280 likes | 408 Views
MEETINGS. call arrange schedule hold cancel postpone (put off ) reschedule attend moderate chair close. a meeting. Commonly used words/expressions:. People involved. the chairperson chairman, chairwoman, chair (n., v.) Jim will chair (v.) the meeting next week.
E N D
call arrange schedule hold cancel postpone (put off) reschedule attend moderate chair close a meeting Commonly used words/expressions:
People involved • the chairperson chairman, chairwoman, chair (n., v.) Jim will chair (v.) the meeting next week. • the participants • the secretary (?)
Chairing a meeting The chairperson is in charge of: • Openingthemeeting: introducingtheobjectives, agenda, participants, procedure, timingandoutput • Facilitatingandmoderating:interrupting & encouragingthespeakers • Controlling (time & agenda) • Summarising (whathasbeensaid or agreed) • Concluding (definingactionpointsandclosing)
Participants(Attendees) • Participants take part in the discussion ↓ giving and seeking opinions, agreeing, disagreeing, interrupting, commenting, suggesting, … giving mini-presentations
The secretary (?)is responsible for ... ...recording the... • names of the participants • topics discussed • arguments in favour and against (pros & cons) • decisions made • voting details • action points (who, what, when) • date, place, time of the next meeting ... and for distributing the minutes within a reasonable time
Administrative considerations(Meeting paperwork) • Writing a memo • Writing the agenda • Taking the minutes (writing up the minutes)
LANGUAGE FOCUS • expressions typically used in meetings (RB) • downtoning + makingsuggestions
LANGUAGE FOCUS cont. Make your point firmly, but politely • Downtoning • Making suggestions/proposals
Is this appropriate in meetings? • “Finish the report by tomorrow!” • “You cannot take a day off!” • “You must neverbe late again. Next time thishappens I’ll fireyou!” Or can we make it sound more polite?
How to make our statements sound lessconfrontational? • “we” / “let’s” (rather than “you”) • perhaps / maybe • a bit / just / a little / slightly • would / could / may / might • I’m afraid... • Use of “negatives” or “opposites” to soften the meaning
Downtoning Avoid: “You must reduce the price.” (sounds confrontational) Use the following: we, let’s, perhaps/maybe, a little/slightly/a bit/, may/might, could, would, it won’t be bad if, I’m afraid
Why don’t we …, Let’s …, Perhaps …, Maybe … “Why don’tweconsiderreducingthe price?” “Let’s seewhathappensifthe price is reduced.” “Perhaps we should consider reducing the price.” “Maybeyoucouldreducethe price.”
a little, slightly, a bit, just “The price is a little too high for us.” “The price is slightly too high for us.” “The price is a bit too high for us.” “The price is just too high for us.”
May, might, could, wouldI wonder if …, It won’t bebadif…, I’m afraid…
May, might, could, wouldI wonder if …, It won’t bebadif…, I’m afraid… “I wonder ifyoucouldreducethe price.” “Wouldyoubeprepared to reducethe price?” “The price maybetoohigh for us.” “The price mightbetoohigh for us.” “It won’t bebadifthe price is lower.” “I’m afraidthe price is toohigh for us.”
Making suggestions/proposals Confrontational: “You’re opposing my idea and you didn’t even read the report???” I advise you to read the report first. I suggestreading the report first. I suggest that we should read the report first. I suggest that we read the report first. Why don’t we read the report first? Shall we read the report first?
Assignment • Class assignment: Tone down the three statements used on slide 10. Usetwodifferentdowntoningdevices for each (tot. 6 statements).
Why don’t we …, Let’s …, Perhaps …, Maybe … Why don’t we consider another option? Let’s find another solution. Perhaps we could discuss another possibility. Maybe we could consider some other options.
May, might, could, wouldI wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…, I’m afraid…
May, might, could, wouldI wonder if …, It won’t be bad if…, I’m afraid… This idea may have some value, but we could also discuss other options. I wonder if we could think of a different way to solve the problem. It won’t be bad if we now think of other possibilities. I’m afraid this idea may not be the best solution for us at the moment.
a little, slightly, a bit, just This proposal may be a little too ambitious for us at the moment. Could we think of a slightly more realistic solution? This may be a bit complicated for us at the moment. This solution is coming just too late for us now.
: we - let’s perhaps - maybe a little – slightly - a bit , may – might – could - would, it won’t be bad if, I’m afraid • “Finish the report by tomorrow!” • “You cannot take a day off!” • “You must never be late again. Next time this happens I’ll fire you.”