Business

Introduction to Starting a Business Meeting

"Navigating the Start of a Business Meeting" is your go-to guide for initiating professional discussions with confidence and clarity. This lesson will equip you with essential phrases and structures to introduce participants, state objectives, and present the agenda effectively in a business context. By mastering these initial steps, you'll ensure your meetings are productive and focused right from the start.

Learning Objectives:

• Master key phrases for making introductions in a business meeting.
• Learn to state the meeting's objectives clearly.
• Understand how to introduce and manage the meeting's agenda.

Content is tailored for beginner learners and presented in British English.

Starting a Business Meeting: Phrases and Examples

Introductions

• "Let me introduce myself... (your name)"
  • Example: "Let me introduce myself, I'm John Smith, the project manager."
• "Please join me in welcoming... (name of participant)"
  • Example: "Please join me in welcoming Ms. Jane Doe, our guest speaker today."
• "It's a pleasure to welcome... (name of participant)"
  • Example: "It's a pleasure to welcome Mr. Alan Brown from the marketing department."
• "I'd like to introduce... (name of participant)"
  • Example: "I'd like to introduce Dr. Lisa Ray, our new team leader."
• "Have you already met...?"
  • Example: "Have you already met our intern, Tom Clarke?"

Stating the Objectives

• "We're here today to..."
  • Example: "We're here today to discuss the upcoming product launch."
• "Our main aim today is to..."
  • Example: "Our main aim today is to finalize the project timeline."
• "I've called this meeting in order to..."
  • Example: "I've called this meeting in order to review our quarterly sales figures."

Introducing the Agenda

• "Have you all received a copy of the agenda?"
  • Example: "Before we start, have you all received a copy of the agenda?"
• "There are X items on the agenda. First... second... third... lastly..."
  • Example: "There are four items on the agenda. First, the budget review, second, staffing updates, third, new project proposals, and lastly, any other business."
• "Shall we take the points in this order?"
  • Example: "The agenda is quite packed; shall we take the points in this order?"

Introducing the Next Item

• "Let's move on to the next item"
  • Example: "Having covered the budget review, let's move on to the next item, staffing updates."

• "We need to go on"

  • Employ this phrase to emphasize the importance of progressing through the agenda, especially when time is of the essence.

• "The next item on our list is"

  • This introduces the next topic explicitly by name, helping participants mentally prepare for the shift in discussion.

• "Shall we continue?"

  • Asking if participants are ready to move on not only signals a transition but also engages the group, making sure everyone is on the same page.

Conclusion and Takeaways

The ability to start a business meeting effectively sets the tone for productive dialogue and efficient decision-making. This lesson has provided you with the foundational phrases and structures to confidently introduce meeting participants, articulate objectives, and guide the agenda.

• Practice Makes Perfect: Regularly apply these phrases in your meeting preparations to become more fluent and natural.
• Customize Your Approach: Adapt the phrases to suit your meeting's context and the participants' familiarity.
• Active Listening: Pay attention to how others start meetings to pick up additional phrases and techniques.
• Feedback Loop: Seek feedback from peers on your meeting start techniques to continuously improve.

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