Office English episode 2: Meetings

Meetings. They're a big part of our time at work.

Some people love them and some people hate them.

Sometimes meetings can feel a bit pointless

and you're just trying to fill the time.

So, ideally, there's an agenda,

so you know what's going to be talked about and discussed.

I do sometimes get nervous speaking up in meetings,

because I have a bit of a fear of speaking in front of people.

In this episode of Office English from BBC Learning English,

we're looking at how to speak up in meetings and get your ideas heard.

Welcome to Office English,

our guide to the language of the world of work.

In this podcast, we discuss words and phrases you can use

to help improve your business English in the office.

I'm Phil.

And I'm Pippa.

Today we're talking about meetings.

We've already heard that meetings can be very stressful,

even for native English speakers.

But what do you think, Phil? Do you speak up a lot in meetings?

It depends on the meeting.

OK!

Sometimes you have a meeting with people you work closely with, a small meeting,

and I find it quite easy to try and contribute and ask people

and, and, and things like that.

Sometimes you're in a bigger meeting with people you don't know so well,

or maybe you're meeting people you don't work with,

a client or a different department.

— That's a lot harder, I think. — Mm, yeah. I agree.

And then, when you get stressed like that, you maybe don't want to speak,

or you're nervous to contribute, or you feel that you're tripping over your words,

you're getting what you're about to say wrong and so that can be really stressful.

It's something that I think most people are nervous about.

And so today, we're going to talk you through the basics of meetings

and phrases you can use to get your voice heard.

So, we've been invited to a meeting.

There's lots of people in the meeting who we don't know

and, at the start of the meeting, everyone is asked to introduce themselves.

How can we do this professionally, Phil?

OK, how about saying 'For those who don't know me,

I'm Phil and I do podcasts about business English'?

Yeah, that's nice,

because it's sort of an expectation that people might not know you.

Another one you could maybe try is 'I'm responsible for...'

So instead of saying what your role is,

what your job title is, just explain what you do.

So, for those who don't know me, I'm Pippa,

and I'm responsible for the podcasts at BBC Learning English.

And I think that's really good because, I don't know how it is in other languages,

but in English your job title often doesn't really say what you actually do.

Mm, yeah, so it's not very useful to tell people that.

Anything else we can say here, Phil?

Perhaps, if you've got a particular expertise in something,

you could say 'I have a background in...'

and then you're talking about an area that you know a lot of

or that you've worked in before, that you've studied a lot.

And that can be useful, perhaps saying,

'Look, this is how I can be useful in this meeting. Ask me about these things'.

Mm, yeah.

Because, if you don't know people, they might be questioning why you're there

and so it's good to kind of say early

what your expertise is and what you have to bring to the meeting.

What about if you don't get a chance to introduce yourself

at the start of the meeting, Phil?

Well, yeah. It can be useful sometimes if you can just bring one of those phrases in

the first time when someone asks you to speak.

Oh, 'For those don't know me, I'm...'

and then you talk about your background and what you're responsible for,

just so people know who you are and how you can help the meeting.

Mm, yeah, and if you've kind of got that rehearsed,

it's a good way to kind of start talking.

You've got over the initial nervousness

and then you can actually say what you want to say.

Right, so we've introduced ourselves and the meeting has started.

What about if somebody else makes an interesting point

and we want to respond confidently in the meeting?

Yeah, so we've got a few phrases here.

We could say something like

'That's a really important point. It makes me think about...' and then say our point.

What do we think about that, Phil?

Well, it helps you engage with what someone's saying.

You might be linking things that are useful.

Yeah, I think it can be useful,

particularly if what they've said is really relevant

to what you're trying to sort out in the meeting.

Yeah, and it's conversational.

Another option we can have, if we want to kind of disagree with somebody,

is to say 'I like that idea, but my thinking is a bit different'.

I guess, as you said, it's a polite way of disagreeing.

Do you think they really like that idea when they say it?

Mm, I don't know.

It depends, I think, on what we're talking about!

But it's just a politer way to say it.

It's not really very helpful in a meeting, especially if you don't know people,

to say "I think that idea is rubbish and I prefer my idea",

so it's all about kind of being friendly and polite with people in meetings.

Another way you could try and enter the conversation is to just ask a question.

So you could say 'What about...' or 'How about...' we try this?

That's a good way to kind of enter into a discussion and a conversation.

Yeah. It's like you're putting something on the table for everyone to talk about.

Mm, but sort of saying 'What about...' or 'How about...'

rather than a very direct question is just a bit more polite.

Mm.

And now a really difficult scenario.

What if there are lots of important people in the meeting

who are all dominating the conversation?

The meeting is moving really quickly and you're nervous about speaking,

but you have some ideas too.

What do you do, Phil?

Well, I think I maybe do this too much.

But it's... You kind of sit and wait for the right moment.

So you wait for it to be, there to be a little bit of a pause

and then you can say something.

Mm, yeah, but what about if you don't get the pause and you need to interrupt?

What would you say then, Phil?

We usually start by apologising.

So you could say something like 'I'm sorry. Can I just ask...'

And that 'just' is an interesting word there,

cos you're kind of saying "I'm not sure about doing it".

You're almost apologising for asking there, 'I'm sorry. Could I just ask...',

'I'm sorry, but I think we need to talk about...' this topic.

And again the 'I think', it's a bit hesitant,

but sometimes that can be useful cos you're showing,

it's a way of showing respect and being polite.

Mm, yeah, so apologising and then kind of saying

'I'm sorry, but I think we should talk about this' is a really useful way in.

Another thing we can do is sort of ask permission to enter the discussion.

So say something like 'Could I add a thought?' or 'Could I say something?'

You're kind of showing that you realise

that other people in the room are important

and so sort of asking permission to join in as well.

Yes, I think that's a really good idea.

Of course, we're talking here from a context, we're here in the UK,

and, in Britain, we tend to have politeness as a really important thing,

so we say 'I'm sorry' a lot or 'Can I just do this?',

but this does differ in different places.

Some other cultures are a lot more direct

and maybe you don't need to apologise quite so much for saying things.

So it's... Perhaps listen to how people speak in the place where you're working,

cos these cultures change, aren't they? They're different in different places.

So we've learned some useful phrases to help us speak up in meetings,

but let's hear again from our BBC colleagues,

because there's one thing we haven't talked about

and that's how to make sure our meetings are useful.

Sometimes meetings can feel a bit pointless

and you're just trying to fill the time.

So, ideally, there's an agenda,

so you know what's going to be talked about and discussed.

Beth talked about having an agenda.

So what do we mean by an 'agenda', Phil?

An 'agenda' is a...

It's a list of things that you're going to talk about in the meeting.

And it's very common, definitely in Britain, it's very common

that you might have a slot at the end that might say 'AOB', any other business.

But the idea is that during the, the other slots,

you only talk about the things that are on the agenda.

And it's... Ideally you share it before the meeting,

so everyone knows what you're going to be talking about,

why you're talking about those things,

and it gives you a chance to think about what you might want to say.

Mm, yes, it's really helpful, because then you can prepare in advance.

And if you're in charge of the meeting,

making sure you have an agenda is really helpful,

because it helps you stay in control of the conversation

and you make sure that the meeting isn't a waste of time.

So you can say things like 'Ooh, I think we're getting a bit off topic'

or 'Please can we stick to the agenda'

and make sure we talk about the important things.

Yeah, that gives you nice, efficient meetings that finish on time, hopefully!

Well, that's the idea, anyway!

And that's it for this episode of Office English.

Remember you can find courses and activities to help you with your English

at BBC Learning English dot com.

Next time, we'll be talking about how to remind people to do something

or chase them up for a response.

And of course, we'll discuss some essential phrases

to help you unlock your career potential.

See you then. Bye.

Bye.