Speak More Confidently in English Meetings (36 Phrases You Can Use)

0:00Hi there guys, this is teacher Harry here. And welcome back to my English lessons,

0:04where we try to help you to get a better understanding of the use of the English language.

0:09So what is it about today? Well, in today's lesson we're going to talk about online meetings

0:15and in particular must have phrases for online meetings. The whole world has changed upside

0:21down, as you know, in the last two years. And a lots and lots of people are now working

0:26remotely. And lessons like the lessons that I give are all remote or online. So when people are

0:32having their online meetings using Zoom or Skype or Google Meets or Microsoft Teams, whatever it

0:40is, they're these are all online meetings that they're having day to day, week in, week out.

0:45And sometimes non-native speakers have difficulty not with the business language,

0:51but some of the small talk or the chit chat or the introductory phrases that

0:57you should use when you want to introduce a topic or raise a topic or have a question,

1:02whatever it might be. So this particular lesson is going to focus on, as I say, the must have phrases

1:10and expressions for online meetings, and we're going to break it down into different parts.

1:15Okay. So the first part we're going to look at is the start of the meeting,

1:19the beginning of the meeting. So what I'm going to give you now are just specific key phrases that

1:26you can use. Some of them may be quite obvious. Some of them you might be using already, but

1:31they are very simple. And I always emphasise the simplicity of the language that we want to use.

1:36In this way. Nobody can misunderstand what you want to say. You remember it

1:40a lot easier if it's simple, okay, and it's easy to use. So let me give them to you. So

1:47if you're in charge of the meeting, well you just start by welcoming everyone. Welcome,

1:52everyone. Today's meeting is about okay. So you just tell them it's a sales meeting.

1:58It's a marketing meeting. It's a particular client complaint issue. It's a budget,

2:04whatever it might be. Welcome, everyone. Welcome to today's meeting. These are the issues that we

2:09want to talk about. So this is our agenda or I sent you the agenda before the meeting. So

2:15you should all have a copy of what's on it. If you want to say something, then just interrupt

2:21as we go through this particular meeting. So starts off with welcome everyone. The purpose

2:26of today's meeting is to. The purpose of today's meeting is to complete the budget process, or to

2:33sign off on the budget, or to agree the marketing strategy for the launch of our new product. Okay,

2:41so introduce the topic and what it's going to be about. And perhaps you might even tell the

2:46people how long the meeting is going to take. You might just say, well, today's meeting is

2:50to discuss that the marketing, the launch of the new product, the meeting is going to last no more

2:56than one hour. So we're going to start at two, and we're going to finish at 3:00. So everybody

3:01will be out of here by 3:00. So remember to look into the camera of your particular screen so that

3:08people can see you and your engaging with them, as I'm hopefully doing with you now.

3:13So welcome everyone. Welcome to our zoom meeting. The purpose of today's meeting

3:18is to discuss the important launch of a new project, which has gone to start from the 1st

3:24of November. The meeting today is going to last no more than an hour, so hopefully I'll

3:29have you out of this meeting and offline. Join by at no later than ten minutes after 3:00.

3:36Okay, simple. Easy. Easy to understand. Or you can start in another way. Thanks everyone for

3:42attending. It's really good to talk to you. It's really good to see you. Today's meeting

3:48is blah blah blah. Okay, so just another way to introduce it. Or if you want to get straight to

3:54the point so people attend you, you log them into the meeting, you accept them into the meeting.

4:02So when you look around the screen it looks like you've got everybody. You can just simply say,

4:07okay, are we good to go? Meaning, is everybody present? Is everybody ready to start? So are

4:15we good to go? Meaning, are we good to get started or simply. Okay, let's get started,

4:20shall we? So it's a nice way to introduce it. Let's get started, shall we? I think everybody

4:25is here. Anybody else is late. They can join in as we go along or in a little bit more informal way.

4:32Okay, let's get this meeting started or let's kick off the meeting with okay, so let's kick off the

4:39meeting with a brief rundown of the last meeting. So you might have a summary of what was agreed

4:46so that everybody knows the starting position. So let's kick off the meeting now. We don't hold

4:52anybody up. We have to finish by 3:00. So it's good if we can get the meeting started straight

4:58away. And in keeping with that sort of football type theme and let's let's kick off the meeting,

5:04we can also say, let's get the ball rolling with a ball rolling. When the ball rolls,

5:11it means something has started. Because when the football game starts,

5:15one player kicks the ball to another player and that's the first movement in the game. So when

5:20we talk about a meeting and we're using that sort of metaphor in relation to football, let's get the

5:26ball rolling. Let's get the meeting started okay. So let's get the meeting started or let's get the

5:31ball rolling with a rundown of today's agenda. So you go down quickly. The three of the four,

5:37the five points you want to cover. And then you go back and you start with point one. Or we can

5:43be very, very specific and say, okay, today we're going to get started with. So you introduce the

5:49first point immediately. Today we're going to get started with budgets. Today we're

5:54going to get started with the annual report. Today we're going to get started with that

6:00complaint we had that we didn't really satisfy the customer last week. Whatever. It happens to

6:06be very specific. And you tell the people exactly what, how and when you're going to start that

6:12particular meeting. When we have online meetings where interfacing with the customer or interfacing

6:22with our colleagues or interfacing with declined through our camera and online on the screen.

6:28So sometimes it can be a good idea just to tell the person what you're doing. So when I'm starting

6:34a lesson, I often say to the student, okay, can I share my screen with you? So I might say that

6:42because I've got a book or some exercises or some work that I want to share with you, the students.

6:47So I just simply say, okay, I'm going to share my screen with you now, is that okay? So you

6:52get the permission to do it. So if you've got a bigger meeting with six or 7 or 10 people,

6:57then you're going to tell them, right? You, you're, you're going to see my screen and on

7:01the screen you're going to see the agenda or the minutes of the meeting, whatever it might be.

7:06So you give them advanced notice of what's going to appear on the screen, and then you ask them,

7:11can you see my screen? Can you see it clearly? Can you see what I'm showing you? Do you want

7:15me to make it bigger? Yeah. So you might have to enlarge it because the print size might be

7:20a little bit small for some people to to read. If they're not accessing it through a laptop

7:25or a big screen. I'm going to put up my presenter version now. Okay. So that's the

7:30next step. Yeah. So they can see your screen. And when you click on the next thing that's the is the

7:35presentation. So it might be a, it might be a PDF document. It might be a PowerPoint presentation.

7:42It might be some other way that you have to to put the presentation together. Or

7:46it might simply just be a word document. So whatever it is, you're just going to give

7:49them advance notice as to what they're going to see on the screen. So by doing that they

7:54know what to expect. So in case they cannot see it they can say, well, sorry, I don't see it.

7:59I don't see it yet or there's something wrong or the screen is blank or whatever. Yeah. So

8:03the screen is frozen for example, so they can come back to you and tell you their experiences

8:09from their side of the screen. So can you see my screen? And when doing that you say,

8:14I'm going to share my screen with you. Now I'm going to share my document with

8:18you. Now I'm going to put up the presentation. I'm going to share the PowerPoint presentation.

8:24If you've got any comments you can put them in the chat line, wherever or whatever way

8:30you have of dealing with Q and A's. Questions and answers. Okay, so let's move on to the next part.

8:37Often when we have online presentations or meetings that can be more than 1 or 2 people

8:43there. So if there are quite a number of people, you've really got to control it quite well. And in

8:48some cases people might want to ask questions. In other cases, you might want people to speak up a

8:54little bit, or you want them to be more emphatic. So you've got to give certain signals. So these

9:00next expressions and phrases would be for those particular situations. Could you speak

9:06more slowly please. So if somebody the level and they often get requested by people to slow down

9:12a little bit. So could you speak more slowly so that everybody can understand. Because if

9:18it's an international call and you've got some colleagues that are sitting in India or Italy

9:24or Poland or Portugal, no matter where they are, they may be all using English,

9:30but they may have different levels of English, and therefore it's better if you can speak more

9:34slowly so that everybody gets an opportunity to understand exactly what you're saying.

9:40Okay. So could you speak more slowly, please? A nice, polite request. Could you explain that

9:46again, or could you go through that again because I didn't quite understand it. Could

9:52you repeat the last bit, meaning the last few sentences or the last slide? Could you repeat

9:58that last bit again? I wasn't quite sure. Perhaps you could give me another example.

10:03Could you speak up, please? I didn't quite hear it. So if you've got a question to ask

10:08or a comment to make or some observation, sorry, could you just speak up a little bit,

10:13please? Yeah. Okay, I got that. Yeah. Great. Thanks. Let me take that and let me answer that.

10:18I didn't quite get that. Could you repeat it? I didn't quite get it. I didn't understand quite

10:23what you meant. Perhaps you could go through that again. Okay. So just polite ways to ask

10:29people to repeat something, to speak up, to speak more slowly, to explain it in more detail, to go

10:36through some final points or the last bit that you covered so that everybody could understand.

10:43Okay. Or somebody might say, well, my my picture froze for a minute. I just missed the last bit.

10:48You said, could you repeat it, please? I'm sorry to have to ask. So you repeat the point again.

10:55And of course, when we're doing online meetings, there's always the potential or opportunity or

11:00desire for somebody to interrupt. We might want to interrupt what somebody is saying.

11:05They might want to interrupt us with a question and observation. So there are certain expressions

11:12and phrases that you should use and you must have when you want to make those interruptions. So let

11:18me go through those simple one is sorry, would you mind if I asked a question? And of course,

11:23the person hosting the meeting can say, well, could you leave it to the end or why,

11:28sure, just put it into the chat line or. Yeah, give me a question now. And perhaps

11:32it's a question that other people want to ask as well. So there's a different way to deal

11:36with it. Or if you want some clarification or just to clarify what you're saying,

11:43is this what you meant? So you repeat in your words what you thought the point was,

11:48and the person hosting the meeting would either agree or disagree or give a further explanation.

11:54So you can say, just to clarify, what you're saying is, yeah. So you you ask it in that way,

12:02or could I interrupt you for a minute? So you want the opportunity to make a point to ask a question,

12:09to clarify something. Could I interrupt you for a minute or could I interrupt you for a minute,

12:14please? Or would you mind if I interrupted you for a minute?

12:17So either those would be absolutely acceptable. So another more informal way would be, would you mind

12:24if I jumped in here? Because I've got something to say. I've got a point to make or. And would

12:29you mind if I put it in. This is more American English. So jump in and put in mean exactly

12:36the same as. Would you mind if I interrupt? So would you mind if I interrupted much more

12:41formal. Would you mind if I jumped in here or put it in here much more informal? So, you know, I've

12:47got a something to say. Could I put in, please? Or if I could jump in there because, you know,

12:52this point is very relevant. It's very important. It cuts across something that I'm doing.

12:57So you you lay out the reasons why you feel it necessary to jump in, why you feel it necessary

13:03to button or interrupt with some particular point, or can I stop you there quickly for just a minute?

13:11Yeah. So again, you're asking the speaker if he could just halt while you make a point,

13:16or if he could just stop while you add something or ask a question or at large

13:22and something that he has already said. So can I stop you there quickly? Can I stop you

13:26for a minute? Yeah. So again, it's very polite and is very acceptable. Oh, hold on a minute,

13:32please. Just for a minute. We don't seem to have discussed that in in much detail. Could we go back

13:37over it? Because I'm I've got some questions. I'm sure other people have some questions as well.

13:42And and that way you involve the other people in the meeting who might agree with you,

13:47who want this explained in a different way. So different ways in which you can interrupt and the

13:54expressions, the phrases, the must have words that you should use for your online meetings.

14:00Of course, as we're online, then we've got the problems that everybody has with either sound,

14:08picture, interruption of connection, or freezing lagging all of these sort of problems.

14:15So there are certain words, expressions that you need to have when this happens. I'm having

14:22problems hearing you so you don't get the sound or somebody hasn't unmuted themselves or they

14:29haven't switched on the the video. Would you mind switching on your video? Would you mind,

14:35unmuting, would you, you know, speak up or. This seems to be something with your headsets.

14:40All of those can be problems. Visual or with the listening and hearing. Finally,

14:45that might be sometimes an echo. Yeah, a little bit of a you get the sound coming

14:50back to you, you hear yourself. So that might be something to do with somebodies headset or

14:55headphones or whatever way it may be. So you're trying to just explain to somebody

15:00the different type of interruptions you get. So just be very clear what they are. So your

15:06pictures frozen. There's an echo. I can't see the picture. I don't hear you so clearly. Oh my,

15:14my connection has has broken all of those type of things okay. So let's move on then. So if we want

15:21to actually talk about moving on in the meeting so we can say, well let's move on to the next point.

15:28So you want the people clearly on the screens to know that you've finished with point one or

15:33point to and you're moving on. So somebody had a question. Somebody asked something. Somebody

15:40added something else. So you say, okay, let's move on or it's time to to move on. So let's

15:46move on to the next item or moving on. Let's talk about this. So let's talk about

15:51that. So use those again those exact words. Moving on. Right. Sometimes you say moving

15:57on swiftly okay guys is a bit of a time issue here. So I think we should move on. And you've

16:03got any other points about this. Come back to me later or come back to me offline.

16:08Let's pencil in another meeting for next Wednesday so you might run out of time. So you want to say

16:14okay, let's pencil in mean let's write into our diaries or make it a diary entry, or somebody

16:20will send around an invitation electronically that we'll have another meeting to pick up on

16:25these points next Wednesday. Same time. Okay. So when we want to summarise, because often when

16:32we have a lengthy meeting, there are lots of points that have been made and it's no

16:37harm from time to time during the meeting. To summarise, what have we done so far? What

16:44have we covered so far? Or at the very end of the meeting, you really want to summarise the

16:49key points that have been made, the action points that you have and more importantly,

16:55who's got to take responsibility for each of those individual action points. So here's

17:00some of the phrases that you might need. In summary, we're going to do this. Or let

17:06me summarise by saying this. This is what I think we've agreed on. I think we can leave it

17:14here for today. I think we've we've done enough. I think this is a good place to stop or to end. We

17:21can pick up again the next day, or we've covered most of the key points that we wanted to cover.

17:27Thank you very much. We can pick up this again tomorrow. And I've made a note. I'll send you an

17:35email and we will start again same time, and go through the remaining points are all very clear,

17:41very specific, so people know exactly what you've done. You've got your agenda. So okay we've

17:47finished 0.3. We pick up from point four from tomorrow or we finished the agenda of anybody's.

17:54Got anything else to add. You can either ask it now we've got a few minutes left or get to me

18:01offline through email and make sure you include or CC everybody else. So everybody's kept up

18:07to date okay. So ways in which we can summarise okay. So it's really important when we're talking

18:14about online meetings that we do summarise. It's important that everybody knows where they

18:21are, particularly if we've got a lot of people that are participating. If they're coming from

18:26many different countries, it's really important they know where you started,

18:32where you ended. What happened is at the end of the meeting, is it going to continue another time,

18:39particularly if they've got a job to do? What are you asking them to do? What is

18:44being agreed so that everybody knows what will happen next? Okay. So online meetings, online

18:52expressions really good to know the language that you can use. So hopefully you've enjoyed that.

18:57As I said before, if you want to contact me then you can do so on www.englishlessonviaskype.com.

19:04I'm really happy to hear from you any time with some suggestions that you might have these

19:09words that we use today. I'm sure that we have used to you, particularly in the modern world,

19:13when lots and lots of meetings have moved online to zoom and everything else. And of course,

19:19if you want lessons on a 1 to 1 basis, or for family members or friends or colleagues, it won't

19:25always be me that would be giving the lessons. But we'd be delighted to hear from you.