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
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