MEETING AND GREETING

1. WHAT DO FRIENDS SAY TO EACH OTHER WHEN THEY

MEET ?
2. WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY WHEN THEY ARE INTRODUCED ?
3. WHICH THREE TOPICS DO YOU THINK ARE MOST
LIKELY TO FOLLOW IN A CONVERSATION BETWEEN
TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN JUST INTRODUCE ?

Health journey weather recent activities

Work family accommodation where you are from
SOCIAL LANGUAGE
Now look at the different ways you can make conversation with friends and
strangers

People you know already

Beginning Replying

Greetings How are you ? Fine, thanks

I’m very well

How are things ? Yes, we did.

How’s it going ? O….too bad.

Conversation Starter Lovely weather Great.
Yes, it is.
I haven’t see you for a while OK/ Fine/ Not too bad
No, I’ve been busy/ away
See you soon/ later. Good bye.
I must going. Bye.
Conversation closer I’ll be in touch. See you soon.
Bye for now.
People you haven’t known
Beginning Replying

Introduction May/ Can/ I introduce Nice to meet you.

My self/ colleague

Hi ! Good morning. I’m …….. Hello! I’m ……. It’s pleasure to meet
you
Greetings How do you do? How do you do?
Pleased to meet you. Glad to meet you.

I hope you have a pleasant journey. Yes, we did. It was ……………

Have you been here long ? No, I’ve just arrived.
Conversation Starter Have you been here before ? No, this my first visit.
Lovely weather. Yes, marvelous, isn’t it ?

I’m) glad/ pleased to have meet you. (It’s) nice to have met you, too.
Conversation closer It’s been very interesting talking to If you’ve ever in ……….you must get
you in touch.
General greetings (Formal)
 Hello!
 How are you?
 How are you doing?
 How is everything?
 How’s everything going?
 How have you been keeping?
 I trust that everything is well.
General greetings (Informal)
 Hi.
 What’s up?
 Good to see you.
 How are things (with you)?
 How’s it going?
 How’s life been treating you?
Greeting a person you haven’t seen for a
long time (Formal)
 It has been a long time.
 It’s been too long.
 What have you been up to all these years?
 It’s always a pleasure to see you.
 How long has it been?
 I’m so happy to see you again.
Greeting a person you haven’t seen for a
long time (Informal)
 How come I never see you?
 It’s been such a long time.
 Long time no see.
 Where have you been hiding?
 It’s been ages since we last met.
Your name and company
– My name is … / I´m …
I’m a financial controller, I’m an auditor (a/an+job)
– I work for … (not “am working for”)
– I’m sales manager for … (you are the only sales manager)
I work for ATT (for + employer)
- I’m in marketing
- I’m in chemical business (in+type of work)
- The company produces software / machines / …
– We develop (or: we market) …
– I’m a freelance consultant / journalist.
Your work and responsibilities
– I’m responsible for European operations / I look after …
– I work in banking. (alternatives: marketing, sales,
accounting, product development, research, HR etc.)
– I manage a team of 8 people.
– I support our sales team.
– My job involves …
– I report to the Business Development Director.
Situation 1 (it is two strangers at a conference)
Gary:'It's a very good conference this year.'
Lisa:'Yes, I'm really enjoying it. I think it's better than last year's one. Did
you come last year?'
Gary:'No, I didn't. But I came the year before and that was good, but not as
good as this year's.'
Lisa:'It was good last year, but the speakers here this year are a lot better.'
Gary:'Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Gary Smith.'
Lisa:'Pleased to meet you Gary. My name's Lisa Rodgers.'
(Handshake)
Gary:'Pleased to meet you too. How long are you at the conference for?'
Lisa:'I'm here for the full 5 days. And you?'
Gary:'I'm only here for 3 days. I'm leaving the day after tomorrow.'
Lisa:'What do you do?'
Gary:'I'm a sales manager at Timebox plc. And yourself?'
Lisa:'I'm the director of marketing for an internet company called
travelquick.com.'
Situation 2 (an employee is introducing himself to a new
employee in an office.)
Chris:'I don't think we've been introduced. My name's Chris.'
Keith:'Nice to meet you Chris. My name's Keith.'
(Handshake)
Chris:'Hello Keith, nice to meet you too. How is your first day
going?'
Keith:'It's going very well. There is a lot to learn, but this job
seems similar to my last job. The people here seem very
friendly. Do you work in the sales department?'
Chris:'Yes, I do.'
SAYING GOODBYE

Goodbye, it´s a pleasure to have met you.

It was very nice to meet you, I hope we meet
again soon.
Goodbye, it´s nice to have met you.
It was a pleasure finally meeting you.
Situation 1 (one person says goodbye after ending a conversation)
Sally:'I think it's a good idea.'
Bill:'I thought I'd tell you about it. I don't know how we could do it. Any ideas?'
Sally:'Let me think about it. I'll come up with some ideas and then email you.'
Bill:'I'd appreciate it.'
Sally:'Anyway, it's getting late. I'm afraid I have to go.'
Bill:'It was good seeing you again. It was three months since we last saw each other.'
(Handshake)
Sally:'And you too. I hope it won't be three months until the next time.'
Bill:'And me too. Oh, give my regards to Peter when you see him. It's been a long time
since I've seen him.'
Sally:'I will when I see him. I'll let you know about my suggestions by next Monday at the
latest.'
Bill:'Thanks.'
Sally:'Bye.'
Bill:'Bye.'
Situasion 2 (one person tells a colleague that a visitor to their office is leaving. )
Rachel:'Tom, Simon is heading off now.'
Tom:'It was a pleasure meeting you.'
(Handshake)
Simon:'And you too. Thank you for looking after me.'
Tom:'It was my pleasure. I hope you enjoyed your visit?'
Simon:'Yes, I did very much.'
Tom:'Sorry again about the meeting being cancelled.'
Simon:'It was no problem.'
Tom:'Have a safe journey.'
Simon:'Goodbye.'
Tom:'Goodbye.'
CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
At work, one person may have higher status – your boss, or a
client, for example. It's polite to address them as Mr / Ms until
the situation becomes more informal.
If someone says, "Please call me (Henry)", you know you can
use first names. If someone uses your first name, you can
use their first name too.
People in European and English-speaking cultures often shake
hands when they meet someone for the first time.
* Don't forget to smile! :-)
 SITUATION

You are at a conference reception. Some of the people there

are your friend and some are strangers. You each have a
business card to identify yourself. Talk to as many people as
possible in the next five minutes.

Make sure you cover the following points :

1. Introduce yourself
2. Greet the person
3. Start conversation
4. Introduce a colleague of yours to the person you have just
known.
5. Close the conversation