Meetings
Useful Expressions
- The purpose of today’s meeting is...
- We're here today to...
- First, let's go over the minutes from our last meeting.
- Please take a look at the graph.
- The research has shown that...
- I think we've covered our main objectives for today.
- I'm afraid we've run out of time for today.
- For the next meeting I would like you to...
- The next meeting will be on Monday, October 2nd at 9 am.
Opening a Meeting
Mr. Smith, the CEO of a company, is opening a meeting.
Good morning, everyone! Thank you for coming here today. Please, make yourselves comfortable. Since we are all here, we can start the meeting.
The purpose of today’s meeting is to generate new ideas for our product marketing, in order to ensure that we stay at the top of sales. Mark, I would like you to write the minutes of this meeting. Please, take a look at the graph of our sales since 2009. As you can see, until the autumn of 2013 our sales were gradually rising. However, from the autumn of 2013 they have been decreasing little by little. I truly believe in the quality of our products, therefore, instead of lowering our prices, I would suggest rethinking our marketing strategy.
Our research has shown that our brand is still very famous, but people do not pay much attention to our advertisements nowadays. We need to find a different approach to attract our potential customers. So let's discuss what can be done to improve the situation.
30 minutes later.
I think we've covered our main objectives for today. For the next meeting, I would like each of you to choose what you think is the best way to improve our marketing and make an analysis of it. Thank you all for your participation and see you next Thursday. Have a great day!
Check your understanding:
1.
Why was the meeting conducted?
2.
Why did the speaker suggest changing the strategy?
3.
What did Mr. Smith ask attendees to do for the next meeting?
Study Manual
Read the following tips.
How to Conduct a Business Meeting
Open the meeting with a quick introduction and thank everyone for attending it.
Present the purpose of the meeting, so that everyone knows what to expect and what should be accomplished by the end of the meeting.
Good timing. Plan ahead how much time you intend to spend on each point of the agenda. Keep an eye on the clock and try to stick to the schedule.
Use visuals, statistics and/or examples. When presenting issues, try to share some statistics or examples with the participants, to make it easier for them to get a clear picture of the situation.
Invite the audience to join the discussion. Try to get feedback from the participants and get them involved in the discussion: ask questions, ask someone to write the minutes, ask them to comment on the graphs, etc.
Close the meeting by summarizing what has been discussed/concluded. If needed, state what each member must do from that point on. Make sure that everyone knows when the next meeting will be held. Thank everyone for participating, once again.
Discussion
1.
Why are business meetings important?
2.
Do you think regular meetings at work are a waste of time? Why? Why not?
3.
What can be done in order to make meetings more effective?
4.
Is it easy for you to speak up in a meeting?
