the kloe theme.

Business English Beginner

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After this lesson, students will be able to:

• To say hello;
• To make introduction using small talk;
• To start a meeting;
• To state the objectives of talk.
Discuss the following questions

How often do you have meetings?

Are your meetings with colleagues from

your company or with contacts from
other companies?

Have you chaired a meeting before?

Discuss the following questions

Hello, my name is Suzy. I’m the new CEO

of the company. Nice to meet you all.
How was your holiday?

Hi, Ms. Suzy. Nice to meet you too. My holiday was

great. I spent it with my family.
It is important to welcome your colleague. Here are some expressions to welcome your colleague

Formal Expressions Informal Expressions

Hi, everyone.
What’s up
Greetings to everyone.

Good morning/good afternoon.

Hello, guys.
Nice/Pleased to meet you.

How are you?

After greeting your colleague, you may want to start meeting right away.
Here are some useful expressions to start a meeting.

Informal Expressions Formal Expressions

Can we start . . .? We’re here today to . . .

Let’s begin. Since we’re all here, we can . . .

Let’s start. We’ll start the meeting.

Let’s open the meeting with . . . We will discuss about . . .

It is important to state objectives of a meeting. So, everyone who attends the meeting can relate to the
topic. Here are some useful expressions to state objectives.

Expressions Examples

We’re meeting today to talk about the sales

We’re meeting today to talk about . . .
conference next month.

Our objective today is to look at the new

Our objective today is . . .
advertising campaign.

The aim of the meeting is to discuss strategies

The aim of the meeting is . . .
for increasing sales.
 Discuss the following questions

• How often do you have to attend meetings?

• How formal are the meetings you usually attend?
• Are they usually with colleagues or with people
from outside your organization? Clients?
Suppliers?

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 Read the text below, then do the exercise in the next slide

Small talk is used to break the ice and create a relaxed atmosphere before the real business begins. However,
making small talk can be difficult, particularly when you meet people for the first time.
One problem is that small talk can be about many different topics and you probably won't be sure of all the
vocabulary. One solution is to prepare topics that you would like to talk about. If you're going to have a meeting with
people from another country research topics relating to that country. For instance, being prepared to chat with French
people about the Côte d'Azur or Danes about Copenhagen will make you feel more relaxed and mean that you can start
conversations confidently.
Of course, making small talk is not just about talking, it's also about listening, and the more actively the better.
There are a number of commonly used phrases which show other people that you're interested in what they're saying:
✓ I see.
✓ Oh, really?
✓ Interesting.
✓ That’s absolutely fascinating!
Match the words in the left column to the right column to make small talk questions.

Which hotel Did you fly into?

How long Are you staying at?

Which airport My colleague, sharon lee?

Did you Your first time coming here for a meeting?

Is this A colleague of wilson parker’s?

Are you Come here by plane?
Do you know Have you worked for your company?
Practice the following dialogue.

Hello. My name is Carol. I’m the marketing manager in this company. Nice
Carol :
to meet you.

Hi, Carol. My name is Lily. I’m the new lead of marketing west team. Nice to
Lily :
meet you too.

Carol : Welcome to the team. Is this your first ever meeting at the head office?

Lily : Yes, it is. How long have you been working here?

Carol : Around 10 years. Let’s start the meeting.

 Fill in the blank using choices in the box to complete the conversation.

Hi, all. My name

Let’s start the meeting How are you?
is Reggy.

Good morning everyone. This is Reggy. She is the

Rina :
new business lead in this team.
Reggy : ____________. How are you?
Yogi : I’m fine thanks. ________________.
Reggy : I’m very well, thank you.
Rina : So, today, Reggy will chair the meeting.
Reggy : Okay, everyone. _________________.
If your colleagues can’t attend the meeting, you can say the following to reporting apologies

Here are some expressions of introducing someone:

 Practice the dialogue below Notes for meeting:

Good morning everyone. Pleased to meet you. We’re

Aim of meeting: review our
meeting today to review our last advertising campaign. last advertising campaign.
Robert : Remember to introduce
But, before we start, this is Margaret Hart. Why don’t you Margaret Hart.
Apologies: Jill Cooper
introduce yourself? (sick).

Thanks, Robert. Hi, everybody. My name is Margaret Hart.

Margaret :
I’m the junior consultant in this team. Nice to meet you.

Brad : Welcome to the team, Margaret.

Unfortunately, Jill Cooper wasn’t be able to make it today

Robert :
because he’s sick. Let’s start the meeting.

Make a dialogue based on the notes for
meeting below. You can use the
previous conversation template as well.
Notes for meeting:
Aim of meeting: finalize plans for
next year’s sales conference.
Introduce Harry Filch from our
even management agency.
Apologies: Jim Henry (holiday),
Bob Esloe (training course).
 Discuss the following questions

• Do you ever have to chair meetings?

• Do you have online meetings? What other
advantages/disadvantages are there?
• How effective is the time you spend in meetings?

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Read the following text, then do the exercise in the next slide.

Five Golden Rules for Chairpeople

➢ Time is gold in meetings. Don’t let a discussion run on unnecessarily. If an issue can’t be resolved in this
meeting, cut the discussion off and continue it in a later meeting.
➢ Don’t call meetings outside office hours. Never schedule meetings for evenings or weekends.
➢ Meetings are for business, not socializing. A certain amount of small talk at the beginning and the end of
a meeting definitely helps to create a friendly atmosphere. Make sure that participants get down to
business after pleasantries.
➢ Give people enough time to prepare for meeting. With advance notice, participants will come to your
meeting prepared about your agenda, read through background paper, prepared presentation, and come
up with solutions to problems.
➢ Meeting should be democratic in approach and spirit. The only point in bringing people together for a
meeting is to let them discuss an issue.
 Identify the following statements are True or False according to the text.

True/ false Statements

If an issue can’t be resolved in the meeting, it would be

better to cut the discussion off and continue it in a later
meeting.
Schedule meetings for evenings or weekends are good
for the employee.
The organizers should give advance notice about the
meeting to the participants.

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 Check your answers below

True/ false Statements

TRUE If an issue can’t be resolved in the meeting, it would be

better to cut the discussion off and continue it in a later
meeting.
FALSE Schedule meetings for evenings or weekends are good
for the employee.
TRUE The organizers should give advance notice about the
meeting to the participants.

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 Match the following words with its meaning

• the total number or quantity

• Resolved

• Amount • to find an answer or solution to

(something)

• Notice
• warning or intimation of something

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 Check your answers below

• the total number or quantity

• Resolved

• Amount • to find an answer or solution to

(something)

• Notice
• warning or intimation of something

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 Pronounce the following words with your teacher. Pay attention to the word stresses.

Words/Phrases Pronunciation
Resolve ri-ˈzälv
Amount ə-ˈmau̇nt
Notice ˈnō-təs
Schedule ˈske-(ˌ)jül
Participant pär-ˈti-sə-pənt

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So, you have accomplished the following:

✓ Say hello;
✓ Make introduction using small talk;
✓ Start a meeting;
✓ State the talk/meeting’s objectives.
the kloe theme.