remember is ….
- What we have to realize is ….
- What I find most interesting about …. is ….
8. Showing that something is enough to discuss
and move to the other thing.

- Right - Well now,

- Okay - Well
- Good - Right
- Now - Then,
- Now then, - So,
9. Referring to visuals and handouts
- As you can see from this chart ….
- If you look at this graph you can see ….
- This table/ diagram shows ….
10. Referring to common knowledge

- As you know ….
- As I am sure you know …
11. Giving an example
- Let me give an example ….
- To illustrate this point, let us consider ….
- A case in point is ….
12. Preventing an interruption
- Perhaps I could return to that point later on ….
- If I might just finish ….
- With your permission, I‟d rather finish what I was
saying.
- With respect, I should like to finish the point I was
making ….
- If you would allow me to continue ….
- If you would be so kind as to let me finish ….
13. Balancing
- On the one hand …., but on the other hand ….
- Although …., we mustn't forget ….
- Whereas …., we have to remember ….
- In spite of …., I still think ….
- Despite the fact that …., I ….
14. Generalizing
- On the whole, ….
- In general, ….
- Generally speaking, …..
- By and large, ….
- All in all, ….
- All things considered,
15. Stating preferences
- I'd rather …. than ….
- I prefer …. to ….
- I tend to favor …. as opposed to ….
- …. has an advantage over …. in that ….
- The main advantage of …. is that ….
15. Stating preferences

- I'd rather …. than ….

- I prefer …. to ….
- I tend to favor …. as opposed to ….
- …. has an advantage over …. in that ….
- The main advantage of …. is that ….
16. Correcting misunderstanding
- I'm afraid there seems to have been a slight
misunderstanding.
- We seem to be talking at cross purposes.
- I think you've misunderstood me.
- With respect, that is not what I said
17. Re-phrasing
- Perhaps I haven't made myself clear. Basically what
I'm trying to say is ….
- Sorry, I'm probably not making myself clear. Let me
put it another way.
- Perhaps I should make that clearer by saying ….
- Allow me to rephrase that.
- To be more specific, ….
- Put simply, ….
to convince, to instruct, to inform,
or to stimulate
In a presentation/ speech we sometimes need to convince, to instruct, to inform,
or to stimulate. Here are some examples of the expressions:
1. Expressions used to convince
2. Expressions used to instruct
3. Expressions used to inform
4. Expressions used to actuates/ stimulate
1. Expressions used to convince.
- I am convinced that ….
- I believe that …./ I think, suppose, guess, presume, assume,
doubt, expect, know, simply can't believe that ….
- I am sure that ….
- It is a certain thing that ….
- It appears to me that ….
- I would firmly say that ….
- I feel very certain that ….
- To the best of my knowledge, it is possible that ….
it is likely that ….
it is probable that ….
- We must consider the possibility that ….
 2. Expressions used to instruct.
- I would invite you to …/ advise/ recommend that you should ….
- It will be better if you ….
- Allow me to request you to ….
- All we have to do is that ….
- There is no other way but we have to ….
- You shouldn't have forgotten your rights ….
- We should review our plan to …., otherwise we will ….
- It's a good idea to …./ It's best to ….
- You had better …. than ….
- Would it be all right if we ….?
- It is advisable that ….
- - It would seem wise to ….
3. Expressions used to inform.
- I would like to say that ….
- According to the researchers, ….
- In accordance with the state ideology, ….
- In line with the newest treaty, ….
- Getting along with the agreement, ….
- Referring to the rule of the game, ….
- Further studies show us that ….
- Our data confirm that …..
- The result of the recent research suggested that ….
- It has been reported in the previous study that ….
- It is widely known that …./ recognized/ acknowledged ….
- Generally speaking
 4. Expressions used to actuates/ stimulate

- I do hope that …./ I am hopeful that ….

- I am optimistic about …./ I am an optimist that ….
- There is a reason to believe that ….
- I wish you good luck/ I hope you succeed.
- Let this illustration encourage you.
- It is what I hope that you can learn something from this experience.
- Please don't despair of making your English improved!
- Please don't despair of asking your children to do reading!
- There is no need to despair of being old, it's only a matter of time.
Expressions Used in the Closing
Here are some examples of expressions you can say
for closing:
- In conclusion, I would like to express ….
- In conclusion, I'd just like to say ….
- I would like to conclude my speech by ….
- Well, that brings me to the end of my presentation.
- Finally, I would like to ….
- As a final remark, I just would like to say ….
- The main points that have been made are ….
- In conclusion, I should just like to say ….
Examples for Dealing with Questions
Here are some examples of expressions you can say for
responding to questions:
- That's a good point.
- That's an interesting question.
- I'm glad you asked that question.
- Can I get back to you? I don't have the information just now.
- I'm afraid I can't discuss that. It's confidential.
- I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that. I'll find out for you.