Business English for Meetings

Most students studying Business English would like to be more confident speaking English in business meetings.

Meetings in English can be intimidating, because we are usually speaking one by one and there is a lot of focus on the speaker. But, don’t worry! With these useful English phrases you can keep things clear and sound professional.

You can also take our useful English test, which tests your understanding of these phrases and gives you feedback on your English ability.

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Leading the Meeting

If you are leading a meeting, it is important that you keep things structured. This means following clear simple steps that everyone can easily understand. If there are a lot of people in the meeting, it is a good idea to establish yourself as the leader of the meeting so you can move things along later.

Introducing yourself

Make sure you get everyones attention before you introduce yourself

You’ll want to start the meeting by welcoming your attendees and introducing yourself. You can start by getting everyone’s attention, using phrases such as:

  • “Good morning / afternoon everyone”
  • “Since everyone is here, let’s get started”
  • “We’re still waiting on a few people, but we are pushed for time, so let’s begin”
  • “I’d like to welcome everyone and thank you for attending”


After greeting them, introduce yourself if people might not know you:

“I’m [your name]. I work with … / am the [role] / am responsible for [responsibilities]”

It may also be important to outline the meeting and clarify why everyone is here:

In this meeting we will be discussing / deciding / explaining …”

Asking others to introduce themselves

For effective discussion during the meeting, it’s essential that individuals attending the meeting are well-acquainted with each other.

The person leading the meeting could ask everyone to introduce themselves in the following way:

“To start with, let’s quickly go around the room and introduce ourselves, [name] do you mind starting?”

Setting the agenda

After introductions we need to clearly move through the agenda.

  • “There are [number] items on the agenda. First…”
  • “Let’s start by discussing / going over …”

Setting the agenda should be simple and to the point.

Moving through the agenda

It is important to keep things moving forward. Sometimes the meeting can get off track and we need to bring the discussion back to the important topics. We can use these phrases to progress the meeting.

  • “Okay, I think that covers [previous topic] let’s move on to [next topic]”
  • “We are pushed for time and I’m keen to discuss [next topic], so let’s move on.”
  • “There is a lot to discuss here, but we are pushed for time, so let’s move onto [next topic] and perhaps we can discuss [previous topic] later.”

Getting involved in meetings

Once things are underway, it’s important to keep the conversation flowing. Sometimes it is easy to take a back seat in meetings and let everyone else do the talking. If you are leading the meeting, this can be especially difficult because people might look to you to do all the talking. Luckily, there are some simple English phrases to use in meetings.

Giving affirmation

Speaking in a meeting can feel intimidating because all eyes are on you. To support others and motivate people to talk, you should use these short phrases after they have made a point.

  • “I see”
  • “Yes, absolutely”
  • “That’s a good point”
  • “That’s interesting”


You can also ask for affirmation by using these phrases after you make your point:

  • “Does that make sense?”
  • “How does that sound?”
  • “Does anyone have anything else to add?”

Affirmation means to respond to acknowledge something

How to disagree politely

If you don’t agree or feel that the conversation is moving in the wrong direction, you can use these phrases:

  • “Sorry, but just to clarify [explain the issue you have]…”
  • “Sorry, I am afraid I don’t follow. How will this [goal of the discussion]?”
  • “That’s a good point, but what about [Action (+ing)] ?”
  • “From our department’s perspective, it’s a little more complicated.”


If you need to interrupt, you can also use phrases such as:

  • “Excuse me for interrupting”
  • “If I could just add something here? [Make your point]”

Lead the meeting by encouraging people to speak up

Asking questions

There are many different ways to ask questions during the meeting. But, instead of saying you didn’t understand you should test your understanding and ask for clarification: 

  • “Sorry, I don’t fully understand. Are you saying [say what you think they are saying]?”
  • “Could you explain how this would work?”
  • “Just to be clear, do you mean [say what you think they are saying]?”

 

Concluding the meeting

  • “Well I think we have covered everything.”
  • “Thank you again for all attending.” 
  • “If you have any further questions I am happy to stick around for a few minutes / please feel free to email me”
  • “I am afraid I’ll have to stop you there as we’ve run out of time”

Written by Mike O’Malley

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