Leading a meeting in
First…”
English
Good morning / afternoon”
“Let’s begin”
“I’d like to welcome everyone”
“Since everyone is here, let’s get started”
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming today”
“… let’s get down to business/ I think we should make a
start/ shall we get started…”
After greeting them, introduce yourself:
“I’m [your name]. I’ll keep this meeting brief as I know
you’re all busy people”
“I’m [your name] and I arranged this meeting
because…”
Asking others to introduce
themselves
“Let’s go around the table and introduce ourselves,
[name] do you want to start?”
“Let’s introduce ourselves quickly - please state your
name, job title and why you are here”
Setting the agenda- Likewise, it
is important to start the meeting
by outlining the agenda clearly
and the key objectives of the
meeting. The objectives can be
stated with the following
phrases
“I've called this meeting in order to”
“We’re here today to discuss”
“There are [number] items on the agenda.
“Today I would like to outline our plans for”
“As you (all/ should/ probably/ might) know,…”
“As I wrote in my email (yesterday/ about this meeting/
sending the agenda),…”
“The main reason for this meeting is…”
“What we need to decide/ talk about/ think about
today is…”
“The (main) topic/ subject/ aim/ objective/ purpose/
goal of this meeting is…”
Defining action points to be
completed before the next
meeting- When the meeting has
finished, give an overview of
what needs to be completed
before the next meeting
“[Name], can you have these action points finished by
next week’s meeting?”
“Before the next meeting, I want [action point]
completed so we can discuss the results”
“By the next meeting, we’ll have [action point] in
progress”
How to interrupt politely
“Sorry, but just to clarify”
“Sorry I didn’t quite hear that, can you say it again?”
“That’s an excellent point [person’s name], what about
doing [action point] as well?”
“From our department’s perspective, it’s a little more
complicated. Let me explain”
“Excuse me for interrupting”
“I've never thought about it that way before. How does
it affect [this point]”
Asking questions
“Can you repeat that please?”
“Can you run that by me one more time?”
“Can you repeat that in a simplified way?”
“I don't fully understand what you mean. Could you
explain it from a different angle?”
“Could you explain to me how that is going to work?”
“Just to be clear, do you mean this [repeat the
explained point in the way you understand it]”
Giving strong opinions
I really think…
I strongly believe/ I really believe/ I firmly believe…
I’m (absolutely/ completely/ 100%) certain/ convinced/
positive that…
Giving weak opinions
I’m no expert on this, but…
(I’m not sure/ certain, but) I would guess/ I would
imagine/ I would suppose…
This is only my opinion, but…
I would probably say that…
In my limited experience,…
Strongly agreeing
I totally agree.
(That’s/ You’re) exactly right./ Exactly!
(You are/ That’s) absolutely right!/ Absolutely!
I feel exactly the same way./ I feel just the same way.
Weakly agreeing/ Reluctantly agreeing
You might be right./ You could be right./ You may be
right.
I suppose you’re right./ I guess you’re right.
Strongly disagreeing
(I’m sorry but) I really don’t agree.
(I’m afraid) I have to disagree.
Weakly disagreeing/ Politely disagreeing
(I’m afraid) I don’t really agree.
I’m not sure that I agree.
I mostly agree, but…
(That’s a) good point, but…
I feel almost the same way, but…
Making suggestions/ Coming up with ideas (when
brainstorming etc)
I would suggest/ I would recommend/ I would advise…
My (main) suggestion/ recommendation/ advice would
be to…
The best solution/ The best course of action would
probably be…
We should (probably) consider/ think about…
Interrupting
Sorry to interrupt, but…
Can I come here (for a moment)?
(Before you go on,) can I just say…?
If I can just (interrupt) (for a moment),…
Allowing people to speak/ Inviting people to
speak/ Allowing people to interrupt
(Of course/ Sure), (please) go ahead. (What would you
like to say?/ Please have your say.)
 “Are there any areas of this project we are not thinking
about?”
Stopping the other person interrupting/ Keeping
the turn
Introducing your topic
Sorry, can I just finish this one point (first)?/ Sorry, can I
just what I’m saying (first)? “Thank you for getting here on time. Today we’re here
to discuss”
Sorry, just one (more) thing before you have your say,…
“We’re here to discuss the progress on [name of
project] project”
Getting the turn back/ Getting the discussion back “Due to issues identified in [project name], we’re here
on track to come up with a quick resolution”
(Now) where were we? Oh yes,…/ (Now) where was I?
Oh yes,…
The presenter can also outline the presentation
(Anyway/ Well), as I was saying…
procedure to ensure clarity, with the phrases such
as:
Requesting “We’re going to run through the main points of the
agenda”
Could you (possibly) give me a hand with/ lend me a
hand with…? “The presentation will cover these [number of points]
topics”
Checking/ Clarifying/ Dealing with communication
problems
Concluding your presentation
Sorry, what do you mean by…?
“To summarize then, let me just run through what
(By…) do you mean…? we’ve agreed here”
So (in other words), what you’re saying is… “Before we end, let me just summarize the three main
Sorry, did you say… (or…)? points”

“To sum up what I’ve presented”

Helping come to an agreement (when people “That brings me to the end of my presentation, thank
can’t agree) you for listening”

Maybe we can decide this with a show of hands.

Please raise your hand if…
I think I can suggest a compromise.
Can anyone suggest a (possible) compromise?
The person leading the meeting or giving the
presentation can also ask:
“Are there any more comments?”
“What do you think about this proposal?”
Answering questions
“Any final thoughts before we close the meeting?”
“If you have further questions or want to discuss any of
it in more detail, we can meet privately or you can send
me an email [have email address on the final
presentation slide]”
“I’d like to thank everyone for sharing their time today
and any feedback would be valuable”
“So do we think this is the correct way to proceed?”
“Are there any objections to what I covered?”
Additional business
meeting phrases
When holding off an interruption, you can say:
“Can we come back to that point later? Let me just
finish what I was saying”
“Can I just finish making my point?”
“We haven’t covered everything we needed to, shall we
set up another meeting?”
When the meeting is on a tight schedule and the
discussion is dragging on
“I'm afraid that's outside the scope of this meeting”
“Why don't we return to the main agenda of today's
meeting”

“We’ve gone slightly off topic, let us get back to [main

Likewise, apologize for being late by saying:
agenda]”
“Excuse me for being late, I was”

“Sorry for not getting here on time, I was”

If not sure on how to answer a question

"I’m actually not sure about that, but I will look into it"
Giving suggestion "I actually don't know about this, but I will look into it"
“I hear what you’re saying, however our senior manager "I’ll get back to you later once I have done research"
is very clear on this one”

“I understand that we can’t do that, but can we discuss

some other alternatives?”
“I agree with what you are saying, however have you
considered [different method]?”
“How about this as an alternative [proceed to explain
your alternative method]”
Delaying a decision/ Continuing the discussion
later
We don’t seem to be making much progress (on this),
so let’s continue this discussion by email, shall we?
Maybe we can come back to that later/ in a later
meeting (if we have time).

Maybe we should sleep on this and try again next week.

If you want to leave a meeting early, gather your
stuff quietly and politely excuse yourself by
saying:
Changing topic/ Moving on
“Excuse me, unfortunately I have to leave early. I need
Okay, we’ve still got a few points to get through, so…
to be [briefly explain where you need to be]”
Right, I think we’ve covered that, so…
“I’ve got to shoot off, I’ve got overlapping meetings”
…let’s move on to the next point/ topic on the agenda,
“Sorry I’m going to have to leave now, [reason for
shall we?
leaving early]“
…let’s turn our attention to…

You can plan a future meeting by saying:

“I’d like to set up a meeting with you at your earliest The most useful phrases for ending
convenience. When are you free?” meetings
“I’d love to continue this conversation at a second
meeting, when are you next free?”
Checking agreement (by everyone/ about Thanks for making the time to meet us./ Thanks for taking the
time to meet us.
everything)
Thanks for inviting us.
Are we (all) agreed?
It was great to see you (again).

It was (so) nice to (finally) meet you.

Summarizing what you have discussed and
agreed, and responding to that
Have a good weekend/ a good trip/ fun/ a good time/ a safe
So, to summarise our discussion/ So, to sum up our journey.
agreement,…

Checking there’s nothing left to talk about,

and replying to that
Is there anything else that we need to discuss (before we
finish)?

No, I think we’ve covered everything, thanks.

Actually, there is just one more thing (that I’d like to discuss/
that we need to discuss).

Smoothly finishing/ Giving reasons for finishing

the meeting, and responding to that
Anyway, I’m afraid I have another meeting in 10 minutes, so
we’ll have to stop there (if you don’t mind).

Well, I think someone is waiting for this room, so shall we call

it a day (if that’s okay)?

So, I’d like to be able to discuss this more, but I know (name)
has to be somewhere, so we’ll have to come back to it
another time, I’m afraid.

Bringing the actual meeting to a close

So/ Okay/ Right (then), let’s call it a day/ wrap it up there
(and continue…) (, shall we?)

Polite and friendly language at the end of a

meeting
Thanks, that was very useful./ Thanks, that was very
productive.

Thanks for (all) your (great) contributions/ ideas. (They were

very helpful).