So far, we have looked at four stages of your presentation opening: greeting, self-introduction, hook and topic. It is now time to give an overview of the main points you are going to talk about. How effective do you think is the following example?

“…Today I’m going to talk about my company.

I’m going to talk about 3 points.

First, I’m going to talk about our history

Second, I’m going to talk about products

Third, I’m talk about our future plans…”

I would rate this example as OK on a basic level, but really it is a missed opportunity to demonstrate your communication ability to the audience.

Most native speakers of English are sensitive to repetition and tend not to react positively to communicators who do not make an effort to vary their message. By changing your sequencer, intention and verb you have a chance to do this.

Sequencer                                                    

First(ly)

Next

Then

After that

Last(ly)

Finally

Intention

I’m going to

I will

I’d like to

I shall

I plan to

let’s

Verb

discuss

consider

focus on

go over

introduce

analyze

So, here is a sample improved overview.

“…Today I’m going to talk about my company.

I’d like to discuss 3 points.

First, I will go over our history

After that, I plan to introduce our products

And finally, I shall focus on future plans…”