Here is a draft email in a formal tone arranging a meeting with a client: Dear Mr. Smith, I am writing to confirm the details of our upcoming meeting to discuss the Johnson project. As we discussed during our phone call earlier today, I have attached the latest market research report for your review prior to our meeting. I would like to propose meeting at your office on Tuesday, July 14th at 2:00pm. At this meeting, I will provide an overview of the work we have completed so far on the initial design phase. We will also discuss next steps and the additional tasks needed to complete the project on schedule. Please let me know if the proposed date and time for our meeting works with your

1. IEN 312 ENGLISH FOR
BUSINESS MEETINGS
A.Warisa Suksomboon
Week 2

2. Types of Meeting
• There are different types of meetings. Each type requires
a different structure and supports a different number of
participants.
• Regular meeting
• Special meeting
• Annual meeting
• Quarterly meeting
• Monthly meeting
• Weekly meeting
• Board meeting
• Progress meeting
• Team meeting
• Staff appraisal meeting
• Brainstorming meeting
• Training meeting
• Orientation meeting

3. Types of Meeting
• Board meeting is a meeting for company director and top
managers to discuss strategy and make decisions
regarding the direction of a company.
• Annual meeting is held once a year to give all members
or shareholders information about the progress of the
company in the past, present and future.
• Training meeting is to help employees to do their job
better by teaching them new techniques or giving them
new information.
• Staff appraisal meeting gives individual staff the
opportunity to discuss their work with their managers, and
managers can give feedback to staff on their job
performance.

4. Types of Meeting
• Brainstorming meeting is to generate new and fresh
ideas on a specific topic.
• Team meeting is for people who work in the same
department or section. The purpose of the meeting is to
inform people of new developments and discuss the
present situation.
• Progress meeting is to help make sure that the project is
on schedule. It is also an opportunity to get feedback on
how things are going and to exchange ideas.

5. Successful Meetings
• Successful meetings usually have three components:
• Information is shared,
• Ideas are discussed, and
• Actions are decided.
• **The meeting should be friendly and respectful even when there is
disagreement.

6. Successful Meetings
1. Sharing information
Pay careful attention to each other and to actively listen.
(“Active” listeners check that they have understood things
correctly and ask for further examples or explanation if they are
unclear about any issues.)
2. Discussing ideas
Keep your emotions under control. Recognize that if you show
anger, it will be difficult for the meeting to proceed.
Express your feeling in a respectful way.
Acknowledge and repeat the other person‟s view.
Avoid negative body language and extreme words or phrases.

7. Successful Meetings
3. Deciding action
Suggest you ideas for action in a positive way and to explain
how they will move things forward.
Point out how your suggestion also addresses other people‟s
concerns.
…Don‟t say “I suggest we do ABC”
…Say “I suggest we do ABC, because it will help deal with the
issue you raised.”

8. Talking Points
• Consider these questions.
• How can you make sure everyone participates in the meeting?
• How do you handle people who disagree with you?

9. The Meeting
• Watch the first part of a meeting between four people at
the energy company QPG. As you watch, answer the
questions below.
• What is the meeting about?
• What is Maria‟s role?
• Why was the market research done?
• What was the research about?
• Why are customers leaving?
• Why doesn‟t Anna want to train staff again „from scratch‟?
• What does Maria suggest they should review?
• Does Anna agree to look at the report with Maria?

10. Successful Meetings
• How to listen carefully: Actively check and ask for
clarification, examples and more information.
• How to keep your emotions under control: Be aware of what you
are feeling and recognize that if you show anger, it will make the
meeting less successful.
• How to state your point of view: Avoid negative or aggressive body
language. Stay professional and avoid extreme words or phrases.
• How to show respect and empathy: Show you understand the other
person‟s situation even if you disagree with it, and acknowledge their
concerns.
• How to suggest positive action: Describe ho your suggestions are
helpful and take into account other people‟s concerns.

11. Arranging to Meet
• Exercise 3: Listen to some extracts from other phone calls
made by the Delta International staff.
• Who?
• What?
• When?

12. Asking to Meet
• Could we find a time to meet?
• Can we arrange to meet sometime?
• Can you organize a conference call?
• Any chance of a meeting this week? (informal)
• Could we try to arrange a meeting before Friday?
• What about Monday morning?
• How about after lunch at, say, two o‟clock?
• I‟d like to schedule a meeting before the end of the month.
Can you suggest a few dates?
• Can we try and agree on a day in the middle of the
month?

13. Responding to a meeting request
• Yes, I can make that date.
• Yes, I‟m free on that date.
• Tuesday at nine is fine for me.
• Wednesday 15th sounds good.
• Yes, that date works for me.
• Sorry, I can‟t make next Wednesday.
• I‟m afraid I have another appointment then.
• I can‟t. I‟m away on a business trip.

14. Writing emails in preparation for meetings
• Formal email language
• Dear colleagues/Ms Tidman/Mr Timm,
• I trust you are all well.
• I look forward to meeting/seeing you on the 15th July.
• I detail below…
• I would advise…
• As discussed,…
• Please find herewith
• Please find attached…
• Your sincerely,
• Best wishes/regards,

15. Writing emails in preparation for meetings
• Informal/friendly email language
• Hello Uwe/Hi Jenny/Dear Paul,
• It was good to speak the other day.
• Sorry for the delay.
• I‟ve attached…
• I‟m looking forward to our meeting.
• See you on Thursday.
• All the best,
• Cheers,

16. Practice
• Write an email to a client about a meeting you are
organizing next month. Decide whether the email should
be formal or informal and use suitable language. Include
some of the following ideas if you wish:
• Mention a phone call you have just had
• Refer to an attachment that you are sending with the email
• Confirm the time and date of the next meeting
• Talk about the aspect of project that you have just finished
• Refer to some work you need to complete.