Whether you love them or hate them, English speeches and presentations are sometimes an inevitable part of your career. But with a bit of preparation, even if it isn’t your first language, it is possible to give an English speech confidently.
How to prepare your speech
The majority of your time should be spent preparing your speech. There are some important questions to ask yourself while you’re planning:
- Who is your audience?
- What is the purpose or goal of your speech?
Both of these questions should be used to inform the kind of language you use. Whether it’s casual or formal, to colleagues or senior staff, and whether it’s to educate or persuade, these should help you create the tone and mood of your presentation.
At this stage, it’s helpful to write it all down roughly. Don’t edit yourself just yet; instead, focus on getting as much information onto the page as possible.
Organising your presentation
1. A strong opening
Begin by introducing yourself and your topic. An easy opening line could be.
- Good morning/good evening/good afternoon. My name is [your name] and I am the/a(n) [your job title] at [name of your company].
Today, I’d like to explain [introduce your topic].
Follow this with a short sentence that captures their attention. Two good techniques for doing this include using an anecdote (a personal story), with a shocking fact or statistic. Introduce these with a simple:
- Did you know…
- Have you thought about…
- This reminds me of a time when...
The final statement you might want to make in your introduction could outline your speech so your audience knows clearly what you want to convey to them.
- Today, I’d like to help you understand...
- This morning, I’d like to discuss…
- I’m here to present to you…
2. A well supported body
The bulk of your speech is usually called ‘the body’ in English. This encompasses the main topics or arguments you’d like to make in support of your overall point.
Introduce each new point by using a topic sentence. This is usually used in essay writing, and is a sentence that expresses the main idea of the paragraph to come, but in speeches, it helps your audience understand how one idea is going to flow into the next. To introduce your first point, use a linking sentence like the following:
- Let’s begin by discussing…
- To start, I’d like to show you…
- I’d like to start with…
In order to illustrate your point, it’s helpful to give examples, perhaps using statistics, a photo, graphs, or video. You can introduce them using:
- To demonstrate, here is a...
- As you can see here…
- For example...
When moving from one supporting point to the next, linking phrases are also important to keep the rhythm going:
- This leads me to…
- Now, I’d like to move on to…
- Now, let’s look at…
3. A firm conclusion
By now, you’ve introduced yourself and your topic, and you’ve presented a well-supported argument or discussion, depending on why you’re speaking. Now it’s time to end on a good note.
You don’t want to spend too long finishing up your presentation, but you do want to include a few key things in your conclusion:
- Go over your main points one more time.
- Connect these main points back to your original point, which you mentioned in your introduction.
- End on a good note.
To summarise, wrap it all up using one of the following:
- I’d like to wrap up by summarising what we’ve just discussed…
- This brings me to the end of my presentation. To summarise…
- To recap, I’d like to quickly go over what we’ve learned today…
Once you’ve reiterated, thank your audience for their attention:
- Thank you very much for your time today.
- Before I hand this back over to my colleagues, I’d like to end by thanking you for your attention here today.
- I can see our time is almost up, so I’d like to end by thanking you for your participation here today.
If you’re happy to take questions, simply ask your audience:
- Does anyone have any questions?
Though it may seem daunting at first, English speeches aren’t as difficult as they may first appear. Remember: keep your audience in mind, stick to your topic, and of course, if you can, practice with another English speaker. With thorough preparation, and plenty of practice, you can be confident in your ability to deliver your English presentation with confidence.
