Introducing yourself

1. On behalf of Mr. Keane, may I welcome you to Jackson Inc. My name is … and I’m responsible for …

2. Let me introduce myself. I am … I am …

3. Before I continue, let me tell you something about myself.

4. Morning everyone. Thank you for coming. My name is … and I am in charge of …

5. For those who don’t know me, my name is … and I am the managing director.

6. Morning everyone. I’m … and I’m a … at …

7. As you probably know, I’m the new HR manager.

8. I’m head of logistics here at Air Spares.

9. I’m here in my function as the Head of Controlling.

10. Let me just start by introducing myself. My name is …

Explaining why your topic is relevant for your audience

1. My purpose today is to …

2. Today I would like to give you a general overview of …

3. Today, I’m going to bring you up to date with …

4. My objective today is to …

5. What I am going to do today is review …

6. The reason we are here today is to …

7. My talk is particularly relevant to those of you /us who …

8. Today’s topic is of particular interest to those of you/us who …

9. My / the topic is very important for you because …

10. By the end of this talk you will be familiar with …

Saying what the topic is

1. I’m going to develop three main points. First, …second, …third, …

2. I’ve divided my presentation into three main points. I would like to begin with …

3. So, I’ll be addressing three main points and the first one is going to be …The second point will be … 4. And finally the last point is …

4. I’m going to outline three proposals. Firstly, I’ll … Then, I’d like to …and finally …

5. As you can see on the screen, our topic today is …

6. Today’s topic is …

7. What I’d like to present to you today is …

8. The subject / topic of my presentation is …

9. I’m here to today to present …

10. I’ll be talking about …

11. In my presentation I would like to report on …

12. In my talk I’ll tell you about

13. Today I’m going to talk about …

Addressing your audience’s needs

1. I’ll pass round copies of my slides so you can make notes as I go through the presentation.

2. The presentation should last about five minutes.

3. We’ll take a short coffee break at about 10.30.

4. If you have any questions, I’d be grateful if you could leave them until the end.

5. I’m happy to take any questions after that.

6. We can take two or three questions at the end of each point.

7. Please feel free to interrupt me at any time if you have a question.

Structuring a presentation

Most formal and many informal presentations have three main parts and follow this simple formula:

1. Tell the audience what you are going to say! = Introduction

2. Say it! = Main part

3. Tell them what you said! = Conclusion

There are several ways you can tell the audience what you are going to say. Some structures that can be used are presented in the table below.

would like + infinitive	will + infinitive
Today I’d like to tell you about our new plans.	I’ll begin by explaining the function.
This morning I’d like to bring you up to date on our department.	I’ll start off by reviewing our progress. After that, I’ll move on to my next point.
going to + infinitive	will be + verb + - ing
I’m going to talk to you today about new developments in the R&D Department.	I’ll be talking about our guidelines for internet use.
This afternoon I’m going to be reporting on the new division.	During the next hour we’ll be looking at the advantages of this system.

The purpose of the introduction is not only to tell the audience who you are, what the talk is about and why it is relevant to them; you also want to tell the audience (briefly) how the talk is structured.

Here are some useful phrases to talk about the structure:

1. I’ve divided my presentation into … main parts: x, y, and z.

2. In my presentation I’ll focus on three major issues.

3. First of all, I’ll be looking at …, second …, and third …

4. So, first of all …

5. I’ll begin (start) off by explaining …

6. I would like to begin by …

7. Let’s start with my presentation.

8. Then /Next / after that, I’ll go on to…

9. Next we come to …

10. My next point is …

11. Finally, I’ll offer some solutions.

12. And finally …

The final part of the introduction deals with the organization of the talk: how long it will last, whether there will be handouts, and how questions will be handed.

Timing:

• My presentation will take about … minutes.

• It should take about … to cover these issues.

• This won’t take more than …

Handouts:

• Does everyone have a handout /brochure / report? Please take one, and pass them on.

• Don’t worry about taking notes. I’ll put all the important statistics on a handout for you.

• I’ll be handing out copies of the slides at the end of my talk.

• I’ll email the Power Point presentation to you / anybody who wants it.

Questions:

• There will be time for questions after my presentation.

• If you have any questions, feel free to interrupt me at any time.

• Feel free to ask questions at any time during my talk.

• We will have about … minutes for questions in the question and answer period.

Experts say that the first few minutes of a presentation are the most important. If you are able to get the audience’s attention quickly, they will be interested in what you have to say. Here are some few techniques you can use to start your talk.

Ask a rhetorical question Is market research important for brand development? Do we really need quality assurance?	Tell them a story or anecdote I remember when I attended a meeting in Paris … At a conference in Madrid, I was once asked the following question: …
Start with an interesting fact According to the article I read recently, central banks are now buying euros instead of dollars. Did you know that fast food consumption has increased by 60% in Europe since 2002?	Give them a problem to think about Suppose you wanted to set up a new call center. How would you go about it? Imagine you had to reorganize the sales department. What would be your first step?