Presentations- Articles in Typical Phrases

A, an and the in typical presentation phrases simplest responses card game

Without looking below for now, listen to your teacher and raise the “a/ an” or “the” card that you have been given depending on which article you think is more suitable in the place that your teacher says “blank”, “beep”, “hmmm”, etc. 

Fill the gaps below with “a”, “an” or “the”.

1. I’m Alex. I’ve worked as ___________________ sales rep in AIG for ten years.
2. I’d like to begin with ________________________ brief personal introduction.
3. For _____ first part of my presentation, I’ll give the background to the invention.
4. And in ___________________ last stage I will talk about future developments.
5. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them at _______________
6. In __________ second part of my presentation, I’ll describe how innovative it is.
7. As ____________________________ few of you already know, I’m Alex Case.
8. Did you know that over ________________ hundred people every minute…?
9. Hi everyone. Let’s make _______________________________ start, shall we?
10. If there are no further questions, I will bring my presentation to __________
11. I hope we have the opportunity to speak again in ______________ near future. .
12. I look forward to speaking to some of your individually in ______ next few weeks.
13. I think that this is ___________________________ important topic because…
14. There will now be ______________________________ few minutes for Q&A.
15. Just _______________________________ moment while I find the right slide.
16. Let me just take __________________________________ look at my notes.
17. My name is Alex Case. I’m _____________ head of marketing in this company.
18. And ___________________________________ third and final part will be….
19. Please raise your hand if you have _______________________________
20. I’d like to start with _______ quotation on this topic from Einstein that you probably don’t know. The quotation is…
21. Thank you for finding _________ time to come and join me for this presentation.
22. Thanks for coming to this presentation so early in ____________________
23. That brings me to ____________________________ end of my presentation.
24. So, if there are no questions so far, let’s kick off with _____ first topic, which is…
25. That’s __________________________________________ difficult question.
26. That’s _____________________________________________ good point.
27. That’s ___________________________________________ great question.
28. That’s ______________________________________________ tricky one.
29. That’s _______________________________________ very good question.
30. There’s _____________ Japanese joke about this, which I would translate as…
31. _______________________ main reason why I want to tell you about this is…
32. Based on _________________________ information that I have presented today, I hope everyone can agree that…
33. _____________________________ main theme of today’s presentation is…
34. _____________________________________ topic of my presentation is…
35. The gentleman in _________________ corner. What’s your question, please?
36. This morning I’d like to outline ____________________________________ campaign concept that you asked us to develop.
37. After that, we’ll move onto ________________ description of its main features.
38. There will be time for ______________________ brief Q&A session at the end.
39. Today’s presentation will consist of _________________________ brief overview of…
40. Yes, John. Did you have _________________________________ question?
41. You can read more about our company via ____________ link on this last slide.
42. To sum up ____________________ information that I have presented today,…
43. … which is _______________________ last thing that I wanted to say today.
44. If you have any further questions, I will be happy to answer them in person during _______________________________________________ lunch break.
45. Actually, just yesterday our company was in ____________ news because of…
46. Did you know that our product is _______ only one in the whole world which…?
47. That’s ______________________________________ interesting question.
48. There is _______________________ old proverb on this subject which says…
49. Thanks again for ____________ opportunity to share this information with you.
50. Thanks for giving me _____________________ chance to present to you today.

 

Hint: The phrases are in pairs, with odd and even numbers next to each being either both “the” or both “a/ an”. For example, numbers 5 and 6 above must both be “a/ an” or must both be “the” (not one of each).

Check your answers as a class.

 

Grammar presentation

Try to define “a/ an” and “the” in the table below. 

“a/ an” means/ goes with…	“the” means/ goes with…

Add these things to the right places in the boxes above:

• only one
• one of several
• one of many
• we know which one
• first time talking about something
• talking about something that has just been mentioned
• this one/ that one
• it doesn’t matter which one
• + most…/ …est
• + … which/ that…
• There is +

Test each other in pairs or threes with the same holding up cards game as before.

Cards to hold up

a/ an	the
a/ an	the
a/ an	the
a/ an	the
a/ an	the

 

Brainstorming stage

Without looking above for now, fill the gaps below with at least two suitable phrases. Phrases which weren’t above and don’t have a, an or the are fine too, as long as they match the heading.

Starting presentations

Getting people’s attention/ Getting the presentation started

 

 

 

Thanking at the start of a presentation

 

 

 

Introducing yourself

 

 

 

Giving the topic/ subject of the presentation

 

 

 

Hooking the audience (importance of the topic, personal motivation, amazing fact or statistic, quotation, joke, proverb, etc)

 

 

 

Explaining the structure/ organization of the presentation

 

 

 

Explaining the policy on asking and answering questions

 

 

 

Starting the body of the presentation

 

 

 

 

 

Ending the presentation

Summarising/ Concluding

 

 

 

Ending the body of the presentation

 

 

 

Starting the Q&A stage/ Offering to answer questions

 

 

 

Indicating who will ask the next question

 

 

 

Dealing with questions/ Filling silence

 

 

 

Ending the Q&A

 

 

 

Offering more information

 

 

 

Thanking at the end

 

 

 

Mentioning future contact

 

 

 

Try to find suitable phrases on the worksheets above, brainstorm more, check your answers with the sheet below (making sure you have the right articles), then share your extra ideas.

Test each other in pairs:

• Say one of the headings below and say gapped phrases from it for your partner to complete
• Say one of the headings below and help your partner make suitable phrases (by giving them key words, sentence starters, etc)

Suggested answers

Ones not above are in italics.

Starting presentations

Getting people’s attention/ Getting the presentation started

Hi everyone. Let’s make a start, shall we?

Okay, shall we get started?

Thanking at the start of a presentation

Thanks for giving me the chance to present to you today.

Thank you for finding the time to come and join me for this presentation.

Thanks for coming to this presentation so early in the morning.

Thanks for inviting me here today to give this presentation.

Introducing yourself

As a few of you already know, I’m Alex Case.

My name is Alex Case. I’m the head of marketing in this company.

I’m Alex. I’ve worked as a sales rep in AIG for ten years.

I’d like to begin with a brief personal introduction.

First of all, I should probably introduce myself.

Giving the topic/ subject of the presentation

The main theme of today’s presentation is…

The topic of my presentation is…

Today’s presentation will consist of a brief overview of…

This morning I’d like to outline the campaign concept that you asked us to develop.

Today’s presentation is about…

Hooking the audience

I think this is an important topic because…

The main reason why I want to tell you about this is…

Actually, just yesterday our company was in the news because of…

Did you know that over a hundred people every minute…?

Did you know that our product is the only one in the whole world which…?

I’d like to start with a quotation on this topic from Einstein that you probably don’t know. There’s a Japanese joke about this, which I would translate as…

There is an old proverb on this subject which says…

You might not be aware of the amazing fact that…

Explaining the structure/ organization of the presentation

For the first part of my presentation, I’ll give the background to the invention.

In the second part of my presentation, I’ll describe how innovative it is.

After that, we’ll move onto a description of its main features.

And in the last stage I will talk about future developments.

And the third and final part will be,…

After that, I will speak about…

Explaining the policy on asking and answering questions

If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them at the end.

There will be time for a brief Q&A session at the end.

There will be then be five minutes for questions.

Starting the body of the presentation

So, if there are no questions so far, let’s kick off with the first topic, which is…

Right, if everything is clear so far, I’ll start with…

 

Ending the presentation

Summarising/ Concluding

To sum up the information that I have presented today,…

Based on the information that I have presented today, I hope everyone can agree that…

I think all that can be summarized as…

Ending the body of the presentation

That brings me to the end of my presentation.

… which is the last thing that I wanted to say today.

… which is my final point today.

Starting the Q&A stage/ Offering to answer questions

Please raise your hand if you have a question.

There will now be a few minutes for Q&A.

Does anyone have any questions?

Indicating who will ask the next question

Yes. The gentleman in the corner. What’s your question, please?

Yes, John. Did you have a question?

Yes, please go ahead.

Yes, what’s your question please?

Yes, please ask your question.

Dealing with questions/ Filling silence

That’s a difficult question.

That’s a very good question.

That’s a tricky one.

That’s a great question.

That’s a good point.

That’s an interesting question.

Just a moment while I find the right slide.

Let me just take a look at my notes.

I’m afraid I don’t have that information with me today, but…

Hmm, let me think.

Hmm, let me see.

Ending the Q&A

If there are no further questions, I will bring my presentation to a close.

There don’t seem to be any more questions, so I’ll stop there.

Offering more information

You can read more about our company via the link on this last slide.

If you have any further questions, I will be happy to answer them in person during the lunch break.

If there are any more questions, I’ll be happy to answer them individually.

If anything still isn’t clear, please email me at this address.

Thanking at the end

Thanks again for the opportunity to share this information with you.

Thanks again for your invitation to come here today.

Mentioning future contact

I hope we have the opportunity to speak again in the near future. .

I look forward to speaking to some of your individually in the next few weeks.

I hope to see some of you again soon.