BUSINESS ENGLISH: MEETINGS

GETTING STARTING

• Ok, shall we get started?

• Right, everyone’s here so let’s begin.

• OK, I think that’s everyone. Shall we kick off?

• Let’s get down to business.

WELCOMING

• Welcome, everybody. Thank you for coming.

• I’d like to start by welcoming everybody here today.

• Firstly, I’d like to introduce Miguel and Samantha.

• I’m not sure everyone knows Samuel and Jungho. Would you like to explain your company and what you do?

• I’d like to thank everyone for being here today.

APOLOGIES

• I’m afraid that Roberto cannot be with us today because...

• Unfortunately, David our marketing manager couldn’t make it today, because...

GOALS / OBJECTIVES

• Our objective today is to...

• I think our goal for today should be to...

• I’ve called this meeting to talk about...

• By the end of this meeting I’d like us to decide...

• The goal of today’s meeting is to....

AGENDA

• Have you all got a copy of the agenda?

• Ok. As you can see from the agenda, there are 4 items. Firstly,..., secondly,...., thirdly,..., and finally,...

• Let’s start by talking about...., then go on to..., and finish with...

MINUTES

• John will be taking the minutes today.

• Kevin, could you take the minutes, please?

Minutes are the notes about what is said during a meeting

PROCESS

• I suggest we go around the table and get everyone’s opinion first.

• I’d like to hear what people think before we make a decision.

• Before we get started I’d like to give you a little more background information on...

DURATION

• I would like to wrap-up by 4 o’clock.

• The meeting is scheduled to finish at 3 o’clock, and I’d like to finish on time.

• We’re pretty short of time, so could you please be brief?

• Can we keep each item to about10 minutes?

LET’S BEGIN

• OK, so, the first item on the agenda is...

• Right, let’s get started with...

• Mr. Kim, could you introduce this item, please?

• Mr. Takahashi, would you like to start with the first point?

ASKING FOR OPINIONS

• What do you all think?

• What are everyone’s thoughts on this?

• Does anyone have an opinion on this topic?

EXPRESSING OPINIONS

• I’m convinced that...

• I’m sure that...

• I think that...

• In my opinion...

• My view is that...

• I’m pretty sure that...

Stronger expression

Weaker expression

...this is the best plan.... this is the way forward.

...this is the best alternative

CONTROLLING

• What is active listening? It’s when you respond to what people say to help motivate them

• Examples:

• Right.

• OK, I see.

• Good.

CONTROLLING

• Clarifying

• In other words, what you’re saying is that,....

• If I’m hearing you right, you think that...?

• So, what you’re saying is that...?

CONTROLLING

• Moving off the point

• Could I digress for a second?

• I know it’s not on the agenda, but...

CONTROLLING

• Keeping/sticking to the agenda

• I think we’re digressing. Can we get back on topic?

• We are getting a little side tracked.

• I’m not sure that’s relevant. Let’s stick to the agenda, please?

CONTROLLING

• Referring Forward

• We’ll get to that later.

• Can we talk about that later?

• Let’s not talk about this right now. We’ll be dealing with it a little later.

CONTROLLING

• Referring Back

• We’re repeating ourselves now. This was discussed a little earlier.

• We have already talked about this before lunch.

• We touched on this issue before.

CONTROLLING

• Postponing

• Shall we skip this item?

• I think we can forget about point 3.

• Let’s deal with this point in the next meeting.

CONTROLLING

• Meeting Length

• We’re getting pretty short of time.

• Can we move on to the next point before it gets too late?

• We’ve spent 15 minutes on this already. Let’s move on to something else.

CONTROLLING

• Confirming a Decision

• Ok, so what we’ve decided is to...

• Is everyone in agreement?

• Is that clear to everyone or do you we need to have a recap?

CONTROLLING

• Closing and Moving on

• I think that’s everything we need to discuss on that.

• It’s getting late. Can we leave this point and move on?

• Let’s get to the next point on the agenda, which is...

BEING THE CHAIR Business Meeting English: Scenario Exercise

EXERCISE 1

• You’re running out of time and someone says “Can I digress for a minute?”

• What do you say?

• I don’t think we should digress. Can we stick to the main question?

• Ok, but please be quick.

• Sure, go ahead.

EXERCISE 2

• Somebody is in the middle of talking and another person says “Excuse me, may I interrupt?”

• What do you say?

• Please, let him finish.

• Be quick.

• No. Wait your turn

EXERCISE 3

• You are talking about point number 3 on the agenda but someone else starts talking about point number 5.

• What do you do?

• Allow them to continue then say “I think we can skip point 5. We’ve already discussed it.”

• Stop them and say “We’ll come to that later.”

EXERCISE 4

• There are 2 points left on the agenda but it’s getting close to lunchtime. If you continue the participants will miss their lunch. However, the meeting is quite important.

• What do you say?

• Let’s adjourn for lunch.

• Let’s adjourn for lunch but please come back in 20 minutes.

• Let’s carry on and get this meeting finished.

ASKING QUESTIONSHow to ask questions in business meetings

DO PEOPLE UNDERSTAND?

• Do you follow me?

• Am I making myself clear?

• Do you see what I mean?

• Are you still with me?

• Do you get what I’m saying?

MORE INFORMATION

• Could you say a little more about that, please?

• Would you elaborate on that a little?

• Could you go into a little more detail about...?

• Can you give an example of what you’re saying?

CLARIFICATION

• What exactly are you trying to say?

• What are you trying to say exactly?

• What do you think is the main take-away?

• Why do you feel this is important?

YOU WANT IT REPEATED

• I’m sorry, I missed that. Could you repeat that, please?

• I’m not sure I follow. Could you go over that point again, please?

QUESTIONSHow to ask and handle questions in Business meetings

CLOSED QUESTIONS

• When the answer is either Yes or No

• Do you plan to complete the report by the end of the month?

• Is this report based on the latest data?

• Did you check with the accounting manager?

• Are you going to let the accounting manager know?

OPEN QUESTIONS

• Used to get a longer, more detailed answer

• Could you tell me where I can download the document?

• Could you inform me about the best practices?

• Could you explain what’s in the report?

• I’d be interested to know where you got that information.

LEADING QUESTIONS

• Encouraging people to talk

• Shouldn’t we discuss the results from the latest report?

• Can we talk about the results of the metrics analysis?

• What’s up next?

INTERRUPTINGInterrupting a speaker in a business meeting

CHAIR INTERRUPTING

• OK Fred, if I could just quickly interrupt you there...

• Nick, sorry to interrupt but I’d like to hear some other views on this.

• If I could just stop you there for a second.

CHAIR STOPPING INTERRUPTION

• Just a moment, Dave. I’ll come back to you in a minute.

• One at a time, please.

• Please, let him finish what he was saying.

PARTICIPANTS INTERRUPTING

• Excuse me, can I just interrupt quickly?

• Come I come in here?

• Can I just briefly comment on that?

• Can I piggyback on what Shelly was saying?

STOPPING AN INTERRUPTION

• If I could just finish what I was saying.

• May I just finish my point?

• No, just one minute, please.

• I haven’t finished what I was saying yet.

REASON FOR INTERRUPTING

• I’d like to point out that the data is from 2009.

• I’d like to add something to that point...

• I’d like to piggyback on what you just said.

• That’s a good point. I’d like to develop it a bit.

COMMENTING

• That’s a good point, Mike.

• I see what you saying, Jim.

• Yes, you’re spot-on.

CONTINUING AN INTERRUPTING

• Thanks for bringing that up. Perhaps we should talk more about it.

• Let’s talk a bit more about this new point.

DECIDING AND CLOSING

• I think we need to discuss this further.

• I think we should have some more information on this.

• I would like to take this away and look at it in more detail.

• Let’s put this on next week’s agenda.

• Let’s leave this until next week.

TIME

• We’re running out of time.

• Unfortunately, we don’t have anymore time to spend on this.

• OK, everyone, we’re almost out of time.

• We getting really behind schedule.

CLOSING

• We have to bring this to a close.

• I think we have covered everything we’d planned to.

• I don’t think there’s anything else left.

DECIDING

• I really would like a decision before we close the meeting.

• Can we come to a decision before we leave?

• Are we ready to make a decision?

COMPLETING AGENDA

• I think we’ve covered everything.

• OK. That’s everything on the agenda.

• Does anyone have anything else before we finish?

• Is there any other business?

• Are there any final questions before we call it a day?

CONFIRM TASKS

• John, you’re doing the report on...

• Dave, you will get the data and email it me before the end of the week.

• Steven, you will sort out...

NEXT MEETING

• Let’s set a time for our next meeting.

• Is July 8th a convenient day for our next meeting?

• I’ll confirm the date and location of our next meeting by email.

• I’ll email you the time of our next meeting.

CLOSING THE MEETING

• OK. Let’s finish there. Thank you all for coming and I’ll see you again in the next week.

• It’s getting late. Let’s call it a day.

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