Lesson 18: Other situations in a Meeting

Part 1: Handle Interruptions

One of the most effective ways to interrupt someone is to maintain eye contact with them. Wait until there's a natural pause and then come in with a phrase that shows you have something to say:

· Can I say something here
· I'd like to make a point.
· Can I come in here?
· May I come in here?
· Could I interrupt you for a moment?
· May I interrupt you for a moment?
· May I just add something here?
· Do you mind if I just come in here?
· While we're on the subject, I'd like to say…
· (Mister/Madam) chairman.
· May I have a word?
· If I may, I think...
· Excuse me for interrupting.
· Sorry for interrupting, but…
· If I may just interrupt you for a moment, I would like to…
· I don’t want to interrupt, but…

Taking the floor (chance to speak):

· Could I come in at this point?
· Could I say something about…?
· If I could just come in here…?
· If no one objects, I would like to say a few words about…?
· If could say a word about…?
· I have a point to make here.

Commenting:

· I wonder if I could comment on the last point?
· Excuse me, but I would like to point out that…..
· I would like to add something here if I may?
· May I draw your attention to the fact that…
· Before we go any further, may I point out…

If, on the other hand, you want to prevent someone from interrupting you, you can hold them off with a phrase like:

· Actually, if you could just let me finish…
· Just let me finish, if you wouldn't mind…
· Actually, I've nearly finished…
· If I might just finish…
· Perhaps I could return to that point later on…
· With your permission, I would rather finish what I was saying.
· With respect, I should like to finish the point I was making.
· If you would allow me to continue…
· If you would be so kind as to let me finish…

Coming back to a point:

· As I was saying…
· Coming back to what I was saying…
· Perhaps I could resume…
· If I may just go back to the point I was making…
· If I could continue…
· Your question leads us back to…
· To return to…


Part 2: Making suggestions

· Let's...
· We should...
· Why don't you....
· How/What about...
· I suggest/recommend that...


Part 3: Clarifying a point

Keep eye contact with the chairperson where necessary so that he / she can see if you don't understand something. Hopefully the chairperson will clarify items with you, but be prepared to ask for clarification if necessary. Use phrases such as:

· Would you mind clarifying this point?
· Sorry, but could you outline the main points again?
· I'm not sure I understood your point about…
· Sorry, could you repeat that please?
· I don't quite follow you. What exactly do you mean?
· I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you are getting at.
· Could you explain to me how that is going to work?
· I don't see what you mean. Could we have some more details, please?
· Are you saying that…
· Basically, what you are saying is …
· When you say… do you mean that…
· Am I right in assuming that…
· Correct me if I am wrong, but…
· If I’ve understood you correctly, you are saying that…
· Would I be correct in saying that..?

Request information:

· Please, could you...
· I'd like you to...
· Would you mind...
· I wonder if you could...
· Could you be a little more specific?
· I’m sorry, but could you explain in a little more detail?
· Could you give us some details about…?
· Would you care to elaborate on that?
· Could you expand on that?

Correcting information:

· Sorry, I think you misunderstood what I said.
· I’m afraid there seems to have been a slight misunderstanding.
· With respect, this is not what I said.
· Sorry, that's not quite right.
· I'm afraid you don't understand what I'm saying.
· That's not quite what I had in mind.
· That's not what I meant.
· This isn’t quite what I meant.

Re-phrasing:

When you’re not clear, you may have to rephrase what you have said.

· Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. Basically, what I’m trying to say is…
· Allow me to rephrase that…
· To be more specific…
· Put simply…
· Perhaps I should make that clear by saying…
· Sorry. I’m probably not making myself clear. Let me put it another way…

Making sure that others understand, you can say:

· Have I made that clear?
· Do you see what I'm getting at?
· Let me put this another way...
· I'd just like to repeat that...

Commenting:

· That's interesting .
· I never thought about it that way before.
· Good point!
· I get your point.
· I see what you mean.


Part 4: Asking repetition

Sometimes if you cannot follow what someone says, you can ask him or her to repeat what he or she has just said.

· I'm afraid I didn't understand that. Could you repeat what you just said?
· I didn't catch that. Could you repeat that, please?
· I missed that. Could you say it again, please?
· Could you run that by me one more time?
· I’m sorry, I don’t quite follow what you said about…
· I’m afraid I didn’t quite get your last point. Could you go over it again?

You can also ask the chairperson or presenter to summarize the discussion or to provide more information on a point:

· Can you summarize the main points for me please?
· Can you go into further detail on this please?
· I'm not sure if I've fully understood the main points here…


Part 5: Asking for contribution

As a chairperson, you want everyone to make contribution in a meeting.

· We haven't heard from you yet, (name of participant).
· What do you think about this proposal?
· Would you like to add anything, (name of participant)?
· Has anyone else got anything to contribute?
· Are there any more comments?


Part 6: Keeping the meeting on track

As a chairperson, your responsibility is to keep the meeting on track…

· We're running short of time.
· We're running short on time, so let's move on.
· Well, that seems to be all the time we have today.
· Please be brief.
· I'm afraid we've run out of time.
· I'm afraid that's outside the scope of this meeting.
· Let's get back on track, why don't we?
· That's not really why we're here today.
· Why don't we return to the main focus of today's meeting.
· We'll have to leave that to another time.
· We're beginning to lose sight of the main point.
· Keep to the point, please.
· I think we'd better leave that for another meeting.
· Are we ready to make a decision?
· I think we've spent enough time on this topic.
· We're running behind schedule, so we'll have to skip the next item.
· We only have fifteen minutes remaining and there's a lot left to cover.
· If we don't move on, we'll run right into lunch.
· We've spent too long on this issue, so we'll leave it for now.
· We'll have to come back to this at a later time.
· We could spend all day discussing this, but we have to get to the next item.

Regaining focus:

It is easy to get off topic when you get a number of people in the same room. It is the chairperson's responsibility to keep the discussion focused. Here are some expressions to keep the meeting centred on the items as they appear on the agenda.

· Let's stick to the task at hand, shall we?
· I think we're steering off topic a bit with this.
· I'm afraid we've strayed from the matter at hand.
· You can discuss this among yourselves at another time.
· We've lost sight of the point here.
· This matter is not on today's agenda.
· Let's save this for another meeting.
· Getting back to item number ...
· Now where were we? Oh yes, let's vote.


Part 7: Voting

When issues cannot be resolved or decisions cannot be easily made, they are often put to a vote. Most votes occur during meetings. Votes can be open, where people raise their hands in favour or in opposition of the issue. In an open vote, the results are evident immediately. Other votes, such as who should be elected to take on a certain role, are private or closed. During private votes, attendees fill out ballots and place them in a box to be counted. The results may not be counted until after the meeting. Here are some specific expressions used during open voting:

· All in favour?(Those who agree raise their hands or say "Aye".)
· All opposed?
· Motion to hire more tour guides, moved by Thomas.(Suggestions or ideas that are put to a vote are called motions. When a person makes a suggestion, the term to use both during the meeting and in the minutes is moved.)
· Motion to hire more tour guides seconded by Nolan.(When another person agrees with the motion, it is seconded.)


Part 8: Comment and feedback

During the meeting, participants will comment, provide feedback, or ask questions. Here are some ways to do so politely:

· If I could just come in here...
· I'm afraid I'd have to disagree about that.
· Could I just say one thing?
· I'm really glad you brought that up, ____________.
· I couldn't agree with you more. (I agree)
· _____________, could you please speak up. We can't hear you at the back.
· If I could have the floor (chance to speak) for a moment...
· We don't seem to be getting anywhere with this.
· Perhaps we should come back to this at another time?


Listening Activity (1): giving opinion in a meeting

Question: What is Marcelo’s opinion about improving the products?

I was in a department meeting and our manager was asking for our feedback on improving our product. I had a few ideas and I wanted to get them across, but one of my colleagues was giving me a hard time.

Marcelo: In my opinion, I think that we need to look at the question more from the customer’s perspective. I really feel we need to do more market research.

Ellen: I tend to think that we have enough information already and it’s time to make some decisions.

Marcelo: Well, the way I see it, we’ve only scratched the surface in getting to know our customers. We need to get inside their heads if we want to offer what they want and aren’t getting right now.

Ellen: You may be right, but if you ask me, I just don’t think it’s worth it to sink more time and money into the type of market research you’re proposing. It’s far more than what other companies are doing.

Marcelo: That’s precisely my point. I’m sure that if we can get information that other companies don’t have, we’ll be one step ahead.

That’s when the manager stepped in and offered her opinion. And, I’m happy to say, she sided with me.


Listening Activity (2): clarifying in a meeting

I was negotiating a contract with a new business partner, and we had a meeting to clarify the terms.

Bill: If I understand the terms correctly, the length of the contract would be one year with a one-year option. Is that correct?

Ms. Samuels: Do you mean the contract for equipment rental or the one for training?

Bill: I was under the impression that both contracts had the same terms.

Ms. Samuels: Yes and no. Let me see if I can clarify that. The terms are the same except that the contract for training has a clause that allows for the cancellation after the first six months.

Bill: Could you elaborate on that?

Ms. Samuels: Sure. What I mean is that either side could cancel the training contract after the six months as long as it's in writing.

Bill: Let me see if I have that right. This contract is for six months of training, but if it isn't cancelled, continues for another six months. Is that right?

Ms. Samuels: Yes, that's right.

Bill: Okay, that's clear enough. Let's move on to the other terms



Role Play Preparation for next Monday.


Grammar:

Go over exercise 3.2 and 17.3


Past Tense: (I did)

1. To talk about actions or situations in the past.

Mr. Brown enjoyed the party very much.
When Ms. Peterson lived in London, she worked in a bank.

2. In past questions and negatives, we use did/didn’t + base form verb.

Did it rain?
I didn’t enjoy the movie.


Past Continuous Tense: (I was doing)

1. To talk about someone who was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but hadn’t finished.

This time last year I was living in London.
What were you doing at 10 last night?

2. It does not tell us whether an action was finished or not. Perhaps it was finished, perhaps not.

Peter was cooking dinner.
Jane was doing her homework.

3. We use past continuous tense and simple past together to say that something happened in the middle of something else.

Dan burned his hand while he was cooking dinner.
It was raining when I got up.

4. But to say one happened after another, use simple past.

When Peter arrived, we were having dinner. (We had already started dinner before Peter arrived).

Compare to:

When Peter arrived, we had dinner. (Peter arrived and then we had dinner).

Compare simple past and past continuous tense:









Past Perfect Tense: (I had done)

1. To say that something had already happened before this time.

When I arrived at the party, Peter had already gone home.
When I got home, I found that someone had broken into my apartment and had stolen my money.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense: (I had been doing)

1. To say how long something had been happening before something else happened.

The soccer game had to be stopped. They had been playing for half an hour.
Ken had been smoking for 30 years when he finally gave it up.

2. Past perfect continuous tense is the past of the present perfect continuous tense.

Compare:
How long have you been waiting? (Until now)
How long had you been waiting when the bus finally came? (The whole scenario happened in the past)

Compare past continuous tense and past perfect continuous tense: