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BUSINESS ENGLISH
MEETING PROCEDURE 06 – LEADING A MEETING: USEFUL PHRASES 01
1. Being afraid to participate in or lead a meeting in front of a crowd, a group of people or a few of your hierarchic superiors is normal.
Being scared is your body telling you that you are in a dangerous situation, here not physically but rather mentally, when one wants to perform well to demonstrate
Courage is an attribute to possess to be able to master the art of leading a meeting especially when you are stil l green (a beginner) at it.
Assign meeting preparation (asking questions, give a task regarding meeting topics and/or objective) to engage participants during the meeting.
Assign tasks during the meeting–Being pro-active.
Often issues/concerns arise during a meeting either examine further the question or hold another meeting for it and give responsibilities to your team
Examine your meeting process (review what happened to see how you can improve leading a meeting)
(Source www.effectivemeetings.com)
1. call – 2. adjourn – 3. set up – 4. lead – 5. put off – 6. fix – 7. skip – 8. arrange – 9. postpone –
10. attend – 11. hold – 12. put on – 13. wind up – 14. call off – 15. defer – 16 bring … forward
A. Organize
Call – set up – fix – arrange – put on
B. Delay
Put off – postpone – defer
D. Assist
attend
According to the National Statistic
Council in the USA, 37% of employee
time is spent in meetings.
E. Conduct
Hold
Keep meetings under an hour. If you
lead
need more time, take 15 min every hour.
In this video, you will watch a discussion in a business meeting about whether or not some
maintenance on a company building must be done.
Before watching
a chairman / chairperson
an attendee
Possible answers:
a chairman or chairperson = the person who leads a meeting, organization, committee, or event
an attendee = a person who is present on a given occasion or at a given place.
(Source http://www.merriam-webster.com)
Watch it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vo_gHFs4is&feature=relmfu
Answers:
1. a.Tan, Lin, Walter and Barbara (John too is an attendee but his name is not mentioned in
the dialog) - b. Denise – c. Denise – d. Denise – e. No not set earlier, but delayed – f. yes – g.
maybe (we don’t know – we can suspect it has not been postponed according to the script)
perhaps we should…
We__________________ in a minute.
LIN: Sorry.
TAN: As I was saying, perhaps we should get a second opinion before we spend any money.
should go ahead.
LIN: ________________________!
BARBARA: What about the problem with parking? There were no places again this morning.
JOHN: _____________________!
NOTE to the INSTRUCTOR: Hear Hear = to strongly agree with someone (derived from
“Hear him” an 18th century expression from the British parliament)
Answers:
TAN: Well, I'm not convinced that the work is as urgent as this report suggests, so perhaps
we should…
LIN: Oh come on - the building is practically falling down!
DENISE: Sorry Lin - I don't think Tan had finished. We'll get to you in a minute.
LIN: Sorry.
TAN: As I was saying, perhaps we should get a second opinion before we spend any money.
DENISE: Thank you Tan. What's your opinion Walter?
WALTER: Well, as far as I’m concerned, it's a question of safety. So I think we should go
ahead.
TAN: Are you suggesting that someone could get hurt?
WALTER: In my opinion, yes. If you ask me, there is a serious risk of an accident. And it's
not a recent problem…
TAN: Are you implying we should have done something earlier?
WALTER: Much earlier. It's a real concern.
LIN: Hear hear!
TAN: In that case, I agree - we should do something now.
JOHN: I think so too.
DENISE: Thank you Walter. Well, if there's no…
BARBARA: Excuse me Madame Chairperson.
DENISE: Yes Barbara.
BARBARA: What about the problem with parking? There were no places again this morning.
WALTER: Maybe if you got to work on time…
DENISE: All comments through the chair if you don't mind Walter. Parking isn't on the
agenda for this meeting - perhaps you could suggest it for our next meeting Barbara. Well,
if there's no more discussion - we'll put it to a vote.
JOHN: Hear hear!
4. Answer:
Agreement:
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Clarifications
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1. Read:
Which phrases have you heard in meetings? Which phrases have you used? In what situations?
Ask for an Peter, what are your views? John, what do you think?
opinion Peter, how do you feel about this? Any comments Julien?
Do you have any ideas on this Stephanie?
Clarifications In other words ... you said... didn’t you? What you mean is ...
By that I mean… Did you say...? / Are saying that
Let me just go over the main points again …
J L
Agreeing / Soft (agreement by conviction) Soft:
Disagreeing That seems right. I don’t quite agree with that
I would agree with what Angela OK, but don’t you think that…
said. I see what you mean, however…
Yes, that makes sense. It’s a good idea, however….
That sounds like a good idea. I’m not sure about that because….
That might be all right but…
Firm (completely agree) Firm:
Yes, that’s a good/great idea. That’s wrong!
I agree completely. I don’t agree with you!
2. Read or listen to the phrases (your instructor will provide you) & classify them.
Answers:
1. Explain unknown vocabulary from the chart. Ask other follow-up questions, as
What were you talking about?
Did you succeed in convincing your audience?
Did you successfully interrupt/cut people short/ clarify your point/avoid irrelevant
discussion?
2. A) Giving an opinion
(can be used during a talk to a group as to lead an argument or to convince in a meeting)
(Strong)
• I’m quite certain that…
• I feel sure/secure that….
(Weak)
• My impression is that…
• It seems to me that…
B) Clarify
(can be used as well to explain by giving a meaning, a reason, a cause- or ask for details)
(Explain)
• That means...
• What I want to say is...
• The reason I’m telling you is...
• Let me explain what I mean...
• Because of...
Role-play 1
Your company employs five office cleaners who aren’t
needed for the next six weeks, but will be needed after
that. What can you do with them in the meantime?
Think of 3 possible solutions.
Role-play 2
An audit explains that the level of motivation in your
company is not high enough. What are some ways in which
staff motivation can be improved?
Think of 3 possible solutions and their seasons.
1. call a. organize
2. call off b. set up
3. adjourn c. arrange
4. skip d. close (an event)
5. put on e. conduct
6. wind up f. finalize
7. fix g. cancel
8. hold h. to not assist/attend
Answers: 1.a, b or c - 2g – 3 d,f - 4h - 5. a, b or c - 6.d, f - 7 a, b or c - 8e
Complete