Conference English Coach

Good morning/afternoon. My name is [Name] and today I'll be presenting...

Standard formal opening

"Good afternoon. My name is Dr Kim and today I'll be presenting our findings on L2 writing development."

Thank you for the opportunity to present this work on [topic].

Polite opening after being introduced

"Thank you for the opportunity to present this work on corpus-based vocabulary instruction."

The focus of today's talk is [topic]. I'll be drawing on data from [study/source].

Scoping the presentation from the start

"The focus of today's talk is learner autonomy. I'll be drawing on data from a three-year longitudinal study."

I'd like to begin by asking you a question: [engaging question]?

Engaging the audience from the outset

"I'd like to begin by asking you a question: how many of you use a second language daily in your professional lives?"

This presentation is structured as follows: first I'll [X], then [Y], and finally [Z].

Outlining the structure up front

"This presentation is structured as follows: first I'll review the theoretical background, then I'll present our methodology, and finally I'll share the key findings."

I'll keep my talk to [X] minutes and leave [Y] minutes for questions at the end.

Managing audience expectations for timing

"I'll keep my talk to 15 minutes and leave 5 minutes for questions at the end."

By the end of this talk, I hope you'll have a clearer understanding of [key takeaway].

Stating learning outcomes for the audience

"By the end of this talk, I hope you'll have a clearer understanding of how spaced repetition affects long-term retention."

This research was motivated by a gap I noticed in the literature on [topic].

Explaining the rationale

"This research was motivated by a gap I noticed in the literature on academic writing instruction for postgraduate non-native speakers."

I want to start with a brief overview before diving into the data.

Signalling a warm-up before main content

"I want to start with a brief overview of the theoretical framework before diving into the data."

I'll be covering three main points today, which I've summarised on this slide.

Directing attention to an agenda slide

"I'll be covering three main points today, which I've summarised on this slide — please feel free to take a photo."

Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge [collaborators/funders/institution].

Professional acknowledgement at the start

"Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge my co-investigators at the University of Leeds and the ESRC for funding this project."

This work is part of a larger project investigating [broader research area].

Situating the talk within a larger programme

"This work is part of a larger project investigating multilingual academic literacy in higher education."