Edward Thomas
Nahoru1. MEETINGS
There are many different types of meeting, and different language may be appropriate. Have a look at the following words and put them in the categories ”formal“ and ”informal“. Some of them are types of meeting, some are venues (places where meetings happen); others are words and phrases used either formally or informally.
chaired panel discussion, chat, lecture, speech, talk, seminar, conversation, conference, negotiation, annual general meeting, brainstorming session
canteen, lecture theatre, pub, boardroom, meeting room, town hall, lounge, cafe
ladies and gentlemen, hi everyone, I would like to give the floor to..., would you like to come in here? I would like to begin by... welcome to today's event, nice to see you all, let's start by....
Correct answers are here
Nahoru2. MEETINGS - EATING CHOCOLATES, JELLIES AND MARSHMALLOWS
Read what Joanne the communications expert has to say about „dos” and „donts” - things we should do and shouldn't do - in meetings. Joanne's nine year old son Tommy has unfortunately been playing with her laptop, and has changed some of her points to amuse himself. Can you find out which words Tommy has changed and correct them with the right forms? Can you find out Joanne's true advice? (the words that are missing from Joanne's advice are listed below it).
„First, you have to think about who called the meeting. What are their chocolates, and what are yours?
Chocolates are the keys to any meeting - what does the person who called the meeting want to come from it? What do you want to come from the meeting? Next, investigate your chocolates by finding out all the information you can that connects with them - you have to be ready to comment on your views to get the jellies you want - jellies are the products of the decisions taken at meeting. If you are not the leader or chair of a meeting, find out as much as possible about the chocolates of the person who is, as well.
After this, eat your information and try to find the strong and weak marshmallows which you understand about the information which supports your chocolates. The quality of your eating will decide how you can direct the meeting in the direction of your chocolates. Your eating should include whether the marshmallows are unlikely, moderately likely, or likely to be discussed in the meeting.
Draw an outline for yourself - perhaps a list or a diagram - of the most important key marshmallows connected with your chocolates. Spend a lot of time eating these from different points of view. Think about „what if?” questions, thinking about the different possible directions in which the discussions could go. All this eating seems like a lot of work, think again - if you care about the final jellies of your work you'll find that the eating time was necessary and worth it.
_______________________________________________________________________________
results, objectives, points, analysis / analysing / analyse
Results - ……………………………
Objectives - ……………………………
Points - ……………………………
Analysis / analysing / analyse - ……………………………
Nahoru3. LEADING THE MEETING
If you are leading (chairing / conducting) a meeting you will need some of the following language. Can you create headings for the lists below of the vocabulary that is functionally necessary if you are to guide a meeting? (hint- use -ing forms) Pay attention! Some of it will be necessary to answer follow-up exercises.
A) …………………………………………………………
Hello, and welcome.
Good to see you all here today.
Nice that you could make it today.
Those of you who have made it here today, thank you for being here.
Thank you for making the time for this meeting.
It's a pleasure to be here today.
It's great that we can meet like this.
First, allow me to / let me introduce myself. I am ............
B) …………………………………………………………
Right, I would first like to outline…
Let me fill you in on the topic we are dealing with today.
Today, we want to tackle the question of...
The aim today is firstly to..., and secondly to…
Our goal today is to…
Let's start by…
First, let me / allow me to ------ outline / suggest...
I would like our discussions to touch on a number of issues.
C) …………………………………………………………
That's all we need to say about…
Right, we've looked at…
So much for…
I think that's enough about…
I would say we've covered this topic well enough; now…
Right, let's move on to ...
Ok, fine, now let's turn to...
Moving on, we come to item 1.3....
Let's look now at…
I'd like to move on to..
Next, we need to deal with...
I'd like now to…
D) …………………………………………………………
Let's recap, shall we?
Just to recap…
Let's take a moment to review…
I would like to go over / sum up / summarise / review...
Let's take stock of what we've discussed here…
Allow me to / let me --------- remind you / summarise briefly / go over / reiterate...
If I can just --------- summarise / review / reiterate / restate / sum up...
Let's sum up by ---------- reviewing / re-iterating / restating / summarising / going over / reminding ourselves...
Correct answers are here
Nahoru4. PHRASES FOR THE MEETING
Look back at the phrases in Leading the Meeting. Then look carefully at the meeting situations described briefly below. Can you find the right phrases to use among the attendees (people who are at the meeting) in the situations? They situations are listed in an order which links with the order of the phrases in Leading the Meeting.
A)
1. Not everyone is at the meeting, but you want to thank those who are…
a) …………………………………………………………
2. It was a meeting arranged in a hurry on a busy day...
b) …………………………………………………………
3. You are new to the people you are leading in a meeting…
c) …………………………………………………………
Correct answers are here
B)
1. The topic is unknown to the attendees of the meeting…
a) …………………………………………………………
2. You have two basic aims /goals…
b) …………………………………………………………
3. You want to guide your attendees to a number of specific points…
c)…
