II.2. E Signposting or signaling where you are

Just as when you are driving along a road that you don't know very well, you depend on signs to guide you, you need to guide the listener by using expressions to tell him/her where you are going. That is to say, first announce what you are going to say (give an example, reformulate etc.) and then say what you want to say. This is very like verbal punctuation. Indicate when you have finished one point and then go on to the next one. It is redundant in text but very useful in oral presentations. Experienced presenters will also clearly pause, change their stance and the pitch of their voice as they move from one part of a presentation to another. To make your presentation sound more lively use the following phrases:

For listing information

Lists are often a necessary evil. Vary your language whenever possible and avoid reading directly.

There are three things we have to consider: one, two, and three.

A, B, C.

Now let us look at the first aspect which is...

First of all,…

In the first place…

For linking ideas, sections/making transitions

Indicate the end of one section and the beginning of the next.

That's all I would like to say about... (subject of part A) and now let us turn to....

Now that we've seen... let us turn to…
That brings us to the next point of my presentation…