In meetings you give opinions, agree or disagree, make suggestions, interrupt politely, ask for clarification, and close with decisions.
« Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming. The purpose of this meeting is to… » ; « Let's start with the first item on the agenda. »
| Function | Phrases |
|---|---|
| Asking for opinions | What do you think? / Do you think…? / How do you feel about…? |
| Giving opinions | I think… / In my opinion… / I feel that… |
| Agreeing | I agree. / That's right. / Exactly. |
| Disagreeing politely | I'm not sure about that. / I see your point, but… / I'm afraid I disagree. |
| Recommending | I think we should… / I don't think we should… |
| Suggesting | Accepting | Rejecting |
|---|---|---|
| Why don't we…? / Shall we…? / We could… / How about + -ing? | That's a good idea. / Yes, let's do that. / Great. | Yes, but… / I'm not sure about that. |
© TSC COMMERCE – OTHMAN ZT · Cours protégé, reproduction interdite
| Interrupting | Clarifying |
|---|---|
| Sorry to interrupt, but… / Excuse me, could I say something? / Can I just add something? | Could you explain what you mean by…? / Sorry, I don't quite understand. / What I mean is… / To put it another way… |
| Step | Phrases |
|---|---|
| Summarizing | To sum up, we have agreed to… / So, the main points are… |
| Actions | Who is going to be responsible for this? / Can you deal with that? / How soon can you do it? |
| Next meeting | Shall we meet again next Monday? / Let's discuss this again on the 15th. |
| Thanking | Thank you all for coming. / Thanks for your contributions. |
| Closing | I think that's all for today. / I declare the meeting closed. |
| Informal | Formal |
|---|---|
| by May | no later than May / before the end of May |
| get | receive / obtain |
| need to | be required to |
| help | assist |
| ask for | request |
| tell | inform |
© TSC COMMERCE – OTHMAN ZT · Cours protégé, reproduction interdite
Give two expressions for interrupting and two for clarifying.
Interrupting: « Sorry to interrupt, but… » ; « Excuse me, could I say something? » Clarifying: « Could you explain what you mean by…? » ; « What I mean is… »
a) Fill in with meet, keep, implement, wrote, arranged: 1. First I ___ a meeting with the finance department. 2. The team ___ the report for the board of directors. 3. We could not ___ the deadline. 4. They will soon ___ the plan. b) Give the formal phrase: « He needs to do the job by May. »
a) 1. arranged ; 2. wrote ; 3. meet ; 4. implement (keep is not used: « keep a deadline » is less natural than « meet a deadline »). b) He is required to complete the job no later than May.
You are the Sales Manager. Close a meeting where you decided to launch an e-mail campaign (Karim, by 1 June) and to train two sales staff (Salma, before 15 June).
« To sum up, we have agreed to launch an e-mail campaign and to train two members of the sales staff. Karim, you are responsible for the campaign by 1 June, and Salma will organise the training before 15 June. Shall we meet again on 20 June to check progress? Thank you all for coming and for your ideas. I think that's all for today: the meeting is closed. »
Recommend action with « I think we should… »: 1. A machine is old and often breaks down. 2. Your market share is falling. 3. A supplier often sends invoices with mistakes. 4. Your competitors are cutting their prices by 20 %.
1. I think we should replace the machine. 2. I think we should launch an advertising campaign / improve our products. 3. I think we should check every invoice and talk to the supplier (or change supplier). 4. I don't think we should cut our prices by 20 % ; I think we should offer better service.
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