Bu siness skills: b et ter me etings 1 — 21 business englisch bu sin es s e n g L is

engage with sb.
,
mit jmdm. in 
Dialog treten
item 
[(aItEm]
,
hier:
Tagesord-
nungspunkt
kick-off meeting
ifml.
,
Auftakt- 
veranstaltung
lean in
,
sich vorneigen; 
hier auch: 
sich 
reinhängen
mind map
,
Mindmap, 
Gedanken(land)- 
karte
minutes 
[(mInIts]
,
Protokoll
play sth. up
,
etw. hoch- 
spielen, betonen
record sth. 
[ri(kO:d]
,
etw. proto- 
kollieren
screen
,
Bildschirm;
hier:
Fenster
showcase sth.
,
etw. demon-
strieren
kick-off
meeting
equipment
agenda
...............
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minutes
 
BUILD YOUR 
VOCABULARY!
action 
point
proposal
item
record
decisions
...............

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23 
1/2021
Business Spotlight
COMMUNICATION
Fo
tos: D
ean Mit
chell, Sinenkiy
, L
umiNola/iS
to
ck
.com; priv
at
DEBORAH CAPRAS
 
is a freelance author, 
trainer and corporate communications 
specialist. She is the author of Small 
Talk, published by Collins. Contact:
[e-mail]
 Make use of questions 
Be open to answering questions. People 
appreciate it when you are transparent. 
Also, ask open questions. Such questions 
invite people to reflect on their opinions 
— and on the relevance of their input to 
the purpose of the meeting. People will 
appreciate your efforts to keep the meet-
ing focused — and short!
 Be clear and assertive
If you are regularly talked over in meet-
ings, try using more assertive language. 
Tentative language (“I was thinking that 
maybe we could…”) can result in people 
ESSENTIAL PHRASES 
Highlight your homework 
⋅
Could you provide some back-
ground on the agenda?
⋅
My understanding is that we 
need to…
⋅
As I understand it, our goal is to…
Highlight your contribution
⋅
I was responsible for…
⋅
I took care of…
⋅
I have successfully completed… 
Share the credit
⋅
It was a team effort.
⋅
We worked really well together.
⋅
We should highlight how… 
Engage with everyone
⋅
Would you like to add some-
thing, Brian? 
⋅
Could you imagine that would 
work, Sue? 
⋅
Pierre, I’m sure you will back me 
up on this.
Master your message and the tech 
⋅
I’m going to spend five minutes 
on…
⋅
I’m going to pull up my presenta-
tion on the screen.
⋅
Can you all see my screen? 
Make use of questions
⋅
That’s a really good question. Let 
me explain.
⋅
Could you help me understand 
the relevance?
⋅
Have we thought about…?