-When referring to a diagram or graph, first direct your audience's attention to that diagram. You can do it like this:

If we have a look at this graph...

If I could direct your attention to the graph...

-In describing trends, we use two words - one of those words is a noun or verb.

Words for an increase, we use verbs or nouns like to rise/a rise, to climb/a climb, to improve/an improvement and to upturn/an upturn.

Words for a decrease are to decrease/a decrease, to fall/a fall, to decline/a decline, to worsen/ a worsening.

So you can say, "There was an improvement in the figures for May", or 'the figures for May have improved'.

'There has been a drop in sales since January', or 'sales since January have dropped'.

-It's a good idea to add more descriptive words - adjectives and adverbs. Remember adjectives go before nouns, and adverbs go after verbs.

Some words that mean "big" are significant/significantly, marked/markedly, substantial/substantially.

Words for 'small' are slight/slightly, insignificant/ insignificantly.

Adjectives/adverbs that describe "a quick change" are sharp/sharply, dramatic/dramatically.

For a "slow" or "medium" change, you can use steady/steadily or moderate/moderately. Here are some examples:

There was a significant fall in sales. /Sales fell significantly.

There was a slight recovery in online orders. /Online orders recovered slightly.

Extract 2.

-Ian handles a question about the graph by using 'due to'.

Other useful phrases for describing causes are "a consequence of", "because of', and "a result of." For example:

The drop in sales is a consequence of the decrease in dehumidifier sales.

The drop in sales is because of a drop in dehumidifier sales.

The drop in sales is a result of a fall in dehumidifier sales.

-Notice some of the vivid language Ian uses to describe the line graph, such as 'experienced a sharp increase' and 'with a pronounced drop'.