MEETINGS by

Transcription

1 MEETINGS by +AND: also, along with, as well as, furthermore, in addition to, including, moreover, together with, plus. -BUT: However, moreover, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still, yet, excepting, excluding, although, regardless, though, with the exception of Fillers: Really, well, of course, sure, clearly, ok, fine, certainly Getting started Good morning. Since everyone is here, we should get started. We have a lot to cover today, so we really should begin. We need to discuss... We need to talk about... The main problem/point/idea seems to be The first item on the agenda is... So let s start with The first thing on the list is... First, we need to talk about X has agreed to take the minutes The meeting is due to finish at... We'll have to keep each item to ten minutes. Otherwise we'll never get through Let s review the minutes from the last meeting Phrases for contributing I d like to come in here, if I may. There s something I d like to add to the discussion. How about? Can I raise a point here? I suggest we Why don t we/you? Actually, while we re on the subject I am positive that The way I see it/things is I do believe that I just like to repeat that I really feel that I would like to stress that Two arguments support my position: I d like to remind you that In my opinion According to what I know The experience that I have in this matter is General point of view Some people say that It is generally accepted that It s obvious to anyone that... It s common sense/knowledge that The facts speak for themselves. No one can deny that Phrases for agreeing (I think) that's a good idea. That s an excellent point/idea, I totally agree with you on that.. I agree with you (on that point). I would just like to add Exactly! Absolutely! I am in favor of X s plan In my opinion is a good option. You have a (strong) point there. That is how I feel That is a fair suggestion I don t see any problem with that

2 Asking for clarification Would you mind clarifying this point? Could you clarify that? Could you elaborate on that? What do you mean by that? I don t +quite follow you/ see what you mean.. I m not sure if I ve fully understood the main points here /your point about. Could you outline the main points again? Sorry, could you repeat that please? Can you go into further detail on this please? So, in a nutshell, what you re saying is.. May we have some more details, please?. Could you explain how that is going to work? So what would you say are the main / actionable points here? Could you summarize the main points of this discussion, please? Could you sum up what you ve just said? What are you trying to say? I missed that. Could you say it again, please? Can you rephrase that, please? Are you sure about this? What is your experience? Are you 100% positive? Phrases for disagreeing: adding your opinion to help find a solution I suggest/recommend that in order to You have a good point there, but.. I'm really glad you brought that up, and in my opinion Correct me if I m wrong, but what you are saying is, so I never thought about it that way before and I can understand your point of view but I think it would be more efficient if I see what you mean, but if we do X then That may be true, however From our perspective it is a little different. Let me explain: Well, yes and no.can I tell you how we see it Well then, what will happen in case that? Sorry/ I am afraid, I don't agree about. Correct me if I m wrong, you re saying Although A seems fine, B is better cause I like/get your idea, nevertheless I prefer We could opt for A. On the other hand This measure will/can cause No way! I don t think so. I can t see it that way Up to a point I agree with you, but I m afraid I see what you mean, however it s not Checking for consensus Do we all agree (on that)? All in favour/opposed? Does everyone agree? I think we are all on the same page here No consensus We don't seem to be getting anywhere. Let's save this for another meeting Perhaps we should come back to this at another time? If you accidentally speak over somebody After you / Please, go on You can discuss this among yourselves at another time. I think we re going to have to agree to disagree Sorry, I interrupted you. You were saying

3 Formal and polite ways to interrupt Can I share an idea? I would like to add something. Can I add? I don t mean to interrupt, but Excuse me; I d like to say something. Sorry to hold the meeting up, but May I have a word? Could I say something? Can I make a comment? Casual ways to interrupt Wait, what about One quick thing. Just let me say Just one thing Can I say something? Just a minute I d like to make a point. Can I come in here? Do you mind if I just come in here? Could I interrupt you for a moment? May I just add something here? While we re on the subject, I d like to say I do feel quite strongly that Can I add something here? Is it okay if I jump in for a second? Sorry to interrupt, but Aggressive ways to interrupt Please listen to me Could you let me speak? Can you let me give an opinion?. You didn t let me finish. Correcting information Sorry, that might not be quite right. That s not what I had in mind. This is different to what I mean. Clarifying Have I made that clear? Do you see what I'm getting at? Let me put this another way... I'd just like to repeat that... Asking for Contributions for Other Participants What do you think about this proposal? Would you like to add anything, Roser? Has anyone else got anything to add? Are there any (more) comments? Has anyone else got anything to contribute? Could you tell us X how is progressing? Can we have your input on, please? What are your views on? X, would you like to introduce this item?. I'd like to hand over to X, who is going to lead the next point. Right, X, over to you. Is there Any Other Business? Preventing an interruption the Chair Just a moment, X. I ll come back to you in a minute. One at a time, please. Please let her finish what she was saying.

4 Preventing an interruption the participants Actually, if you could just let me finish Just let me finish, if you wouldn t mind Actually, I ve nearly finished Moving on I think that covers the first item. Shall we leave that item? If nobody has anything else to add Let's move on to item 2, shall we?. Let's move on to the next topic. We need to move on. The next item (of business) is... Shall/Should we move on? We need to go on to the next item. Let s drop it Topic changes clues By the way, now we can talk about... I believe this is the right time to Changing subjects, I ( d like to move onto) Before I forget Another matter Bringing up another subject May I mention that? Could we know deal with? Stalling the discussion Before we move on, I think we should... Wait a minute. We haven't discussed... Don't you think we need to? Not so fast. We haven't (yet)? How to keep the meeting on time We re running out of time. Unfortunately, we don t have anymore time to spend on this issue. Ok, everyone, we re almost out of time. We are getting really behind schedule. This matter is not on today's agenda. I think we've spent enough time on this topic. We're running short on time, so let's move on. We're running behind schedule, so we'll have to skip the next item. We only have fifteen minutes remaining and there's a lot left to cover. We could spend all day discussing this, but we have to get to the next item Regaining focus Let's stick to the task at hand, shall we? I think we're steering off topic a bit with this. You can discuss this among yourselves at another time This matter is not on today's agenda. Let's save this for another meeting. Let s shift our attention to Let s get back + to the main point /on track Let s get back on track. I m afraid we can t discuss that issue today Summarizing In summary.../ In brief / To sum up. The conclusion is... So, we've decided to... We're going to... (then) Before we close, let me just summarize the main points...

5 How to close a meeting We have to bring this to a close. Time to finish! We ll have to finish/leave that for now OK, that seems to be all the time we have today. I think we ve covered everything. I don t think there s anything else left. Ok. That s everything on the agenda. It s getting late. Let s call it a day. That s it for today The meeting is closed. It looks like we ve finished ahead of schedule, so let s finish up here. I declare the meeting closed. Ok. Let s finish there and I ll see you again the next week. If there is nothing else to add, I d like to adjourn the meeting. If there are no other comments, I d like to wrap this meeting up. Does anyone have anything else before we finish? Is there any other business? Are there any final questions? Thank you all for your input today. Thank you all for coming How to ask for a decision I really would like a decision before we close the meeting. Could we make a decision right away? Can we come to a decision before we leave? Are we all ready to make a decision? How to confirm and assign tasks John, you re going the report on Maria, you ll get the data and it to me before the end of the week? Olivia, you ll sort out the arrangements for the next meeting? How to set up the next meeting Let s set a time for our next meeting. Is tomorrow a convenient day for our next meeting? I ll confirm the date and location of our next meeting by . I ll you the time of our next meeting I d like to set up a meeting with you at your earliest convenience. When are you free? Are you free to talk again next week? When can we talk about this again? How does 2:30 p.m. Thursday sound? Does Thursday at 2:30 p.m. suit you? Notes