Participating in meetings: making your point. For more English tutorials, please visit: https://www.thelecturette.com

1. Meetings: making your point

2. Things to Consider before the
Meeting
• Which kind of language gets your opinion
across most effectively?
• Which kind of language will get you the best
possible results?

3. Contributing Effectively
Do Don’t
• obey the ground rules • monopolize the
• be positive discussion
• separate people from • become emotional
problems or too argumentative
• keep to the topic • make personal
criticisms

4. Contributing Effectively
Do Don’t
• use clear simple • digress
language • use long
• allow other to finish complicated
• ask for clarification if sentences
you don’t understand • Interrupt too much
• pretend you
understand

5. Contributing Effectively
To be able to contribute effectively you need
to:
• listen actively
• observe others
• be diplomatic
• be positive

6. Contributing Effectively
To be able to contribute effectively you need :
• useful phrases for making your point
• useful language for communicating towards a
successful outcome

7. Making Your Point
• express opinions and make suggestions
• justify and give reasons
• build up and argument
• express agreement
• express disagreement
• balance points of view
• explain
• interrupt effectively
• evade issues

8. Expressing Opinions
All participants should contribute as fully as
possible by expressing opinions and making
suggestions.
• I think …
• Well, I think …
• Well, personally …
• As I see it, …
• I don’ t know what you think, but I …
• I don’ t know how you feel, but I …

9. Making Suggestions
Useful language for making suggestions:
• How about … ?
• I’ d like to suggest …
• We would …

10. Justifying and Giving Reasons
Ensure you give a good reason for what you
say.
• This is why I have suggested this …
• My reason for saying / suggesting this is …
• I believe this because …

11. Building up an Argument
Useful language to support an argument:
• In addition, …
• In support of this, I’ d like to add …

12. Building up an Argument
Useful language to express advantages and
disadvantages:
• The advantages of this would be …
• There are some disadvantages, …

13. Expressing Agreement
Expressing agreement about other people’s
opinions helps to move the discussion
forward.
• Yes, and …
• That’ s right, …
• Absolutely, …
• Yes, that’ s fine.
• I agree.

14. Expressing Disagreement
Negative feelings should be expressed in a
positive way as far as possible.
• Yes, but …
• I’ m not convinced that …
• That’ s not quite how I see it.
• Wouldn’ t it be better to …
• That’ s no quite what I think.

15. Balancing Points of View
Useful language to balance points of view:
• Yes, there are good reasons for that, but
equally …
• On the other hand this is … but on the other,
,
…

16. Explaining
If you think someone has misunderstood you,
or you wish to explain something more fully,
you can use these phrases.
• I mean …
• You see …
• I’ ll just run you through that again, …
• What I mean is …

17. Interrupting Effectively
You show respect for the other participants if
you use one of these phrases before
interrupting someone. This also gives a signal
that you want to say something.
• Can I just say something?
• Sorry to interrupt, but …
• Yes, but …

18. Evading Issues
It can be useful to postpone discussion on
certain subjects until later in the meeting.
• I’ d rather not talk about that at the moment.
• Could we come back to that later on?
• I haven’ t really got all the information I need
to comment on that at present.

19. Questions?
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