MEETINGS
Commonly used
words/expressions:
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call
arrange
schedule
hold
cancel
postpone (put off)
reschedule
attend
moderate
chair
close
a meeting
People involved
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the chairperson
chairman, chairwoman, chair (n., v.)
Jim will chair (v.) the meeting next week.
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the participants
the secretary (?)
Chairing a meeting
The chairperson is in charge of:
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Opening the meeting: introducing the
objectives, agenda, participants, procedure,
timing and output
Facilitating and moderating:interrupting &
encouraging the speakers
Controlling (time & agenda)
Summarising (what has been said or agreed)
Concluding (defining action points and closing)
Participants
(Attendees)
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Participants take part in the discussion
↓
giving and seeking opinions, agreeing,
disagreeing, interrupting, commenting,
suggesting, …
giving mini-presentations
A team meeting
Source: Business Result
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rQjC
5C1YrI
Company’s business?
Chair? Participants?
Items on the agenda?
Functions performed by the chair?
The secretary (or a participant)
is responsible for ...
...recording the...
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names of the participants
topics discussed (items of the agenda)
arguments in favour and against (pros & cons)
decisions made
voting details
action points (who, what, when)
date, place, time of the next meeting
... and for distributing the minutes within a reasonable time
Administrative considerations
(Meeting paperwork)
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Writing a memo
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Writing the agenda
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Taking the minutes (writing up the minutes)
LANGUAGE FOCUS
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phrases typically used in meetings
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downtoning + making suggestions
LANGUAGE FOCUS cont.
Make your point firmly, but politely
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Downtoning
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Making suggestions/proposals
Is this appropriate in meetings?
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“Finish the report by tomorrow!”
“You cannot take a day off!”
“You must never be late again. Next time
this happens I’ll fire you!”
Or can we make it sound more polite?
How to make our statements sound
less confrontational?
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“we” / “let’s” (rather than “you”)
perhaps / maybe
a bit / just / a little / slightly
would / could / may / might
I’m afraid...
Use of “negatives” or “opposites” to
soften the meaning
Downtoning
Avoid:
“You must reduce the price.”
(sounds confrontational)
Use the following: we, let’s, perhaps/maybe,
a little/slightly/a bit/, may/might,
could,would, it won’t be bad if, I’m
afraid
Why don’t we …, Let’s …,
Perhaps …, Maybe …
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?
Why don’t we …, Let’s …,
Perhaps …, Maybe …
“Why don’t we consider reducing the price?”
“Let’s see what happens if the price is
reduced.”
“Perhaps we should consider reducing the
price.”
“Maybe you could reduce the price.”
a little, slightly, a bit, just
a little, slightly, a bit, just
“The price is a little too high for us.”
“The price is slightly too high for us.”
“The price is a bit too high for us.”
“The price is just too high for us.”
May, might, could, would
I wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…,
I’m afraid…
May, might, could, would
I wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…,
I’m afraid…
“I wonder if you could reduce the price.”
“Would you be prepared to reduce the price?”
“The price may be too high for us.”
“The price might be too high for us.”
“It won’t be bad if the price is lower.”
“I’m afraid the price is too high for us.”
Making suggestions/proposals
Confrontational:
“You’re against my proposal and you didn’t even
read the report????”
Making suggestions/proposals
Confrontational: “You’re opposing my idea and you
didn’t even read the report???”
I advise you to read the report first.
I suggest reading the report first.
I suggest that we should read the report first.
I suggest that we read the report first.
Why don’t we read the report first?
Shall we read the report first?
Make your point firmly, but
politely
“That ‘s a very bad solution.”
Why don’t we …, Let’s …,
Perhaps …, Maybe … I
suggest ...
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Why don’t we …, Let’s …,
Perhaps …, Maybe …, I
suggest ...
Why don’t we consider another option?
Let’s find another solution.
Perhaps we could discuss another
possibility.
Maybe we could consider some other
options.
I suggest we should consider another
option.
May, might, could, would
I wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…,
I’m afraid…
May, might, could, would
I wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…,
I’m afraid…
This idea may have some value, but we could also
discuss other options.
I wonder if we could think of a different way to
solve the problem.
It won’t be bad if we now think of other
possibilities.
I’m afraid this idea may not be the best solution
for us at the moment.
a little, slightly, a bit, just
a little, slightly, a bit, just
This proposal may be a little too ambitious for us
at the moment.
Could we think of a slightly more realistic solution?
This may be a bit complicated for us at the
moment.
This solution is coming just too late for us now.
Assignment
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Class assignment:
Tone down the three statements (Slide
29). Use two different downtoning
devices for each (tot. 6 statements).
:
we - let’s
perhaps - maybe
a little – slightly - a bit ,
may – might – could - would,
it won’t be bad if, I’m afraid
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“Finish the report by tomorrow!”
“You cannot take a day off!”
“You must never be late again. Next time
this happens I’ll fire you.”
Meetings (revision)
Fill in the missing words (1):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
We’d better ... down to business.
We’ve got a very ... agenda.
On ... of XYZ Co., I am very glad to ... you here,
... for coming here today.
This is John Kane. He is ... charge ... the project.
The ... of today’s meeting is to solve the problem of the
major decline in sales.
There are three ... on the ....
We’ll go ... the table.
Could you clarify ... that, please?
Is there any other ...?
Fill in the missing words (2):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
I’d like to finish ... 7 o’clock.
The meeting is ... to finish at 7.
So, what you are ... is that the company will be in trouble
soon.
I hope you don’t mind ... I take over now?
How ... creating a new service for them?
He suggests ... a loan with a reliable bank.
I agree to some ...
It’s out ....
That ... us to the end of our meeting today.
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Check if you have done the previous
exercises correctly in the RB.