Meetings vocabulary Suggestions practice

Choose one of the sentences on the second page, ask for your partner’s/ partners’ suggestions and respond to what they say.

Useful phrases for giving suggestions

Be prepared to…

Don’t be surprised if

It is best to

…is not a good time to

Make sure you…

…is generally the right thing to do.

Under no circumstances should you…

don’t expect to…

The normal system is…

…supposed to…

You’d better….

It isn’t recommended to…

It is usually better to…

Most people would advise you to…

You should make sure that…

…is generally a good idea.

You may (also) want to…

Be sure to…

In general,…

Without exception, you should…

One recommendation is to…

…is to be avoided.

Avoid…

A good suggestion is to…

You can expect…

Whenever possible,

The standard way of doing things is to…

It is normal to…

It isn’t considered positive to…

It is common to…

Be prepared for…

Remember to…

Don’t forget to…

The most important thing is to…

… would (probably/ certainly) help.

… is best avoided.

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Problems

• I’m going to be attending a board meeting for the first time.
• I don’t know how to use PowerPoint.
• My boss is always rambling.
• I think I have too many points/ items on the agenda but don’t know what to drop.
• My colleagues won’t stick to the agenda.
• I can’t take notes and contribute to the meeting at the same time.
• I have to write up the minutes of the meeting in English for the first time.
• The small talk at the beginning of the meeting takes up almost fifteen minutes.
• We never reach a consensus.
• Some people don’t take part in the meeting.
• The most important person can’t attend the meeting tomorrow.
• If I ask for a show of hands, most people don’t vote for either option.
• Most of the meetings I go to are just to rubber stamp decisions which are made by prior to the meeting. It’s a waste of time and really demotivating!
• I can’t bear haggling over prices.
• I can’t concentrate if I don’t have a fag break/ coffee break/ toilet break/ comfort break every hour.

 

Create similar problems about these things or using this vocabulary:

• Overrun
• Venue
• Verbal agreement
• Deadlock
• Longwinded
• Teleconference
• Video conference
• (Too) direct/ indirect
• Interrupt/ Interruption
• Kick off/ Get the ball rolling
• AGM/ Shareholder’s meeting
• Split vote
• (Sitting) on the fence
• Indecisive
• Sticking point
• Quorum

Check you understand all the words and expressions in bold above.

What phrases can you use to respond to suggestions positively and negatively?

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PDF for easy saving and printing: MeetingsVocabSuggestions

Related pages

Meetings and negotiations page

Advice, recommendations and suggestions page

Over 300 pages of meetings photocopiables here.