224  Verbal Signals

224.1 Key Verbal Signals – Specific, Rehearsed Phrases

In addition to key sentences throughout the talk, having rehearsed opening and closing sentences are a great way to begin and end a presentation on a good note.

Throughout her talk, Bonnie repeated key verbal signals such as “the question we had …” and “so what happens is …”. This is done instead of memorization.

Key verbal signals benefit presentations in three areas:

Verbal Signal and Structure
Key verbal signals inform the audience what they are about to hear. i.e. what is the point of this information? If someone was not paying attention, this is their opportunity to join the conversation again.
Verbal Signal and Tone
The audience feels like Bonnie is talking directly to them, instead of just reporting scientific information. This makes the presentation feel like a conversation with Bonnie - she leads the audience through a story and uses these key verbal signals as a reminder.
Verbal Signal and Confidence
Instead of memorizing her entire talk, Bonnie relied on specific key verbal signals that serve as check points in her story. When she’s on stage, all she has to do is build connections between each check point, providing greater flexibility.

224.2 Exercise

The following table contains 8 examples of key verbal signals. Working together with your partner, complete the table with the purpose of each phrase and add some further examples in each category.

Expression Purpose Other Examples
“The point here is that …”
“Today I would like to …”
“Now I’d like to …”
“OK!”
“First …, second …, third …”
“Let me remind you of …”
“… is plotted against …”
“To illustrate this point …”
Table 224.1: Complete this table with examples of key verbal signals used to signal content to your audience.