Professional English: Expressions to use in business & office meetings

Hey, welcome back.

So today, we're looking at some functional phrases to use in a business or a project basis.

Now, I've taught lots of people now over the years, and whilst people may have a reasonable

grasp of English, unless they have a range of phrases to use in their everyday working

lives, then their English can sound a little bit stilted.

So, what I'm aiming to do today is a equip you with some very specific phrases that you're

going to be able to use straight away.

So, the context of this is you're working in a group and you have been asked to go off

and find something out, to go and do some research.

So, you've gone off, you've done your research, and you're coming back to the group to present

your findings, yep.

What your research was.

So, first phrase: So - this is really just a filler here.

You're not really saying anything.

So, from what I've seen so far - well, what did you see?

I saw that this would make a fantastic place to start a business.

From what I've seen so far, so far, up until this point, from what I have seen, my personal

experience.

What I noticed.

Second construction: Having spoken to every single retail business in Montreal, I've come

to the conclusion that it's not the right place to set up our business.

Having - and then you put the action that you've done - I've.

So, this comes first.

I've done all of these things, and now - okay, past perfect.

Next phrase: It's come to my attention that... short for "It has".

It has come to my attention that... well, what have you learnt?

What have you understood?

So, let's have an imaginary situation here.

You're working for a soft drink manufacturer, and you've been to do some research to see

what kind of flavors people are looking for.

It's come to my attention that people are bored of the old tastes and they're looking

for something new.

So, my attention means my awareness.

I got the impression that... to get the impression means to - you're not definitely sure about

it, but you think that.

You kind of - you've got suspicions of.

You've got an inkling, yes?

Let's write that one down.

To get an inkling -

means like a - "Ah yeah", "I think".

You're not definitely sure.

I got the impression that people wanted a more sort of summery taste.

Okay?

Next, I think it's fair to say that...

I think it is fair, yeah, it's reasonable to say that.

So, what you're doing here is you're kind of summarizing.

And you're kind of going on to give an opinion.

I think it's fair to say that people really want a change.

They don't just want the old tastes.

Okay.

So, this is what you found out, and now you're kind of referring to those different sources.

Maybe it's people you spoke to.

Maybe it's things you read.

What I've learnt from a survey, what I've learnt from the survey I did is... and then

you're giving the specific learning, yep.

Or takeaway.

People like using that word these days.

So, according to... yep.

Now, I'm saying which person told us what.

So, according to blah blah blah blah blah, an expert in soft drinks, he advised that

the popular appeal of the old, fizzy black drink no longer interested people.

Right.

Having read - okay, this is a very similar construction to this one here.

Having read, I have read, about this extensively means like, I have read every single thing

about this subject, I would say that.

And then you're giving an opinion.

I would say.

So, whenever we use "would", we're being indirect, which can be polite in a business context.

When I spoke to... the impression I got was... when I spoke to John, the impression I got

was that he wanted to diversify, okay?

So, some phrases there for what you noticed.

And then referring to the specific sources of the information.

Let's move on now to discussing those ideas and coming up with a plan of action for that

committee or group.

So, we have said what we have found out, and we have told people where we got that information

from.

Now, maybe someone else in that group suggests an idea that you don't agree with.

This is what you can say.

"Sorry, no.

I don't go along with that."

So, we're imagining here that the idea is a real person, yeah.

It's personification.

The idea is now a person, and you're not going to go along with that one to have a pint of

beer.

No, no, no, can't go along with that, can't agree with that.

But we're softening the blow by saying "sorry", yep.

And we're not saying, "I don't agree with you", yeah, we're just saying we don't like

that idea, okay?

It's all about being polite and diplomatic.

Now, we might give a little bit of credit.

That might seem like a good idea, but - and then you find a specific disadvantage that

may happen if you go down that suggested route, yep.

So, Joe Blogs is saying that we should all keep dinosaurs in our garden.

Well, that might seem like a good idea, but have you thought about how jealous the lawnmower

is going to be?

I'm clearly going absolutely mad.

Well, it happens.

However, having discussed this with the neighbor, I would say that it would not be popular in

the back gardens of Balham have this dinosaur there.

Right.

So then, they ask a question and maybe there's a new proposal that, instead of a real dinosaur,

it's an inflatable plastic dinosaur, and they're asking us what we think.

Well, wouldn't like to say.

I mean, there are some advantages of this.

Maybe the children will enjoy seeing the inflatable dinosaur, but you know, some people might

not like it.

Difficult to say, really.

That means I'm going to sit on the fence.

The fence is an imaginary line.

We can sit on the fence when we're not giving our opinion.

Difficult to say, really means I'm not saying.

Maybe it's a case of keeping both options open, yep.

We could do this, we could do that.

I'm just not convinced that the inflatable dinosaur will last for a long time, yep.

You're kind of hinting that maybe it's a bad idea here.

I'm not convinced, I'm not 100% sure that - I'm not 100% sure that the dinosaur will

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Now, what do we think?

We think, actually, that the idea is to get a real dinosaur.

Yes, dinosaurs exist.

We need to jump on this.

We need to make this idea happen, yep.

So again, the idea becomes some real thing.

We're imagining it, the idea is there, yeah.

And we're jumping on the idea.

The benefits are clear, yes?

Benefit, something that brings good, okay?

This is going to happen, this going to happen, this is going to happen, this is going to

happen, everyone's going to come to Balham to see the dinosaur.

Think of the person who can sell ice creams at the end of the road, because everyone's

going to be coming.

That's awesome.

Win-win situation.

I'm sure you'll see.

I am sure you will see.

So, in the future, yep, you're going to see that the decision we make now has brought

benefit, okay?

You will see how good it is.

But we don't want to be too pushy, too forceful.

Because that's unattractive, you know.

We've got to be open to other people's ideas sometimes.

So, you can say, "I see what you're saying".

I see what you're saying.

It's funny here, because we've got visual and auditory.

I see what you're saying.

But what this means is yeah, I can understand what you're saying, but I don't agree.

Yes, that's an interesting point, but... so, you're giving credit to the other person and

then maybe you're just putting your idea again there.

So, what have we done?

We have looked at various phrases.

You presenting information back to the group.

Saying no.

Saying not sure.

Saying what you think.

Saying yes, but.

Okay?

So, there's really no point in doing all this learning unless you're actually going to put

it into practice.

So, think of a time coming up in the next couple of weeks when you're going to be in

some sort of meeting or some sort of project and it's all about planning your use of English,

yep.

It's about thinking, right, I'm going to meet with that guy.

This is what I want to say.

I want to say this, this, and this.

Yep.

Arm yourself.

Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Until the next time, I will see you.

But if you do want to do the quiz, that would be a very good idea.

And if you do want any extra help with your English, www.honeyourenglish.com . Until the

next time, bye.