If people have been paying attention during your presentation, they will have questions. If you are in the audience, then undoubtedly, you will have questions. This page will provide you with the groundwork to not only invite questions; but to ask them.
open the floor (to)
This is a versatile expression, and it can be used to introduce someone or hand responsibility over to them. In the context of questions, a lot of people might use it to let their audience know that the time has come for questions.
Examples
Well, that’s everything I have time for today. Now we can open the floor for questions. Please raise your hand and I’ll try to address any concerns you might have.
We seem to have covered every aspect of the deal, so I think it’s time to open the floor to anyone who might have any questions.
stay on point/track
Sometimes people just like the sound of their own voice (
Examples
That’s an interesting point, but it’s not really what we’re discussing today. It’s best if we stay on point and come back to that at another juncture.
There’s a lot of ground to cover today, so I’d prefer if we stayed on track and avoided unrelated questions.
with all due respect
This is used when you disagree with someone, but you want to voice your conflicting opinion in a respectful manner. Use it wisely.
Examples
Well, with all due respect, I’m not convinced that’s correct. But I’m open to looking at your figures to discuss other options.
I say this with all due respect…that’s simply not the case. If you take a look at the quarterly reports, I’m sure you’ll see where you’ve gone wrong.
These are just a small number of expressions you can use to ask, invite or deal with questions in any (generic) presentation. Using them will display your versatility with the English language. Check out our Themed Expressions pages for expressions related to more specific situations and topics.