MEETINGS STRUCTURE THE LANGUAGE OF MEETINGS MEETINGS STRUCTURE THE LANGUAGE OF MEETINGS.

MEETINGSSTRUCTURETHE LANGUAGE OF

MEETINGS

MEETINGSSTRUCTURETHE LANGUAGE OF

MEETINGS

CASE STUDY

form groups of 4-5 study instructions on the handout draw up a memo / an agenda do the script prepare your roles hold the meeting write minutes

STRUCTURE

• 1. start the meeting – welcome, introduce, state the objective,

go through the agenda, say when the

meeting will finish

• 2. body – procedure, ask for opinion, comment, agree, disagree,

interrupt, make suggestions, check for agreement

• 3. end – conclude, summarize, close

Starting

MAKE YOUR POINTS FIRMLY BUT POLITELY

1. Downtone - soften your points

2. Avoid aggressiveness

3. Avoid: must, can’t, impossible

STARTING BODY ENDWELCOMING KEEPING TO THE AGENDA CONCLUDING

INTRODUCTIONS PROCEDURE SUMMARIZING

OBJECTIVES ASKING FOR OPINION CLOSING

AGENDA COMMENTING ON OPINION

TIME CHECKING FOR AGREEMENT/APPROVAL

INTERRUPTING

ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION

MAKING SUGGESTIONS

AGREEING/ DISSAGREEING

RESERVATION OR POLITE DISAGREEMENT

STARTING

Let’s get down to business.

We’d better start.

OK, shall we make a start?

Right, let’s begin.

WELCOMING

We’re very pleased to welcome...

It ’s a pleasure to welcome...

I’d particularly like to welcome...

I’d like to start by welcoming...

INTRODUCING

I’d like to introduce...

I don’t think you’ve met...

Let me introduce…?

STATING PURPOSE / OBJECTIVES /AIMS

We’re here today to...

Our aim is to...

I’ve called this meeting in order to...

The purpose of this meeting is to...

By the end of this meeting, we need ...

SETTING THE AGENDA

As you’ll see from the agenda...

Have you all seen a copy of the agenda?

I suggest we take this item first/next/last.

There are three items on the agenda.

Is there any other business?

TIMING

This should take about two hours.

The meeting is due to finish at...

We’re short of time, so can I ask you to be brief?

I’d like to keep each item to ten minutes,

otherwise we’ll never get through.

I would like to aim for a three o’clock finish.

I would like to finish by four o’clock.

DEFINING ROLES

…,could you take the minutes?

…has kindly agreed to give us a report on...

…is going to take us through...

…, I wondered if you’d like to tell us something about…?

SETTING OUT THE AGENDA

There are four items on the agenda...

I suggest we take them in this order.

Could we take …first?

…will come up under item 3.

FIRST ITEM

So, the first item on the agenda is...

…, would you like to start?

OPENING AN ITEM

Let's start with...

Shall we begin with...

So, the first item on the agenda is…,

would you like to kick off?

…, would you like to introduce this item?

CLOSING AN ITEM

Right, I think that covers the first item.

Shall we leave that item?

If nobody has anything else to add, ...

NEXT ITEM

Let’s move on to the next item...

The next item on the agenda is...

Now we come to the question of...

MOVING OFF THE POINT

This might be a good point to mention...

It’s not on the agenda, but...

By the way...

REFERRING FORWARD

We’ll come to that later (under item 3).

That point is coming up in a moment.

REFERRING BACK

As we said earlier, ...

KEEPING TO THE AGENDA

Can we just deal with…?

Let’s just deal with...

Can we come to that in a moment?

POSTPONING/ MOVING AROUND

Shall we skip the next item?

I suggest we take that up at another meeting.

INTERRUPTING

Excuse me, may I interrupt? May I come in here? Let me just finish…. Could I just comment on that?

PROPOSING AND VOTING

I would like to propose that we… Can we have a vote on this? Can we have a quick show of hands? Would anyone like to second that? I’ll second it. I abstain.

CONCLUDING

So, we’ve agreed that….Let’s go over the main points

again. There’s still a question of…to

resolve.

SUMMARIZING

I’ll try and sum up what’s been

decided. So, to sum up… Can we just recap on what’s been

agreed? Does that cover the main

outcomes?

CLOSING

• Can we leave it there?

• Time’s running out.

• Let’s wind things up here.

• Let’s try to finish on time.

THANKING

Thanks for coming in today. Thank you. I think we’ve come up with

a lot of good ideas. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you very much for meeting with

us today.

LANGUAGE FOCUS - THE PASSIVE

1. The minutes, which ….prior to the meeting,

were duly signed as an accurate record.

2. It…by all present that Bill Wilson will take

the chair in the absence of the MD.

agree

circulate

3. It … that some members of the group were

dissatisfied with the format of the reports.

report

4. As there was an increasing level ofcomplaints, it …. to call the catering manager to the next meeting.

decide

5. A new system …whereby each member of the group took it in turn to chair the meeting.

6. Agreement on the future of the project ….after a heated debate lasting over an hour.

propose

reach

7. There have been rumours about a possible hostile takeover of the company, but this … by headquarters in Zurich.

8. Without coming to any agreement on Point 8 on the agenda, the meeting …, when the fire alarm went off unexpectedly.

adjourn

deny