Skip to content
The Fluency
House
English for work

Presenting and defending an idea in English

Phrases to open, structure and close a presentation, and the lines that hold when someone pushes back.

Book a trial class

Phrases for every stage

Opening

  • Today I'll walk you through...
  • By the end of this, you'll know...
  • Let's start with some context.

Structuring

  • First... then... and finally...
  • This brings me to my next point.
  • Let's move on to the numbers.

Presenting data

  • As you can see here...
  • This shows that...
  • The numbers tell a clear story.
  • Here's the evidence, and what it means for us.

Defending an idea under pushback

  • That's a fair question, here's why we went with this.
  • I hear your concern, and here's how we'd handle it.
  • We considered that, and the reason we didn't go that way is...

Closing

  • To wrap up...
  • The key takeaway is...
  • Happy to take any questions.

Hesitant to confident

Hesitant / Confident
HesitantConfident
I think maybe this could work?This is the approach we recommend.
This might not be right, but...Based on the data, here's what we found.
Sorry, can I say something?I'd like to add to that.
I'm not sure if this makes sense...Let me walk you through the reasoning.

Watch out if you speak Spanish

  • Openers like Capaz no tiene sentido, pero... turn into disclaimers that undercut you before you start. State the point, then explain: the data shows X, here's why.
  • Stress the key word in each sentence, not every word evenly. English presentations rely on stress to show what matters.
  • A direct question deserves a direct first sentence, with the detail after: answer first, then explain.
  • Pausing is not a mistake. A short pause before an important number gives it weight, it reads as confidence, not hesitation.

Practice

Open cloze

Write one word in each gap to complete the presentation phrase.

  1. 1. Today I'll

    you through the results.

  2. 2. This

    me to my next point.

  3. 3. As you can

    here, sales grew 20 percent.

  4. 4. That's a fair question,

    why we went with this.

  5. 5. We

    that option, and here's why we didn't choose it.

  6. 6. To

    up, three things matter here.

  7. 7. The key

    is that costs are down.

  8. 8. Happy to take any

    .

0 of 8 checked

Questions

How do I stay calm when someone challenges my idea?
Buy a second with that's a fair question, then answer directly. It sounds confident and gives you a moment to think.
Can I practise a real presentation before I give it?
Yes, in an English for work class Pili reviews your actual slides and you present them out loud, with feedback on the phrases and the delivery.

Keep going

Want to practise this with Pili?

Book a trial class. She writes back with times in Buenos Aires time.

Book a trial class