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Image: Getty

Introduction

Meetings at work can be stressful spaces to speak. Do you struggle to talk about your ideas in meetings? Do you know how to interrupt politely? In this episode of Office English, Pippa and Phil talk about some useful phrases you can use to speak in meetings in a friendly and professional way.

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is a transcript of a spoken conversation and is not a word-for-word script.

Phil
Meetings. They're a big part of our time at work. Some people love them. And some people hate them.

Voicenote clips
Sometimes meetings can feel a bit pointless and you're just trying to fill the time.

So, ideally, there's an agenda. So you know what's going to be talked about and discussed.

I do sometimes get nervous speaking up in meetings because I have a bit of a fear of speaking in front of people.

Pippa
In this episode of Office English from BBC Learning English we're looking at how to speak up in meetings and get your ideas heard.

Phil
Welcome to Office English. Our guide to the language of the world of work. In this podcast we discuss words and phrases you can use to help improve your business English in the office. I'm Phil.

Pippa
And I'm Pippa. Today we're talking about meetings. We've already heard that meetings can be very stressful, even for native English speakers. But what do you think Phil? Do you speak up a lot in meetings?

Phil
It depends on the meeting.

Phil
Sometimes you have a meeting with people you work closely with, a small meeting, and I find it quite easy to try and contribute and ask people and, and things like that. Sometimes you're in a bigger meeting with people you don't know so well, or maybe you're meeting people you don't work with, a client or a different department. That's a lot harder.

Pippa
Mmm, yeah. I agree. And when you get stressed like that, you maybe don't want to speak, or you're nervous to contribute, or you feel that you're tripping over your words, you're getting what you're about to say wrong. And so that can be really stressful.

Phil
It's something that I think most people are nervous about. And so, today we're going to talk you through the basics of meetings and phrases you can use to get your voice heard.

Pippa
So, we've been invited to a meeting. There's lots of people in the meeting who we don't know. And at the start of the meeting everyone is asked to introduce themselves. How can we do this professionally, Phil?

Phil
And I think that's really good because, I don't know how it is in other languages, but in English your job title often doesn't really say what you actually do.

Pippa
Yeah. So it's not very useful to tell people that. Anything else we can say here Phil?

Pippa
Yeah. Because if you don't know people they might be questioning why you're there. And so it's good to kind of say early what your expertise is and what you have to bring to the meeting.

What about if you don't get a chance to introduce yourself at the start of the meeting, Phil?

Pippa
Yeah. And if you have kind of got that rehearsed it is a good way to kind of start talking. You've got over the initial nervousness and then you can actually say what you want to say.

Phil
Right, so we've introduced ourselves and the meeting has started. What about if somebody else makes an interesting point and we want to respond confidently in the meeting?

Phil
Well, it helps you engage with what someone's saying. You might be linking things that are useful. Yeah, I think it can be useful, particularly if what they've said is really relevant to what you're trying to sort out in the meeting.

Phil
I guess it's, as you said, it's a polite way of disagreeing. Do you think they really like that idea when they say it?

Pippa
I don't know. It depends, I think, on what we're talking about! But it's just a polite way to say it. It's not really very helpful in a meeting, especially if you don't know people, to say "I think that idea is rubbish and I prefer my idea". So it's all about kind of being friendly and polite with people in meetings. Another way you could try and enter the conversation is to just ask a question. So you can say What about... or How about... we try this? That's a good way to kind of enter into a discussion and a conversation.

Phil
Yeah. It's like you're putting something on the table for everyone to talk about.

Pippa
But sort of saying What about... or How about... rather than a very direct question is just a bit more polite.

And now a really difficult scenario. What if there are lots of important people in the meeting who are all dominating the conversation? The meeting is moving really quickly and you're nervous about speaking but you have some ideas too. What do you do, Phil?

Phil
Well, I think I maybe do this too much. But it's you kind of sit and wait for the right moment, so you wait for it to be, there to be a little bit of a pause and then you can say something.

Pippa
Yeah, but what about if you don't get the pause and you need to interrupt? What would you say then, Phil?

I'm sorry, but I think we need to talk about... this topic. And again the I think it's a bit hesitant, but sometimes that can be useful cos you're showing, it's a way of showing respect and being polite.

Phil
Yes, I think that's a really good idea. Of course, we're talking here from a context, we're here in the UK, and in Britain we tend to have politeness as a really important thing. So we say I'm sorry a lot. Or can I just do this...

But this does differ in different places. Some other cultures are a lot more direct and maybe then you don't need to apologise quite so much for saying things. So it's... perhaps listen to how people speak in the place where you're working, cos these cultures change, don't they? They're different in different places.

So we've learned some useful phrases to help us speak up in meetings. But let's hear again from our BBC colleagues because there's one thing we haven't talked about and that's how to make sure our meetings are useful.

Pippa
Beth talked about having an agenda. So what do we mean by an agenda, Phil?

Phil
An agenda is a... it's a list of things that you're going to talk about in the meeting. And it's very common, definitely in Britain it's very common that you might have a slot at the end that might say a AOB, any other business. But the idea is that during the, the other slots you only talk about the things that are on the agenda. And it's... ideally you share it before the meeting. So everyone knows what you're going to be talking about, why you're talking about those things, and it gives you a chance to think about what you might want to say.

Phil
Yeah, that gives you nice, efficient meetings that finish on time, hopefully!

Pippa
That's the idea, anyway!

Phil
And that's it for this episode of Office English. Remember you can find courses and activities to help you with your English at bbclearningenglish.com.

Pippa
Next time, we'll be talking about how to remind people to do something, or chase them up for a response.

Phil
And of course, we'll discuss some essential phrases to help you unlock your career potential.

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BBC Learning English - Office English / Meetings

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We've all been in badly managed meetings: meetings that seem to go round in circles without any decisions being made; meetings that are dominated by the same few voices; meetings where people talk and talk with no clear purpose; meetings that seem to go on forever ...

A European survey found that the typical staff member spends 187 hours a year in meetings. The report suggested that 56 per cent of those meetings were considered unproductive. In a survey of office workers across the UK, it was found that each employee cost their company an average of £38.50 for every meeting they attended.

So how can we have more efficient, effective and even inspiring meetings? Here are six tips.

1. Set a clear agenda.

An agenda is a list of points to be dealt with at the meeting, in the order in which they will be discussed. If you have a long list of bullet points, consider prioritising the items and breaking each topic down into its key issues.

Indicate on your agenda how much time you'll be spending on each topic, who will be presenting or leading it and whether a decision or some kind of solution will be needed. Also, remember to send out the agenda a few days before the meeting so that participants have time to prepare.

2. Review the attendee list.

When we are busy, the last thing we need is an invitation to a meeting we don't really need to attend. So, consider carefully who needs to be there. Invite someone to a meeting if:

the points on the agenda are relevant and the decisions will affect them

they have expertise to contribute

they have the authority to make the decisions required.

3. Keep the meeting focused on the agenda.

Follow the agenda and politely redirect participants back to it if you find that they have gone off-topic. Introduce the idea of 'parking' ideas and discussions that are not strictly relevant or urgent. This gives you the chance to acknowledge ideas and issues that might be important to the participants but which are not a priority right now. You can then follow up by including 'parked' ideas in the meeting minutes and exploring them at a different time.

4. Encourage participation and be sensitive.

The most vocal participants might not be the ones with the best ideas. Give everyone a chance to speak and encourage participation from quieter colleagues. However, avoid putting anyone on the spot. Also, be sensitive to underlying issues and emotions and help the group deal with conflict in a productive way.

5. Clarify, check and record.

Don't assume that everyone understands each other, especially when the meeting language isn't everyone's first language. Ask for clarification, summarise each time a point is made, check that the participants agree and ensure that decisions are made. Ask someone to take notes of what is being discussed and ensure that action points - tasks to be done and who will do them - are recorded in the minutes.

6. End the meeting on time.

Meetings that don't end on time can leave participants feeling tired, frustrated and stressed. So, assure your participants that the meeting will end on time and set the timer on your phone to ring about five to ten minutes before the end. Use the last five to ten minutes to summarise and bring the meeting to a close.

If we all make an effort to make every meeting we attend an efficient and effective one, meetings can help us communicate well and be part of a productive team.

Discussion

Language level

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We've all been in badly managed meetings: meetings that seem to go round in circles without any decisions being made; meetings that are dominated by the same few voices; meetings where people talk and talk with no clear purpose; meetings that seem to go on forever ...

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LA RUTINA

Como puedes observar todos estos verbos son verbos reflexivos.

Los verbos reflexivos expresan acciones que el sujeto realiza sobre sí mismo.

¿Cómo se conjugan los verbos reflexivos? Observa.

Vamos a conjugar el verbo levantarse.

ACTIVIDADES

¡A conjugar!

Verbos reflexivos regulares

Verbos reflexivos irregulares

La rutina del profesor

¿Cómo es la rutina de los profesores en tu país?

El día a día de Manuel

DADO VIRTUAL

Haz clic en el dado y páralo.

¿Qué actividad es? ¿Cuándo haces esta actividad? ¿Con qué frecuencia?

Relaciona cada imagen con su oración correspondiente

Completa la rutina de Luis conjugando y escribiendo los verbos que están en paréntesis ().

Genially

No sé lo que hacéis cada día

Sigue las instrucciones y habla sobre tu rutina loca

Genially

PASAPALABRA

¿Conoces el juego de pasapalabra? Lee la definición y elige la palabra correcta.

GENIALLY - VACÍO DE INFORMACIÓN

Completa la rutina de Juana con ayuda de tu compañero.

GENIALLY - VACÍO DE INFORMACIÓN

Completa las siguientes rutinas con ayuda de tu compañero

Dado digital - ¿Qué hace(n)?

Reproduce el vídeo y páralo. A continuación, observa la imagen y di qué actividad hacen las siguientes personas.

Observa las imágenes y responde a las siguientes preguntas:
¿Qué hacen? ¿A qué hora? ¿Con qué frecuencia?

Estallido de globos

Busca la coincidencia

Copyright Arche-ele. Rodrigo Arche Claudio profesor de español como lengua extranjera.

Este material no puedes editarlo ni subirlo a ninguna plataforma para su distribución. No puedes quitar el logo/distintivo de arche-ele.com o comercializarlo. Si quieres enseñar parte del material en tus redes sociales, no olvides marcar su fuente y etiquetar a arche-ele.com.

Arche-ELE © Rodrigo Arche Claudio. Imágenes de Freepik.com y Flaticon.com.

Este obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional.

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Spanish Numbers up to 20.
Spanish Numbers up to 30.
Spanish Numbers (by tens) up to 100.
Spanish Numbers (by hundreds) up to 1000…

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LOS NÚMEROS

ACTIVIDADES

Los números del 0 al 10

Genially - Comprensión auditiva

¿Qué número es?
Instrucciones:
Actividad 1: ¿Qué numero es? Escucha y elige el número correcto.

Actividad 2: ¿Qué número de teléfono es?

Observa la imagen y escribe el número correcto

Las 3 en raya

0-10

ORDENA CON AYUDA DE TU COMPAÑERO

Y

DESCUBRE LAS DOS OBRAS DE ARTE DE DOS FAMOSOS ARTISTAS ESPAÑOLES

DADO VIRTUAL - (0-10)

SUMA

(números del 1-20)

Instrucciones: Haz clic en los números y vuelve a hacer clic para parar el vídeo.

A continuación, suma (+). ¿Cuál es el resultado?
Diseño 2

CRUZA EL RÍO

Relaciona cada número con su nombre para cruzar el río

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash

LAS 3 EN RAYA

10-20

DADO VIRTUAL - (0-20)

Abre la caja

HASTA EL 100

MULTIPLICACIÓN

Instrucciones: Haz clic en los vídeos y vuelve a hacer clic para parar los vídeos.

A continuación, multiplica (x). ¿Cuál es el resultado?

CRUZA EL DESIERTO

Relaciona cada número con su nombre para cruzar el desierto.

Photo by Fabian Struwe on Unsplash

SUMA (+)

¿Qué número es en español?

LAS 4 EN RAYA

0-100

DADO VIRTUAL - (0-100)

La liga

Observa la clasificación y escribe el número del equipo correspondiente.

Escribe los siguientes números

Copyright Arche-ele. Rodrigo Arche Claudio profesor de español como lengua extranjera.

Este material no puedes editarlo ni subirlo a ninguna plataforma para su distribución. No puedes quitar el logo/distintivo de arche-ele.com o comercializarlo. Si quieres enseñar parte del material en tus redes sociales, no olvides marcar su fuente y etiquetar a arche-ele.com.

Este obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional.

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