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Signposting — Guiding Your Audience Through a Presentation
10 min
B1
Free
What is signposting?
Signposting means telling your audience where you are in the presentation, where you're going next, and what you want them to take away. French presentations often let the content speak for itself — English audiences expect explicit guidance at every transition.
Opening
"I'll be covering three main points today."
Je vais aborder trois points principaux aujourd'hui.
→ Sets expectations. The audience knows the structure before you start.
Je vais aborder trois points principaux aujourd'hui.
→ Sets expectations. The audience knows the structure before you start.
"By the end of this presentation, you'll have a clear picture of..."
À la fin de cette présentation, vous aurez une vision claire de...
→ Gives them a reason to listen. Answers "Why should I pay attention?"
À la fin de cette présentation, vous aurez une vision claire de...
→ Gives them a reason to listen. Answers "Why should I pay attention?"
Transitions
"Moving on to..." / "Let's turn to..."
Passons à...
Clean section change. Never just jump to a new topic without a transition.
Passons à...
Clean section change. Never just jump to a new topic without a transition.
"Now that we've looked at X, let's consider Y."
Maintenant que nous avons vu X, considérons Y.
Links what they just heard to what's coming. Creates flow.
Maintenant que nous avons vu X, considérons Y.
Links what they just heard to what's coming. Creates flow.
Highlighting
"I'd like to draw your attention to..."
J'aimerais attirer votre attention sur...
Tells the audience: this is important, focus here.
J'aimerais attirer votre attention sur...
Tells the audience: this is important, focus here.
"The key takeaway here is..."
Le point essentiel ici est...
Tells them what to remember. Use at the end of each section.
Le point essentiel ici est...
Tells them what to remember. Use at the end of each section.
Closing
"To sum up..." / "In summary..."
Pour résumer...
Signals the end is coming. Audience re-focuses.
Pour résumer...
Signals the end is coming. Audience re-focuses.
"I'll now open the floor for questions."
Je laisse maintenant la place aux questions.
Professional Q&A transition. Never just stop and say "Questions?"
Je laisse maintenant la place aux questions.
Professional Q&A transition. Never just stop and say "Questions?"
Common mistake
French speakers often say "I will now pass to the second part" — "pass to" is a French calque of passer à. Say "Let's move on to" or "Let's turn to."