When you need this

Most work presentations are short: ten minutes at a team meeting, a project update for a director, a few slides for a client. Nobody expects a speech. They expect to know what you're covering, to follow you from point to point, and to leave with one or two things they remember.

The old structure still works: say what you'll talk about, talk about it, then say what you talked about. The phrases that hold it together are called signposts ("Let's start with," "Moving on to," "To wrap up"), and they matter more in a second language, not less. When your listeners always know which part you're in, a missing word or a strong accent stops being a problem. On a slide, point to one number and say what it means; a chart with no sentence attached is only decoration.

Phrases

a simple, confident opening

naming your topic

giving the structure

beginning the first part

changing to the next point

directing attention to a slide

explaining what a chart is about

pointing out something important

linking one point to the next

inviting questions during the talk

asking people to wait with questions

starting the summary

the standard close

Say it out loud

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

Practice · 3 min

Say the line that fits. Situation on the left, one natural line on the right.

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Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.