Business English Pod / English for Meetings

English for Meetings

Learn English for meetings with our business English meetings lessons. Our meeting English lessons cover all aspects of leading and participating in English meetings.

English for Meetings | Business English Meetings

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Our business English meetings lessons cover a huge range of language for effective communication in English meetings. Whether you’re looking to confidently express your opinions, navigate agreements and disagreements, or make valuable suggestions, Business English Pod has you covered.

The early lessons (BEP 20’s – BEP 80’s) focus on the basics of English for meetings. These lessons address essential business English expressions for giving opinions, agreeing, disagreeing, making suggestions, and accepting or rejecting proposals. You’ll also learn how to clarify what was said and the meaning behind other people’s statements. We also cover language for opening meetings, managing discussions, and dealing with interruptions to give you a complete foundation in key language for meetings in English.

In more recent English meeting lessons we look at more advanced situations and skills. Learn about scenario planning, stand up meetings for project management, internal and external client meetings and discussing strategic concerns. Learners can also discover effective ways to lead group decision-making meetings and present coherent arguments. And with the rise of virtual teams and online meetings, we have lessons on video conferences, managing remote teams, and participating in meetings online.

You can learn business English for meetings with lessons on diplomatic language, business strategy discussions, brainstorming, defending your ideas, and even small talk before meetings. Learn how to argue your point in meetings, meet with vendors, and discuss proposals.

With a focus on useful language and phrases, vocabulary, communication strategies, you’ll be equipped with the skills and language you need for all types of business English meetings.

All our lessons on English for meetings are listed below with the latest lessons at the top.

Meeting Essentials eBook – New Edition

Business English, Business English e-Books, English for Meetings /

Learn business English for meetings with our new Meeting Essentials eBook.

Business English Meeting Essentials

We’re pleased to announce the 3rd edition of our Meeting Essentials eBook, with updated lessons and audio.

If you use English in meetings, this eBook will help you communicate more clearly and confidently. Meeting Essentials is an 11-unit audio eBook that teaches the key language you need for a wide range of meeting situations, from informal team discussions to formal business meetings.

You’ll learn how to express opinions, agree and disagree, make suggestions, and clarify ideas. The course also covers how to run meetings effectively, including starting the meeting, managing the discussion, dealing with interruptions, and closing with clear action points.

Each lesson features realistic dialogs, clear explanations, and practical language you can apply immediately in the workplace. The 3rd edition includes updated content, new explanations, and newly produced audio recordings available in PDF and MP3 format.

All eBooks are included with premium membership, or you can purchase the eBook for $15.95.

BEP 81c – Meeting English: Action Points and Wrapping Up

Business English, English for Meetings, Intermediate English /

BEP 81c - Meeting English: Action Points and Wrapping Up

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on finishing a meeting in English. We’ll learn how to summarize action points and wrap up the meeting.

A well-run meeting can be productive and useful. But a poorly run meeting can leave everyone feeling like their time has been wasted. And one of the big differences between good and bad meetings is how they end.

A good meeting doesn’t slowly run out of energy. Instead, there’s a clear ending to it. And people come out of the meeting with a strong sense of purpose and a clear idea of what they need to do. Without a sense of purpose, people might feel like the meeting generated a lot of discussion but nothing more.

Giving a strong finish to a meeting isn’t actually that hard to do. First off, you need to be clear that the meeting is about to end. That gives people a chance to collect their thoughts. Next, you can summarize the action points and assign tasks. You may also want to emphasize how important they are to give some extra motivation. Then you can wrap up the meeting with some closing thoughts.

In today’s dialog, we’ll join a meeting at a bank. The team has been discussing some recent issues and future plans. You will hear Lisa provide a strong finish to the meeting with James, Bryan, Charles, and Cecilia.

Listening Questions

1. What question does Lisa ask the group before stating the action items?
2. What does Lisa emphasize about James planned action?
3. What does Lisa say to officially end the meeting?

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BEP 68c – English for Meetings: Dealing with Interruptions

Business English, English for Meetings, Human Resources, Intermediate English /

BEP 68c - English Meetings: Dealing with Interruptions

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s English for meetings lesson on how to deal with interruptions during a meeting.

Meetings are a very important part of work life. They are where decisions are made, relationships are built, and work is coordinated. When meetings go smoothly, they can feel very productive. But meetings can easily become messy and unfocused.

In many cases, people compete for time and attention during meetings. They interrupt each other to give new ideas, disagree, or try to get their way. Knowing how to deal with interruptions is a critical skill if you want to participate fully in a meeting.

Interrupting people is easier if you learn some useful phrases. You can also learn language to help you stop an interruption and finish what you were saying. In some cases, you might need to concede someone else’s point, either partly or fully. When we concede a point, we are saying “okay, you’re right.” Sometimes that’s the key to moving on after an interruption.

In today’s dialog, we’ll join a meeting at a manufacturing company. Bill is the production manager and Mei Lin and Sam work in HR. They are discussing staffing and recruiting for a new production line. Bill is keen to hire new staff, but Sam and Mei Lin want to explore alternative approaches so there’s a lot of disagreement and interrupting during the meeting.

Listening Questions

1. What does Bill say is the purpose of the meeting?
2. What is one of the expressions Mei Lin uses to interrupt Bill when he’s speaking?
3. What does Bill say to get back to what he was trying to say after being interrupted?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

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BEP 43c – Meeting English: Managing the Discussion

Business English, English for Meetings, Intermediate English /

BEP 43c - Meeting English: Managing a Meeting

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to manage the discussion during a meeting in English.

Bad meetings can waste time and leave everyone confused. But a well-run meeting can help create new ideas, solve problems, and move a project forward. Running a great meeting is about more than just following an agenda. It means guiding the conversation effectively.

If you’re running formal meetings as a manager or team leader, this skill is essential. But even if just you’re a team member who wants to make sure your team has good discussions, it’s good to understand what’s behind running a meeting. And you never know when it might be your job to facilitate.

Good meeting management often means keeping the discussion focused and inviting different viewpoints or opinions. It also means widening the discussion, moving to a new agenda item, and checking for agreement.

In this lesson, we’ll rejoin a meeting about budget cuts at an international shipping company. Martin, the General Manager, is facilitating the meeting. We’ll also hear Sandra, Sam, and David, three employees in the meeting.

Listening Questions

1. How does Martin respond to Sam’s comment about pizza?
2. What does Martin say once they have finished talking about the outsourcing issue?
3. At the end of the conversation, what question does Martin ask everyone if they agree on?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

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BEP 42c – Meeting in English: Starting a Meeting

Business English, English for Meetings, Intermediate English /

BEP 42c - Meeting in English: Starting a Meeting

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to start a meeting in English.

Many jobs require us to spend a lot of time in meetings. Sometimes we might think there are too many meetings. In part, we might feel this way because a lot of meetings aren’t run very well or facilitated effectively.

There’s a good chance that you will have to run meetings some day, if you don’t already. You have a chance to make sure those meetings are effective by running the meeting well. Fortunately, running a meeting involves skills that you can learn.

Today we’ll focus on starting a meeting, which begins with getting people’s attention and acknowledging them. Next, you might clearly state the purpose or goals of the meeting before reviewing the agenda with everyone. Then you may invite someone to begin speaking about the first item on the agenda.

In this lesson, we’ll hear the start of a meeting about budget cuts at an international shipping company. The meeting is being led by Martin, the General Manager. We’ll also hear Sandra, David, and Sam, employees who are attending the meeting.

Listening Questions

1. What does Martin apologize for as he is acknowledging the meeting attendees?
2. What does Martin say is the objective of the meeting?
3. What does Martin invite Sandra to do at the end of the conversation?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3