Meetings useful phrases

Listen to the introduction to the topic and then move on to the tasks.

After you complete this part of the lesson you will be be abe to use a lot of expressions that you may need while attending a meeting in English. Please, remember, that working on useful expressions takes time and practice. It is important for you to repeat the phrases as many times as you can. You also need to be able to pronounce the expressions correctly, so if you are not sure how to pronounce a word or a full phrase, check it in an online dictionary.

This material will help you participate in meetings more effectively. You will know what to say to open a meeting like a pro, how to present its objective, how to ask for opinions or politely disagree with an attendee. You will also familiarise yourself with a lot of useful vocabulary.

First, listen to the recording about business meetings. Pay attention to the useful phrases that are used in the recording. Go back to the phrases as many times as you can and repeat them out loud.

Now, do the exercise below to practise some more useful phrases. They are related to the opening of a meeting and talking about organization issues. The expressions here might be handy when you happen to chair a meeting. Make sure you understand all the phrases and you know how to pronounce them corretly.

Now, download the file below and work on some more expressions that might be useful during a business meeting. You may use the following phrases when you chair a meeting or you just attend one. You will practise here some expressions which you might need if you are supposed to e.g. give your opinion during a meeting, express agreement/disagreement, make your point or invite others to speak. After you fill in the gaps, imagine that you are in a meeting and repeat the phrases as many times as you can. Say them out loud.

Do the quiz below in order to revise the phrases from the exercise above.

Have a look at the quiz below. The quiz includes some phrases that will help you finish a meeting in a professional way. Do the quiz and memorise the expressions. Remember that there are many synonyms of the verb “summarise”, e.g. sum up, recap (or recapitulate), wrap up, review or outline. So, if you want to sound like a pro, do not finish your business meetings in the same way all the time, there are many different options you can use to sum up a meeting in English. Of course, make sure you understand all the words and phrases in this exercise and you are able to pronounce the expressions correctly.

Now, it’s time to revise the phrases you have practised in this lesson. Do the exercise below but remember that you should repeat the phrases again and again. And next time you participate in a meeting in English do your best to use minimum 5 of them. Keep practising.

Additionally, imagine thay you need to react in the following situations. What would you say?

1. You must welcome a group of men and women in your head office.
2. You want to thank the participants for attending the meeting.
3. You want to tell the participants that you will cover 3 topics during the meeting.
4. You want to inform the partcipiants that the meeting will take 2 hours.
5. You are about to finish the meeting and summarize the most important things that were said.