Meetings in English.docx

Meetings in English.docx

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MeetingsinEnglish

UnitFourMeetingsinEnglish

I.LearningObjectives

Whetheryouareholdingameetingorattendingameeting,itisimportantthatyouunderstandkeyEnglishphrasesandexpressionsrelatedtomeetings.Thisunitwillhelpyouholdorattendameetingwithsuccess.Reviewthevocabulary,readthroughthelessons,andthencheckyourunderstanding.

II.Backgroundknowledge

Asuccessfulmeetinghasnosurprises.Withproperpreparationandcarefulorganization,ameetingcanrunsmoothly.Themosttypicalcomplaintaboutmeetingsisthattheyruntoolong.Meetingsthatrunlongerthannecessarycanbeverycostlytoacompanyorbusiness.Asthefamousbusinessexpressionsays:

Timeismoney.Settinggoalsandtimelimits,keepingtotheagenda,andknowinghowtorefocus,arekeycomponentsofaneffectivemeeting.Thismaysoundsimpleinyourownnativelanguage,butitisalittletrickierwhenyouortheparticipantsdonotspeakfluentEnglish.

Scenario

ThefollowingpageswillbebasedonthemeetingofafictionalcompanycalledParadaTours.TheownerofthesmalltourcompanyisPierre.Hehastenemployees,includingfoursupervisors,KanaandThomas（guides）,Nolan（driver）,andJane（receptionist）.Thesefoursupervisorswillbecalledtoameetingtodiscusstheupcomingtouristseason.FollowthroughthepagestowatchhowPierrepreparesforandholdsthemeeting,andhowhisstaffparticipate.

Vocabulary

Word

Partofspeech

Meaning

ExampleSentence

absent

adj

notpresent

Thevicepresidentisabsentduetounforeseencircumstances.

accomplish

verb

succeedindoing

Wehavealottoaccomplishtoday,solet'sbegin.

address

verb

dealwith;speakon

Ihopewedonothavetoaddressthismatteragaininthefuture.

adjourn

verb

closeameeting

Iftherearenofurthercomments,wewilladjournthemeetinghere.

agenda

noun

listofobjectivestocoverinameeting

Pleaseforwardtheagendatoanyonewhoisspeakingatthemeeting.

allocate

verb

assignroles/taskstocertainpeople

Iforgottoallocatesomeonetobringrefreshments.

apologies

noun

itemonagendaannouncingpeoplewhoareabsent;apologiesforabsence

Everyoneispresenttoday,sowecanskiptheapologies.

ballot

noun

atypeofvote,usuallyinwritingandusuallysecret

Pleasefoldyourballotinhalfbeforeyouplaceitinthebox.

boardofdirectors

noun

groupofelectedmembersofanorganization/companywhomeettomakedecisions

Theboardofdirectorsmeetsonceamonthtodiscussthebudget.

boardroom

noun

alargemeetingroom,oftenhasonelongtableandmanychairs

Theboardroomisreservedforamanagers'meeting,sowe'llhavetomeetinthelounge.

brainstorm

verb

thinkingtogatherideas

Let'stakeafewminutesandbrainstormsomewaysthatwecancutcosts.

castingvote

noun

decidingvote（usuallybythechairman）whenthevotesareotherwiseequal

Theroleoftreasurerwasdecidedbasedonthechairman'scastingvote.

chairperson/chair

noun

thepersonwholeadsorpresidesatameeting

Aschair,itismypleasuretointroducetoyou,Mr.AllanDavis.

clarification/verification

noun

explanation/proofthatsomethingistrue/understood

Beforeweaddressthismatter,I'llneedsomeclarificationastowhowasinvolved.

closingremarks

noun

lastthoughtsspokeninameeting（i.e.reminders,thankyous）

Ijusthaveafewclosingremarksandthenyouwillallbefreetogo.

collaborate

verb

worktogetherasapair/group

Theboardfellapartbecausethemembershaddifficultycollaborating.

commence

verb

begin

Wewillcommenceassoonasthelastpersonsignstheattendancesheet.

comment

verbornoun

expressone'sopinionsorthoughts

Ifyouhaveacomment,pleaseraiseyourhandratherthanspeakout.

conference

noun

formalmeetingfordiscussion,esp.aregularoneheldbyanorganisation

Beforetheconferencetherewillbeaprivatemeetingforboardmembersonly.

conferencecall

noun

telephonemeetingbetweenthreeormorepeopleindifferentlocations

PleasemakesureIhavenointerruptionswhileI'montheconferencecall.

confidential

adjective

private;nottobeshared

Anyfinancialinformationsharedduringthismeetingshouldbekeptconfidential.

consensus

noun

generalagreement

Ifwecannotcometoaconsensusbytheendofthemeetingwewillputittoavote.

deadline

noun

duedateforcompletion

ThedeadlineforbuyingticketstotheconferenceisMay25th.

designate

verb

assign

IfnoonevolunteerstotaketheminutesIwillbeforcedtodesignatesomeone.

formality

noun

aprocedure（oftenunnecessary）thathastobefollowedduetoarule

Everyoneknowswhoisgoingtobethenextvicepresident,sothisvoteisreallyjustaformality.

grievance

noun

complaint

Thefirstitemontheagendarelatestoagrievancereportedbytheinterns.

guestspeaker

noun

personwhojoinsthegroupinordertoshareinformationordeliveraspeech

IamdelightedtowelcomeourguestspeakerHolly,whoisgoingtobeofferingsomesalespitchtips.

implement

verb

makesomethinghappen;followthrough

It'snotaquestionofwhetherornotwe'regoingtousethisidea,it'swhetherornotweknowhowtoimplementit.

mandatory

adjective

required

ItismandatorythatallsupervisorsattendFriday'smeeting.

minutes

noun

awrittenrecordofeverythingsaidatameeting

Beforewebeginwithtoday'smeeting,let'squicklyreviewtheminutesfromlastmonth.

motion

noun

asuggestionputtoavote

Themotiontoextendstorehourshasbeenpassed.

objectives

noun

goalstoaccomplish

I'mpleasedthatwewereabletocoveralloftheobjectivestodaywithinthedesignatedtime.

openingremarks

noun

chairpersonorleader'sfirstwordsatameeting（i.e.welcome,introductions）

AsImentionedinmyopeningremarks,wehavetoclearthisroombeforetheendofthehour.

overheadprojector

noun

machinewithaspeciallightthatprojectsadocumentontoascreenorwallsothatallcansee

I'mgoingtoputapiechartontheoverheadprojectorsothateveryonecanvisualizehowourprofitshavedeclined.

participant

noun

personwhoattendsandjoinsinonanevent

CanIhaveashowofhandsofallofthosewhowereparticipantsinlastyear'sconference?

proxyvote

noun

avotecastbyonepersonfororinplaceofanother

TheremusthavebeenoneproxyvotebecauseIcounttwelveballotsbutonlyelevenattendees.

punctual

adjective

ontime（notlate）

Firstly,Iwanttothankyouallforbeingpunctualdespitethisearlymeeting.

recommend

verb

suggest

Irecommendthatyousitclosertothefrontifyouhavetroublehearing.

showofhands

noun

raisedhandstoexpressanopinioninavote

Fromtheshowofhandsitappearsthateveryoneisinfavouroftakingashortbreak.

strategy

noun

plantomakesomethingwork

Weneedtocomeupwithastrategythatwillallowustohavemeetingslessfrequently.

unanimous

adj

incompleteagreement;unitedinopinion

ThevotewasunanimoustocutworkhoursonFridays.

vote

verbornoun

toexpress（theexpressionof）anopinioninagroupbyvoiceorhandetc

WeneedtovoteforanewvicechairpersonnowthatJerryisretiring.

wrapup

verb

finish

Let'swrapupheresothatwecangetbacktoourdesks.

PreparingforaMeeting

CallingaMeeting

Thereareanumberofwaysthatyoumaycallorbecalledtoameeting.Somemeetingsareannouncedbye-mail,andothersarepostedonbulletinboards.Ifameetingisannouncedattheendofanothermeeting,itisimportanttoissueareminder.Aremindercanalsocomeintheformofane-mailornotice.Verbalannouncementsorremindersshouldalwaysbebackedupbydocumentedones.Thedate,location,time,length,andpurposeofthemeetingshouldbeincluded.Itisalsoimportanttoindicateexactlywhoisexpectedtoattend,andwhoisnot.Ifyouareplanningonallocatingsomeonetotakeonacertainrole,makepersonalcontactwiththatpersontoinformthemofhisorherduty.

SampleE-mail:

To:

jane@

cc:

kana@;thomas@;nolan@

From:

pierre@

Subject:

Meeting

HiEveryone,

WewillbehavingameetingnextFridayfrom2:

00PM-4:

00PMinRoom3.Allsupervisorsareexpectedtoattend.Thepurposeofthemeetingistodiscusstheupcomingtouristseason.Asyouprobablyhaveheard,thiscouldbeourbusiestseasontodate.TherearealreadytwentybustoursbookedfromJapan,andfifteenwalkingtoursbookedfromNorthAmerica.WearealsoexpectingKoreanandAustraliantoursinlatesummer.Pleasemakearrangementstohaveotherstaffmemberscoveryourdutiesduringthemeeting.

Thankyou,

Pierre

SampleNotice:

MEETING

LOCATION:

Room3

DATE:

Friday,May5th

TIME:

2:

00PM-4:

00P.M.

FOR:

Supervisorsonly

SUBJECT:

TouristSeason

ATTENDANCEISMANDATORY

WritinganAgenda

Inordertokeepthemeetingontaskandwithinthesetamountoftime,itisimportanttohaveanagenda.Theagendashouldindicatetheorderofitemsandanestimatedamountoftimeforeachitem.Ifmorethanonepersonisgoingtospeakduringthemeeting,theagendashouldindicatewhoseturnitisto"havethefloor".Insomecases,itmaybeusefultoforwardtheagendatoattendeesbeforethemeeting.Peoplewillbemorelikelytoparticipateinameeting,byaskingquestionsorofferingfeedback,iftheyknowwhatisgoingtobecovered.

SampleAgenda:

1

Welcome,Introduction:

PierreandStella（5minutes）

2

Minutesfrompreviousmeeting:

Jane（10minutes）

3

JapanTours:

Pierre（15minutes）

4

N.A.Tours:

Pierre（15minutes）

5

KoreanTours:

Pierre（15minutes）

6

AustralianTours:

Pierre（iftimeallows10minutes）

7

Feedbackfromlastyear:

Everyone（15minutes）

8

Voteonstaffpic