Business english: running a meeting
The following phrases are used to conduct a meeting. These phrases are useful if you are called on to conduct a meeting.
One of the most common requirements of business English is holding meetings in English. The following sections provide useful language and phrases for conducting meetings and making contributions to a meeting.
Meetings generally follow a more or less similar structure and can be divided into the following parts:
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Introductions
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Reviewing Past Business
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Beginning the Meeting
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Discussing Items
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Finishing the Meeting
III - Beginning the Meeting
Introducing the Agenda
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Have you all received a copy of the agenda?
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There are X items on the agenda. First, ... second, ... third, ... lastly, ...
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Shall we take the points in this order?
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If you don't mind, I'd like to go in order today.
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Let’s skip item 1 and move on to item 3
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I suggest we take item 2 last.
Allocating Roles (secretary, participants)
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(name of participant) has agreed to take the minutes.
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(name of participant), would you mind taking the minutes?
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(name of participant) has kindly agreed to give us a report on ...
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(name of participant) will lead point 1, (name of participant) point 2, and (name of participant) point 3.
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(name of participant), would you mind taking notes today?
Agreeing on the Ground Rules for the Meeting (contributions, timing, decision-making, etc.)
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We will first hear a short report on each point, followed by a discussion of...
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I suggest we go round the table first.
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Let's make sure we finish by ...
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I'd suggest we ...
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There will be five minutes for each item.
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We'll have to keep each item to 15 minutes. Otherwise we'll never get through.