- Clarifying
- Responding positively
- Referring back / forwards
- Checking if the audience is happy
- Handling difficult questions
- Tennis
- Hedging
- Signalling the end
- Summarising
- Concluding
- Support and follow up
- Inviting questions
- Typical questions
- Closing
1. Clarifying
If I understand you correctly, you want to know…
You’re asking me about… is that right?
Sorry, I didn’t follow/catch the question.
Could you repeat it please?
In other words, you’re saying…
2. Responding positively
That’s a good / difficult / complex / an interesting question.
Thank you for asking that question.
I’m glad somebody asked that question. It allows me to say…
I accept that. / That’s a fair point. / I agree with what you’re saying. / Up to a point, I agree.
Let’s revise:
Sorry, I didn’t _____ the question.
Why didn’t we succeed? Now that’s an _______ question.
That’s a ______point!
3. Referring back / forward
As I said earlier, in the first section / at the end of the second section…
Yes, I mentioned in the introduction….
I’ll come to that in a moment if I may.
4. Checking the audience is happy with your answer
Does that answer your question?
Is that OK?
Was that enough information?
5. Handling difficult questions
I’m afraid I’m not really the right person to answer that. Perhaps…
That’s not really my area/field, I’m afraid. You could ask…
Sorry, I don’t have the figures with me but I will…
I’m afraid that question goes beyond the subject of today’s presentation. I’d be glad to discuss that with you personally after the presentation.
Let’s revise:
That’s not really my _____, I’m afraid. You could ask…
I’m afraid that question goes _________ the subject of today’s presentation
6. Tennis (returning the question)
Well, let me ask you the same question.
OK. Let me ask you a question.
I can deal with that by asking you a question.
7. Hedging
Well, that depends on what you mean by…
Well, that’s a very complicated matter…
Well, there are various ways of looking at it…
Mini Review:
Someone asks about the drop in sales
- Respond positively
- Use Hedging to avoid answering
- Tennis
- Handle this question by not answering now
8. Signalling the end
We’re approaching the final parts
We’re (nearly) at the end now!
Here’s the penultimate section
Now for the last part
OK. That brings me to the end of my presentation / talk.
Right. I think that covers everything I wanted to say about…
So, that’s all that I wanted to say today.
Let’s revise:
We’re __________ the final part!
Don’t worry, we’re _______ at the end now!
9. Summarising
Just to summarise…
Before I finish, let me just go over…
To sum up then…
To sum up / summarise ….
10. Concluding
To conclude, I’d like to say that…
I’d like to finish by saying…
That concludes my talk about x
In conclusion…
10.1. Making final recommendations
It seems to me, then, that we should…
I would therefore recommend/advise that…
My own proposal would be to…
11. Mentioning support and follow up
I have prepared some handouts which I will pass round.
I’ll give you my email address in case you want to follow up something I said.
Do contact me if you would like more information on this.
The recording/ presentation file is in the email/ shared document online.
Feel free to message me if you have any further comments or questions
12. Inviting questions
So, do you have any questions?
Are there any questions? Yes, the person sitting there. (points)
Would anyone like to comment?
Is there anything to add?
– remember the difference between I , you and we, when asking questions
13. Typical Questions
What did you mean when you said…?
- Are you saying that…?
- Don’t you think that…?
- (What’s the difference?)
Could you say a little more about…?
Could you go over that again please?
It wasn’t very clear for me.
14. Closing
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for your attention.
Thanks to everyone…
(What’s the difference when using a pronoun?)
I hope that this has been useful.
I hope you found it interesting and useful, feel free to contact us via email or social media
Don’t forget to review your slides and body language.