1. MEETINGS

2. Commonly used words/expressions:
call
arrange
schedule
hold
cancel
postpone (put off)
reschedule
attend
moderate
chair
close
a meeting

3. People involved the chairperson chairman, chairwoman, chair (n., v.)
Jim will chair (v.) the meeting next week.
the participants
the secretary (?)

4. Chairing a meeting The chairperson is in charge of:
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)

5. Participants (Attendees)
Participants take part in the discussion ↓
giving and seeking opinions, agreeing, disagreeing, interrupting, commenting, suggesting, …
giving mini-presentations

6. A team meeting Source: Business Result
Company’s business?
Chair? Participants?
Items on the agenda?
Functions performed by the chair?

7. The secretary (or a participant) is responsible for ...
...recording the...
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

8. Administrative considerations (Meeting paperwork)
Writing a memo
Writing the agenda
Taking the minutes (writing up the minutes)
Samo nakon toga podijeliti sample agenda, sample memo, sample minutes

9. LANGUAGE FOCUS phrases typically used in meetings
downtoning + making suggestions

10. Make your point firmly, but politely
LANGUAGE FOCUS cont.
Make your point firmly, but politely
Downtoning
Making suggestions/proposals

11. Is this appropriate in meetings?
“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?

12. How to make our statements sound less confrontational?
“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

13. 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

14. Why don’t we …, Let’s …, Perhaps …, Maybe …?

15. 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.”

16. a little, slightly, a bit, just

17. 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.”

18. May, might, could, would I wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…, I’m afraid…

19. 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.”

20. Making suggestions/proposals
Confrontational:
“You’re against my proposal and you didn’t even read the report????”

21. 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?

22. Make your point firmly, but politely
“That ‘s a very bad solution.”

23. Why don’t we …, Let’s …, Perhaps …, Maybe … I suggest ...?

24. 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.

25. May, might, could, would I wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…, I’m afraid…

26. 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.

27. a little, slightly, a bit, just

28. 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.

29. Assignment Class assignment:
Tone down the three statements (Slide 29). Use two different downtoning devices for each (tot. 6 statements).

30. : we - let’s perhaps - maybe a little – slightly - a bit , may – might – could - would, it won’t be bad if, I’m afraid
“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.”

31. Meetings (revision)

32. Fill in the missing words (1):
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 ...?

33. Fill in the missing words (2):
I’d like to finish 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.

34. Check if you have done the previous exercises correctly in the RB.