We all have to do it...attend a meeting. This can be one of the hardest things to do in our non-native language.

Why?

• People talk over each other

• They talk quickly

• The agenda moves on and you haven't said what you wanted to say

• It takes you a while to process what has just been said

• You want to say something but can't think how to put the sentence together

• You are embarrassed to speak in front of your colleagues in case you make a mistake

I could go on and this is all from my own experience!

As well as the general stress of a meeting that I have talked about above, there are also specific words that are used which can cause confusion.

Don't add to an already anxious situation through missing vocabulary.

Control what you can control and learn a few key words to help you attend your next meeting in English:

Main objective

The reason for having the meeting.

A well structured meeting should have an objective in mind and an agenda to go through in order to achieve this.

"The main objective of our meeting is to choose a new supplier for our vending machines."

In this kind of meeting you would expect to sit with people from different departments, an agenda helps to keep everyone on the same page - literally.

Attendees

The people who go to a meeting.

It is useful to know how many people are coming to a meeting so that you can book an appropriate sized room and order enough refreshments.

"Please send me the list of attendees as soon as possible so that I can contact them about lunch arrangements."

Absent

To not be at a meeting.

At the start of the meeting the chair person could take a register of who is present and who is absent. In other words, who is there and who is not.

"Anna will be absent from our meeting tomorrow because she has a dental appointment."

Interrupt

To cut into a conversation.

When a discussion is happening that you are not part of, or you want to stop someone talking for a moment, you can cut into or interrupt.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have just received some new information that might be of interest to you in making this decision."

Show of hands

Raising hands in the air during a meeting to help make a decision.

When a decision is being made and everyone has an opinion it can be difficult to keep track of who agrees with what outcome. Asking for a show of hands makes it easy to count who agrees and who does not.

"Let's see, by a show of hands, who feels we should give the vending machine contract to Snacks Inc."

Reach a consensus

To come to an agreement on a topic.

This doesn't mean that everyone has to agree, but that most people do. We can find out if we have reached a consensus by a 'show of hands'.

"It would be great if we could reach a consensus on our new supplier before the end of the meeting."

Unanimous agreement

Everyone agrees!

"We had a meeting about our new vending machine supplier, and there was unanimous agreement that we should give the contract to Snacks Inc."

Minutes

Notes that are taken during a meeting.

Someone should be assigned the task of taking the minutes as this is a record of what was discussed. If you are absent from a meeting you can read the minutes to catch up on what was agreed. If there is later disagreement about the outcome of a decision the minutes are the place to go for clarification.

The minutes are different from the agenda. The agenda is used to let people know what is going to be discussed. The minutes are a record of what was discussed.

"Let's set up a rota so that someone different will take the minutes each meeting."

Wrap up

To bring the meeting to a close.

This happens at the end of the meeting and is a summary of what was discussed and any action points attendees might have been given.

"Let's wrap up the meeting now. We've decided that Snacks Inc. will be our supplier and Alison is going to contact purchasing to set up the contract."

If you have any questions...Talk to me about Business English coaching.

Melissa completed a Business English course and this is what she had to say:

"I really enjoyed the English lessons with Joanne. She is such a sweet teacher!

The lessons were completely adapted to tasks I have to do at work. 

Whenever she saw that I was struggling with something, extra attention was paid to it. 

I have become much more confident with my English communication.

I definitely recommend Joanne Reilly!"