English for Meetings | Meeting English | Business English Pod

English for Meetings | Business English Meetings

BEP — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 21:12:39 +0000

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.

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

BEP 68c – English for Meetings: Dealing with Interruptions

BEP 43c – Meeting English: Managing the Discussion

BEP 42c – Meeting in English: Starting a Meeting

BEP 35c – English Meetings: Clarifying What Was Meant

BEP 31c – English for Meetings: Responding to Suggestions

BEP 30c – English for Meetings: Making Suggestions

BEP 29c – Meetings in English: How to Disagree

BEP 28c – Meetings in English: How to Agree

BEP 369 – Scenario Planning 3: Discussing Strategic Responses

BEP 368 – Scenario Planning 2: Discussing Possible Scenarios

BEP 367 – Scenario Planning 1: Exploring the Situation

BEP 361 – Video Conferences 3: Conference Call with Clients

BEP 360 – Video Conferences 2: Managing Remotely

BEP 359 – Video Conferences 1: Video Conference Meetings

BEP 338 – Teleconference English: Participating in Online Meetings

BEP 337 – Teleconference English: Running Online Meetings

BEP 327 – Expressing Opinions in English

Skills 360 – Leading Group Decision-Making Meetings (2)

Skills 360 – Leading Group Decision-Making Meetings (1)

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

BEP — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 17:51:14 +0000

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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

BEP — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 16:30:20 +0000

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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?

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BEP 43c – Meeting English: Managing the Discussion

BEP — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 22:41:13 +0000

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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?

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BEP 42c – Meeting in English: Starting a Meeting

BEP — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 19:18:45 +0000

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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?

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BEP 35c – English Meetings: Clarifying What Was Meant

BEP — Sun, 12 May 2024 18:50:03 +0000

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Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on clarifying in English meetings. Previously we looked at how to clarify what was said when you didn’t hear properly. Today we’re going to look at how to clarify what someone means in order to avoid misunderstandings.

Life would be simple if everyone said what they meant clearly and directly. But that’s not the way things work. People often speak indirectly or use words that are a bit confusing. For this reason, we often need to clarify what people mean.

There are several ways to do this. You can tell someone you don’t understand. Or you might confirm an idea or restate what someone says if you think you might understand. And it may take some time to work out the general meaning or the meaning of a specific word.

Today we’ll listen to a meeting between Michael, Rachel, and Ryan. Michael is leading the meeting and talking about the disappointing launch of a new product. During the conversation, it’s not always clear what people mean. For this reason, they use several different expressions for clarifying what was meant.

Listening Questions

1. What expression does Michael use about the “numbers” that Ryan tries to clarify?
2. What does Ryan ask about that Michael wants to clarify?
3. What word does Michael use that Rachel asks about near the end of the conversation?

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