商务口语-Meetings

1、2021/3/271 Business English Learning By Sun Chao 2021/3/272 “Business is meetings, meetings, and meetings.” 2021/3/273 “Meetings are not about formalities, but free and open discussion.” 2021/3/274 “I disapprove of what you say, but I dedicate my life for your right to say it.” 2021/3/275 “No commen

2、ts, no development.” 2021/3/276 Meetings Positiv e Negativ e 2021/3/277 “Well, as Im sure you know, business is basically meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings! Every day I get together with my line manager and we go over the day ahead and everything else thats come up. That never lasts more than a

3、n hour. I get on pretty well with him, so I dont mind that. Then there are weekly sessions with the head of marketing. Those meetings are much tougher. We have a really hard look at the sales figures.” 2021/3/278 “As if that wasnt enough, every month I have to go and present a progress report to the

4、 rest of the team. But some of these sessions can be very rewarding, because thats when we put together ideas and plans for the coming month. The only problem is that getting ready for these presentations can be difficult, because they involve analyzing statistics from various departments.” 2021/3/2

5、79 “Well, this is another thing. I hate meetings. The only regular feature of my week is the senior management team meeting. And we focus there not on details but on major issues. This means I can actually spend about 95% of my time listening to customers. And this is really the key to how I run my

6、business life.” 2021/3/2710 A Good Company Thousands of degrees Join me Agenda “Youve got to learn about me: Im a machine.” 2021/3/2711 1. Introduction 2. The Flow-Chart of a Meeting 3. Four Meetings 4. Tips for the Chairperson/ participants in the meeting 5. Asking Questions Outline 2021/3/2712 Pur

7、pose: Whats the point of the meeting? Here are a few things to consider 2021/3/2713 Preparation: Are there briefing documents for the meeting? Here are a few things to consider 2021/3/2714 Timing: Does the meeting have clear times for starting and finishing? Here are a few things to consider 2021/3/

8、2715 Agenda: Are there a number of points for discussion? Will people introduce extra points? Here are a few things to consider 2021/3/2716 Clair: Who is going to chair the meeting? Will the chair strictly control the meeting? Here are a few things to consider 2021/3/2717 The Flow-Chart of a Meeting

9、 Stage 1 Chairperson gives background information Chairperson allocates tasks to meeting participants 2021/3/2718 The Flow-Chart of a Meeting Stage 2 Chairperson identifies a problem Participants and chairperson make several suggestions to overcome the problem 2021/3/2719 The Flow-Chart of a Meeting

10、 Stage 3 Chairperson adopts one or more of the suggestions. Chairperson draws a conclusion 2021/3/2720 Four Meetings 1 Briefing （基本情况报告会） Formal To share information and define responsibilities. Usually held at the beginning of a project. 2021/3/2721 Four Meetings 2 Progress （进展会议） Formal A prepared

11、 agenda Regularly held (daily, weekly, monthly) 2021/3/2722 Four Meetings 3 Crisis meeting （紧急事务） Informal To solve a particular problem To focus on decisions rather than discussions Held as quickly as possible 2021/3/2723 Four Meetings 4 Brainstorming （集思广益） Informal A particular problem or situati

12、on Think of as many ideas as possible 2021/3/2724 In practice “OK Jerry. Well, thank you for your ideas, everybody. Its been a very interesting meeting. Jim will send round a copy of the minutes some time over the next few days. So lets call it a day, shall we?” BrainstormingBrainstorming 2021/3/272

13、5 In practice “Well, Im sorry, but weve run out of time. So, to sum up: Jerry will continue to look into the distribution possibilities. Wenda, speak to our key customers over the next few days. Any other business? Lets meet again at the same time, same place next week.” Progress meetingProgress mee

14、ting 2021/3/2726 In practice “So, can we all agree that this is our best course of action? Good. Ill send you all a list of action points by the end of the afternoon. If you can all report back asap, Id be very grateful. Good luck. Crisis meetingCrisis meeting 2021/3/2727 In practice “Right. Well, a

15、re there any other questions? No? Good. I think weve covered all the main points in the meeting today. If any of you want any extra information, please feel free to give me a call. So, if theres nothing else Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen.” BriefingBriefing 2021/3/2728 Tips for the Chairp

16、erson in the meeting At the start of a meeting, make sure everyone knows each other. “Good morning. Im Sam and I think the rest of you know each other. Is that right?” 2021/3/2729 Tips for the Chairperson in the meeting Decide which is the biggest or most important objectives and then to keep on ask

17、ing: What? How? Why? “Were here today to decide where this project is going and there are four main points on the agenda.” p62 2021/3/2730 Tips for the Chairperson in the meeting Try to involve all the participants in the meeting. “Dont hold back. All ideas are good.” “Everyone needs to contribute.”

18、 Protect the weak; control the strong. 2021/3/2731 Tips for the Chairperson in the meeting Be sure where the meeting is going. “Can I sum up then what weve decided?” “I think that idea has been done before. We need to think of something else.” 2021/3/2732 Tips for the Chairperson in the meeting Dont

19、 get personally involved in the details of the discussion “Im sorry, but weve run out of time.” “Lets get back on track or else well have to go on all night.” 2021/3/2733 Tips for participants in the meeting Spend well over half your time listening to other people. “You got it!” “Make sense.” “You s

20、aid that.” 2021/3/2734 Tips for participants in the meeting Ask for repetition if not understanding. “Can you say that again?” “What are you really saying here?” “What do you think?” “What exactly do you mean?” 2021/3/2735 Tips for participants in the meeting Dont just speak. Watch the reactions of

21、the people who are listening. “Dont worry. Feel free to try something new!” 2021/3/2736 Tips for participants in the meeting Accept different opinions in a problem-solving meeting. “Ive got an idea. How about ” “This just came to me. Why dont we ” 2021/3/2737 Tips for participants in the meeting Do

22、not be so polite that you never disagree. “I guess you could be right in a way, but dont you think that” 2021/3/2738 Tips for participants in the meeting Do not push your own suggestions too hard. Allow disputes on your suggestions so that a better idea may come up. “Id like to focus on check-in and

23、 how we can improve it.” 2021/3/2739 Asking Questions “The person who really controls a meeting is the person who asks the questions.” 2021/3/2740 Asking Questions Two types of questions: 2021/3/2741 Asking Questions to produce a broad discussion to give people the chance to talk to vary the answers

24、 2021/3/2742 Asking Questions “What is the future for this product?” “Why does your company have three factories in China?” “How did you get your job?” 2021/3/2743 Asking Questions “Could you make any comments about it?” “Ive interested in knowing more about it?” “Lets come up with some ideas.” 2021

25、/3/2744 Asking Questions to focus the meeting on facts to ask for specific information 2021/3/2745 Asking Questions “Is your company on the Internet?” “Does your company have a mission statement?” “Is it user-friendly?” 2021/3/2746 Asking Questions “Where is the main market for this product?” “How m

26、any factories does your company have?” “When did you join the company?” 2021/3/2747 In practiceIn practice Is there any question Is there any question come to your mind when come to your mind when looking at an empty looking at an empty bottle of coca cola ? bottle of coca cola ? 2021/3/2748 How cou

27、ld I drink it?How could I drink it? Why did someone drink it? Why did someone drink it? Why does Its bottle design change Why does Its bottle design change regularly?regularly? I Im interested in its main rivals.m interested in its main rivals. What makes it the worldWhat makes it the worlds biggest

28、 s biggest brand?brand? Are there any big stars as its image Are there any big stars as its image ambassadors? ambassadors? OPEN 2021/3/2749 Who did drink it?Who did drink it? How much is it? How much is it? Is it no sugar and low calories?Is it no sugar and low calories? Is carbonic acid drink Is c

29、arbonic acid drink harmful to teeth?harmful to teeth? How many bottles does a person drink How many bottles does a person drink each day?each day? How many tons do people drink totally How many tons do people drink totally each year? each year? Closed 2021/3/2750 In a Meeting Opening a meeting Contr

30、olling a meeting Participating in a meeting Cooperating in a meeting Problem-solving meetings Planning meetings 2021/3/2751 Opening a Meeting Calling everyones attention Telling everybody you are going to begin Telling them why you are having the meeting Telling them, in order, what you are going to

31、 discuss Defining roles and timing Asking someone to begin the discussion 2021/3/2752 Expressions for Opening Starting and stating the purpose May I have your attention please? Quiet, please. Lets get started. Shall we begin? The purpose of todays meeting is to discuss the budget for the NOS adverti

32、sing. We are meeting today to discuss the budget for the NOS advertising. 2021/3/2753 Setting the agenda As youll see from the agenda, we have three items for discussion There are a couple of things Id like to look at. There are several items on the agenda. 2021/3/2754 Defining roles and starting th

33、e first item Mike, could you take the minutes? Peter has agreed to give us a report on the sales of last year. Mr. Lee is going to take us through the sales of last year. Jack, I wondered if you could tell us something about the sales of last year. Mr.Cheng, would you like to begin? Jason, why dont

34、you start? 2021/3/2755 Timing This should take about two hours. The meeting is due to finish at 3.00 oclock. Id like to keep each item to tem minutes; otherwise, well never get through. I would like to aim for a three oclock finish. I would like to finish by four. 2021/3/2756 Controlling a Meeting O

35、pening the meeting Rejecting items Keeping people on the subject Postponing a topic Referring to time Changing an item Completing the agenda Summarizing Agreeing and assigning actions Closing 2021/3/2757 Expressions for Controlling Rejecting topics I dont think its related to our subject. What you a

36、re saying may be true, but it has nothing to do with the meeting topic. Keeping people on the subject Please dont digress from the topic. Please focus on the topic. You are talking off the subject. 2021/3/2758 Postponing a topic We will come to that point later. Can we talk about it later? Referring

37、 to time We will spend twenty minutes on this item. We can only talk about it for twenty minutes. Changing an item Lets return to the first item on the agenda. Shall we move on to the next item on the agenda? 2021/3/2759 Completing the agenda Right, it looks as though weve covered the main points/ar

38、eas. I think that just about covers everything. Is there anything else to discuss? Summarizing Shall we go over the main points now? In conclusion/in short/in a word, we have discussed three points. If I can summarize what we have discussed so far, we have covered 3 points. To sum up, there seem to

39、be three plans we can choose from. 2021/3/2760 Agreeing and assigning actions So, whats the next step? Could you let us have a report by the end of the week? Thats XX has agreed to look into the problem. So, you are going to write up proposal. Closing Thank you for your useful opinions. It seems wev

40、e discussed everything, so lets close the meeting. The next meeting will be held at the Shanghai Branch. 2021/3/2761 Problem-solving Meetings Stating problems There are some signs that morale is falling. We have difficulty getting staff to work overtime. Recruitment is not keeping up with our needs.

41、 Proposing objectives The thing I want to look at with you is how we can improve our service. The subject I would like to focus on this morning is performance. The issue Id like us to explore today is the customer service. 2021/3/2762 Putting forward suggestions Why dont we have a look at our proced

42、ures? What I think we should do is increase training for our staff. Id like to set up a task force to look at our service. Clarifying So, what youre saying is that we should rethink the process? So you mean we ought to think it through again? In other words, youre saying that the company could impro

43、ve the service? 2021/3/2763 Reactions to suggestions Thats a good point. I see what you mean, but we must be careful. Im sorry but Im not sure I agree. Summing up and allocating tasks Weve agreed that were going to increase staff training,. Dear, youll see to it, will you? Weve agreed that we will r

44、ethink the process. Dear, will you coordinate that? 2021/3/2764 Participating in a Meeting Setting out facts and figures Expressing opinions Soliciting opinions Agreeing and disagreeing Responding Interrupting recommending 2021/3/2765 Expressions for Participating Setting out facts and figures Id li

45、ke to draw your attention to this chart/table. I have prepared a PowerPoint to illustrate this. Would you please take a look at this? Expressing opinions I believe we can finish it on time. In my opinion, it will be fine. Its quite clear that well have to do it. Personally, I dont think we should ch

46、ange. 2021/3/2766 Soliciting opinions What do you think of the customers claim? How do you think we should deal with the matter? Whats your opinion on this? What are your views on this? Could you tell us something about that? 2021/3/2767 Agreeing I agree with you. I do along with that. Youre absolut

47、ely right. I couldnt agree with you more. Im 100% behind you. I entirely agree with you. 2021/3/2768 Disagreeing I dont agree with you. I dont go along with that. I understand you very well, but I have to disagree. Im not with you. I dont think its workable. I dont see eye to eye with you on that. I

48、 totally disagree. 2021/3/2769 Limited agreement Im not against it, but theres a problem. Yes, Im with you, but theres a problem. Waiting to be convinced I can see what youre getting at. There are two sides to the argument. Im not sure/convinced about it. I just think we need more time. 2021/3/2770

49、Responding neutrally OK./All right. I see your point. I understand your concern. Interrupting May I get in a word? Sorry to interrupt you, but could you tell me the reason? I dont want to interrupt you, but could you give me an example? Could I just make a point here? 2021/3/2771 Strong recommendati

50、ons I strongly recommend that we put in more efforts in promotion. Theres no alternative. We have to put in more efforts in promotion. I think we have to put in more efforts. 2021/3/2772 Neutral recommendations I propose (formal)/suggest/ recommend we put in more effort in promotion. Why dont we put

51、 in more efforts in promotion? Weak recommendation Perhaps we could consider changing our procedures. Maybe we should think about changing our procedures. 2021/3/2773 Cooperating (verbal and non verbal) Following rituals (welcoming, introducing, small talk, thanks, saying goodbye) Following routines

52、 (time limits, e.g. let others speak) Clarifying (I beg your pardon?/I didnt catch what you said) Checking (You meanAm I right?) Asking for explanations (Could you speak in detail?) Showing understanding (nodding) Confirming (Am I right?) 2021/3/2774 Planning Meetings Giving background information Were meeting here to discuss the formulation of a new policy. Weve been given pe