How YOU can lead great meetings–In English!

Index:

1. Yes, you can lead a great meeting in English: Advice from a Neurolanguage coach.
2. 6 key moments in your meeting–and the phrases you need to learn to feel confident.
3. Use this tiny but effective resource to prepare for your next meeting in English!

1. Yes, you can lead a great meeting in English: Advice from a Neurolanguage coach.

As a Neurolanguage coach, this is what I tell my clients: You don’t need to have perfect English–or to become fluent before you can be effective in meetings.

You just need to focus on the top 5-10 expressions that will help you the most.

My clients have found that by learning a few key phrases really well, they feel a lot more confident in a short period of time.

(You can work on the specifics with one of the coaches on my team later–if you need to.)

Ready to get started?

In the next section, I’m going to give you an example of how someone might lead a meeting through 6 key steps.

I’ll give you examples of HOW we would do each step in English. That way, you can start each part of your meeting with confidence.

And at the end of this blog post, you’ll see that all of these expressions put together can create the basic structure of a meeting.

You could even copy these expressions at the end and fill in your own meeting details so you’re completely ready to go.

Also check out my lesson: Improve Your Business English Habits–Start with two minutes.

2. 6 key moments in your meeting–and the phrases you need to learn to feel confident.

Let’s take a look at the 6 most important parts of your meeting.
And the expressions you need to know in English to move through them with confidence.

#1: Start your meeting.
In any business setting, you’ll need to know how to start or open your meeting.

You could say something like this:

“Good morning everyone! It looks like everyone’s here, so let’s get started.”

#2 State your purpose or goal.
Of course, after that, you’ll probably want to share the purpose of the meeting.

Make sure you learn a phrase like this:

“Our goal today is to discuss our new client and our next deadline.”

What is your goal for your meeting? Can you state it in a sentence so you’re ready?

#3 Set the agenda.
Once you’ve stated the goal, you’ll tell your team what is going to happen first…next…and after. For example, you might say…

“First, I have a presentation for you about our new client’s needs.

Then we’ll discuss which tasks will be assigned to each of your departments–and you’ll be able to let me know if you’ll need help meeting the new deadlines.

We’ll have a question and answer session afterward.”

#4 Keep the meeting moving!
If you’re leading a meeting, you’ll have to keep the meeting moving!

Here is an example with 3 expressions you can use to move from one topic to the next in your meeting:

“Let’s start with the presentation about our new client….

Let’s move on to assigning the tasks your departments will be responsible for.

So, if everyone understands your department’s role in assisting our new client, we can move on to our Q&A session.”

#5 Summarize and Recap
Well, every meeting has to end!  You’ll need to learn how to close your meeting naturally and confidently in English.

You’ll want to say what happened–to summarize or recap what you decided or discussed.

Check out this example and see if you’ve ever heard the expressions in bold in a meeting before:

“Just to recap, each department can find their assigned tasks and deadlines in the new document.

To sum up what we discussed in our Q&A session…there were several questions about adding new team members to help with the increased demand.

We’ll ask human resources to look into that and get back to us.”

#6 Close your meeting.
Then you can close your meeting with confidence, thank everyone for coming and let everyone know when your next meeting is!

For example:

“I want to thank everyone for coming.

We’ll meet again in two weeks so that we can discuss our progress.”

Also check out my lesson: NEVER Say This at Work: Tips for advanced Business English communication.

3. Use this tiny but effective resource to prepare for your next meeting in English!

I know that leading a meeting can seem scary in English, but you would be amazed at how much better you’ll feel if you go in prepared for the situations you KNOW are coming.

You’ll save your focus, confidence, and energy.
And by doing that–you’ll have an easier time improvising, responding to surprise questions, or thinking on your feet.

If you’ve got a meeting to prepare for or if you just don’t want to forget any of these new phrases, I have a surprise for you.

Below is a copy and paste version of the meeting notes I just shared with you.

You can use it to practice the key parts of your own meeting.

Your copy and paste your meeting notes:

Here’s how it works:

You can copy this text and paste it into your own document.

The key phrases you might use are in bold. You probably don’t need to change these.

All you have to do is replace all the words in italics with your own information.
And you will have taken the first step in becoming a LOT more confident in your business meetings.

And don’t forget our team is here to help if you need us for a one-time coaching session–or a few sessions to help you feel more confident with your meetings.

Good morning everyone! It looks like everyone’s here, so let’s get started.

Our goal today is to discuss our new client and our next deadline.

First, I’ll have a presentation for you about our new client’s needs.

Then we’ll discuss which tasks will be assigned to each of your departments–and you’ll be able to let me know if you’ll need help meeting the new deadlines.

We’ll have a question and answer session afterward.

Let’s start with the presentation about our new client….any questions?

Let’s move on to assigning the tasks your departments will be responsible for.

So, if everyone understands your department’s role in assisting our new client, we can move on to our Q&A session.

I think we’ve discussed all the points on our agenda. So…

Just to recap, each department can find their assigned tasks and deadlines in the new document.

To sum up what we discussed in our Q&A session: there were several questions about adding new team members to help with the increased demand.

I want to thank everyone for coming.

We’ll meet again sin two weeks so that we can discuss our progress.”

Also check out my lesson:  Master these 4 essential business situations and feel confident working in English.

Take the next step: Improve your English in the comments

The best way to become more confident using Business English is to practice!
Here’s your weekly challenge for this week:

1. Write down the opening to your meeting. Say hello to everyone and that you’re ready to start.
2. See if you can practice starting your meeting each day–until you’re comfortable and confident!

If you learned something from this lesson, please share it with your coworkers & friends. You can send your message to them in English for more practice!

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Become more fluent & comfortable in conversations

If you would like to take the next step with me, discover my Faster Fluency Conversation Club Membership Program!

It helps you become more confident speaking in conversations, and get a lot more vocabulary on many different topics! And it’s a fabulous community of “English buddies” from around the world!

TIP: Use the code FFCC40 to save -40% off your 1st month of membership!

More details at https://christinarebuffetcourses.com/faster-fluency-conversation-club/join-now

Can’t wait to see you in the Club,
Christina