Meetings and phone calls in English
The stages of a meeting and its vocabulary, phrases for agreeing, disagreeing, interrupting and asking for clarification, the lines of a phone call, spelling out an address and softeners.
- 29 cards
- 4 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- The steps
A few cards from the deck
Chair: what is it?
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The person who leads the meeting, gives the floor and keeps to the agenda.
The word is also a verb: “Who will chair the meeting?”. Do not mix it up with “minutes”, the written record.
You want to interrupt a colleague politely in a meeting. What do you say?
- Sorry to cut in, but may I add a point?
- Excuse me, but I think you are wrong.
- Stop, please. Now it is my turn to speak.
- Just a second, I have to talk now, OK?
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Sorry to cut in, but may I add a point?
“Sorry to cut in” apologises for the interruption and “may I” asks for the floor. The others contradict or give an order with no softener.
To soften a request, replace “can” with … and “will” with ….
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To soften a request, replace “can” with could and “will” with would.
The past form does not express the past here but polite distance: “Could you help me?” is kinder than “Can you help me?”.
Any other business: what is it?
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The last agenda item, kept for subjects that were not planned.
Often shortened to AOB, it comes after the main items and the action points, just before the closing.
The stages of a meeting: which step comes after "Opening"?
- Items
- Action points
- Agenda
- Any other business
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Agenda
You open, recall the agenda, go through the items, fix the action points (who does what), leave room for unplanned subjects, then close.