Lead a Meeting in English | 10 Must-Have Strategies Plus Example Phrases

Summary

This video script offers 10 strategies for leading effective English business meetings and decision-making conversations. Key points include setting and sharing an agenda, preparing key points, communicating the meeting's purpose, opening positively, modeling active listening, asking targeted questions, minimizing off-topic discussions, being concise, expressing gratitude, and summarizing action steps. The script aims to ensure meetings are productive, satisfying, and clear for all participants.

Takeaways

• 🗓️ Set and share your agenda in advance to ensure everyone is prepared and values team input.
• 📝 Prepare your key points in advance to express your ideas confidently during the meeting.
• 🎯 Determine and communicate the purpose of the meeting to achieve a specific outcome.
• 🌟 Open the meeting with a positive tone and provide initial updates to set the right atmosphere.
• 👂 Model active listening skills to show you value others' contributions and encourage participation.
• 🤔 Be ready to ask targeted questions to guide the conversation and elicit valuable information.
• 🛑 Minimize off-track conversations to stay focused on the meeting's purpose and achieve the desired outcome.
• 💬 Say your point and stop talking to avoid rambling and allow space for others to contribute.
• 🙌 Give thanks where thanks is due to recognize the contributions of others and foster a positive environment.
• 🔖 Summarize key points and close with action steps to ensure clarity on next steps and decisions made.

Q & A

What are the 10 essential strategies for successful meetings and business conversations in English discussed in the script?

The script outlines 10 strategies: 1) Set and share your agenda, 2) Prepare your key points, 3) Determine and communicate the purpose, 4) Open the meeting and provide initial updates, 5) Model active listening skills, 6) Be ready to ask targeted questions, 7) Minimize off-track conversations, 8) Say your point and stop talking, 9) Give thanks where thanks is due, and 10) Close with your action steps.

Why is sharing the agenda in advance considered a good practice?

Sharing the agenda in advance is beneficial because it ensures everyone comes to the meeting prepared, values team input, and provides time for introverted or shy team members to think before they may need to speak.

How can preparing key points in advance help during a meeting?

Preparing key points in advance helps in having the confidence needed to express ideas clearly when the time comes to speak, ensuring that the speaker is ready to contribute effectively to the meeting.

What is the importance of determining and communicating the purpose of a meeting?

Determining and communicating the purpose of a meeting helps ensure that the primary goal is achieved, as it sets a clear expectation for what the outcome of the meeting should be.

How can setting a positive tone at the start of a meeting enhance productivity?

Setting a positive tone at the start of a meeting helps others feel comfortable contributing their ideas, which can lead to a more productive and successful discussion.

What does it mean to model active listening skills during a meeting?

Modeling active listening skills involves carefully listening to others, maintaining eye contact, using body language to show engagement, and nodding to indicate agreement or understanding, which demonstrates that you value their contributions.

Why is it important to ask targeted questions during a meeting?

Asking targeted questions helps guide the conversation, elicit information, recognize others' contributions, and offer help when needed, which can lead to a more vibrant and productive discussion.

How can you minimize off-track conversations during a meeting?

To minimize off-track conversations, you can acknowledge the importance of the topic but suggest continuing the discussion at another time or in another meeting, thus refocusing the group on the agenda and the meeting's goal.

What does it mean to 'say your point and stop talking' during a meeting?

This means to keep comments brief, say what you need to say once, and then stop speaking to allow for others to contribute, ask questions, or for the discussion to move on to the next point.

Why is it important to give thanks where thanks is due during a meeting?

Giving thanks acknowledges the contributions of others, which is a key aspect of good leadership and can motivate team members by recognizing their efforts and the impact of their work.

How should you summarize and close a meeting effectively?

To summarize and close a meeting effectively, highlight the key points, decisions, or tasks assigned without repeating everything said, ensuring that everyone is clear on the next steps.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ Effective Communication in English Meetings

This paragraph introduces the topic of managing business meetings and decision-making conversations in English. It addresses the challenges of leading such discussions, especially for those who may lack confidence or find themselves unexpectedly tasked with leading a meeting. The focus is on 10 essential strategies for successful meetings and business conversations in English, which include setting and sharing an agenda, preparing key points, determining and communicating the purpose of the meeting, and more. The speaker, Anarie, emphasizes the importance of these strategies and encourages subscribing to her channel for more English lessons.

05:03

📝 Preparing for a Successful Meeting

Paragraph 2 delves into the importance of preparation before a meeting. It discusses the value of having a clear agenda and key points prepared in advance. The paragraph suggests questions to consider when preparing, such as what updates to provide, ideas to share, and issues to resolve. It also advises writing down keywords to refer to during the meeting. The speaker emphasizes the importance of determining and communicating the purpose of the meeting to ensure a clear outcome. Additionally, it provides examples of how to open a meeting on a positive note and set the stage for productive discussions.

10:04

👂 Active Listening and Guiding Conversations

This paragraph discusses the importance of active listening in meetings and how it contributes to effective communication and problem-solving. It highlights strategies for demonstrating active listening, such as maintaining eye contact and using body language. The paragraph also covers the importance of asking targeted questions to guide the conversation and elicit information, as well as recognizing and acknowledging others' contributions. Additionally, it addresses how to minimize off-topic conversations and keep discussions focused on the agenda.

15:05

🔚 Wrapping Up Meetings with Impact

The final paragraph focuses on how to effectively conclude a meeting. It advises speaking concisely, allowing for pauses to observe reactions and invite feedback, and moving on to the next point if necessary. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of recognizing and thanking team members for their contributions, suggesting a brief acknowledgment is more impactful. Lastly, it covers the strategy of summarizing key points and action steps at the end of the meeting to ensure clarity and set the stage for future actions.

Keywords

💡Agenda

An agenda is a formal plan or a set of items to be discussed at a meeting or conference. It serves as a roadmap for the discussion, ensuring that all participants are aware of the topics to be covered. In the context of the video, sharing the agenda in advance is highlighted as a crucial step to prepare participants and to show that their input is valued. For instance, the script mentions, 'prepare an agenda helps create a road map for the discussion or meeting you're about to have'.

💡Key Points

Key points refer to the most important aspects or ideas that one wants to convey during a meeting or discussion. The video emphasizes the importance of preparing these in advance to ensure effective communication. It is suggested to think about what updates need to be provided, what ideas or questions to bring up, and what issues to discuss, as illustrated by the question prompts provided in the script.

💡Purpose

Purpose, in the context of a meeting, refers to the specific outcome or goal that the meeting aims to achieve. The video stresses the importance of determining and communicating this purpose to ensure that the meeting is productive and focused. An example from the script is, 'what is the one specific thing or the one specific outcome you want from this meeting?'

💡Active Listening

Active listening is the act of fully concentrating, understanding, and responding to what is being said by others. It is presented in the video as an essential interpersonal skill that demonstrates value for others' contributions. The script mentions maintaining eye contact and using body language as ways to show active listening.

💡Targeted Questions

Targeted questions are specific inquiries designed to elicit particular information or insights. The video suggests that asking such questions is a way to guide the conversation and encourage vibrant discussion. An example from the script is, 'based on the opportunities we have, what is the best way forward?'

💡Off-Track Conversations

Off-track conversations refer to discussions that deviate from the main topic or agenda. The video advises on strategies to minimize these and keep the meeting focused, such as suggesting to continue the discussion at another time or after the meeting. The script provides phrases like, 'this is certainly an important topic that we need to continue discussing, but we'll have to save it for another time'.

💡Rambling

Rambling is speaking at length without a clear point or direction. The video advises against rambling and encourages speakers to be concise and clear, allowing for pauses that can provide feedback or space for others to contribute. The script mentions the importance of saying what needs to be said one time and then stopping.

💡Recognition

Recognition in a meeting context refers to acknowledging and appreciating the contributions of others. The video suggests that a good leader will recognize others' efforts, which can be done by mentioning their name, identifying their accomplishment, and describing its impact. An example from the script is, 'I'd like to take a moment to thank Anna for urging us to update our entire community on changes we've made.'

💡Action Steps

Action steps are the specific tasks or next steps that result from a meeting or discussion. The video emphasizes summarizing these at the end of a meeting to ensure clarity on what will happen next. Phrases like 'let's wrap up with the key points, the key decisions, or the key tasks that have been assigned' are suggested to effectively summarize and close the meeting.

💡Confidence

Confidence in the context of the video refers to the self-assurance and belief in one's ability to effectively lead a meeting or discussion in English. The video offers strategies to build this confidence, such as practicing by speaking out loud and preparing key points in advance. The script mentions that 'everything I do is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your life and work in English'.

Highlights

10 essential strategies for successful meetings and business conversations in English

Confidence-building strategies for leading discussions in English

Importance of starting and ending meetings on time

Creating an agenda as a roadmap for discussion

Sharing the agenda in advance to prepare the team

Preparing key points to express ideas confidently

Determining and communicating the purpose of the meeting

Opening the meeting with a positive tone

Modeling active listening skills during meetings

Asking targeted questions to guide the conversation

Minimizing off-track conversations to stay focused

The importance of being concise and stopping when you've made your point

Giving thanks and recognizing contributions

Summarizing key points and closing with action steps

Practicing by speaking out loud to gain confidence

Using transition words to guide the audience through the meeting

The power of pauses in allowing for feedback and moving on

How to effectively summarize and close a meeting

Transcripts

how do you start manage and end a

business meeting or a decision-making

conversation effectively in English

ensuring that by the end everyone is

satisfied it's not an easy task whether

you regularly host meetings but struggle

with the confidence of doing them in

English or you're unexpectedly tasked to

lead a discussion in English at the very

last minute this lesson today is going

to help you do all of that we're going

to focus on 10 essential strategies for

successful meetings and business

conversations in English along the way

you'll also learn essential

[Music]

phrases if you don't already know I'm

anarie with speak confident English

everything I do is designed to to help

you get the confidence you want for your

life and work in English one way I do

that is with these weekly confident

English lessons where I share with you

confidence and fluency building

strategies advanced level

vocabulary and targeted lessons on

communication skills like in this lesson

today if you find this lesson helpful be

sure that you subscribe to my speak

confident English Channel so that you

never miss one of these weekly confident

in English

lessons now if you've ever done a quick

Google search on how to lead a

successful meeting in English I'm

certain that you found articles

highlighting the importance of starting

and ending on time creating an agenda

and so on all of that is true and we

will highlight some key phrases for all

of those steps today in this lesson but

we're going to go much further you'll

also gain lesser known strategies for

overall preparedness and smooth

communication ultimately everyone will

walk away from the meeting or discussion

knowing that it was worth their time and

with Clarity on what's going to happen

next here's a quick snapshot of the 10

strategies we're going to walk through

step by step set and share your agenda

prepare your key points determine and

communicate the purpose open the meeting

and provide initial updates model active

listening skills be ready to ask

targeted questions and minimize off trck

conversations say your point and stop

talking give thanks where thanks is due

and finally close with your action steps

before we jump into strategy number one

let's talk a moment about

preparation if you've been tasked with

leading a meeting or a discussion in

English and you're struggling with

confidence if you're feeling nervous and

staying awake at night never

underestimate the power of practicing by

speaking out loud this is a strategy I

talk about indepth in my how to say what

you want training which is a free

training available at my speak confident

English website after we go through

these strategies today I recommend that

you download that training and use what

you learn there to help you be prepared

and gain the confidence you need and now

strategy number one set and share the

agenda preparing an agenda helps create

a road map for the discussion or meeting

you're about to have but many leaders

unfortunately stop there sharing the

agenda with your team in advance ensures

that everyone has time to come to the

meeting prepared not only that it shows

that you value your team's input and

you're taking care of some of your more

introverted and shy team members as well

you're giving them time to think before

they may need to speak an easy way to

share and set expectations for the

meeting in advance is to send it by

email or post it on a communication

platform you have with your team I

recommend doing it at least 24 hours in

advance when you do that that here's a

great phrase you can use to let everyone

know why you're sharing the agenda

please find the agenda for Tuesdays

10:00 meeting attached in sharing it now

I expect everyone to come to the meeting

prepared and I anticipate a more

successful outcome our second strategy

for successful meetings and discussions

in English is prepare your key points

having an agenda is a great start but it

doesn't mean that you're prepared to

share your ideas how many times have you

wanted to express something to share an

idea or a solution you had but then in

the moment you got stuck preparing in

advance will help you have the

confidence you need in the moment you're

ready to speak whether you are the one

creating the agenda or if you're

reviewing an agenda that your boss has

shared with you here are some questions

that can help you think about your key

points in advance

what updates do I need to provide and

what details do I need to include what

ideas or questions do I want to bring up

what issues do I want to discuss and

resolve and why are these important what

challenges am I facing or what do I need

a decision on and who do I need to thank

or

acknowledge of course you may not have

answers to all of those questions and

you may not need to address all of them

but but going through each one will help

you be more prepared and have time to

think about the language you need to

express what you want in the moment also

I recommend that while you go through

those questions write down any keywords

that come to your mind it's common for

all of us to have a notebook or a piece

of paper with us in a meeting and if

you've written down those keywords in

advance you can reference them quickly

and make sure that everything you want

to say

is ready and you're prepared to do it

successfully in the meeting strategy

number three for successful meetings and

English is determine and communicate the

purpose of your meeting this is one

final preparation step you can take

before you have your meeting and what

this really means is what is the one

specific thing or the one specific

outcome you want from this meeting do

you need everyone to agree on a way

forward on a specific project do you

expect to divide up numerous tasks among

team members and have everyone walk away

with Clarity on what they're supposed to

do next is the goal to get a thorough

progress update communicating this

Purpose with your team along with the

agenda will ensure that that primary

goal is

achieved strategy number four open the

meeting with a positive tone and provide

initial

updates setting a positive productive

tone right from the start helps others

feel comfortable when it's time for them

to contribute their ideas this means

thinking carefully about how to open the

meeting including how to welcome

everyone create space for introductions

if necessary and provide any immediate

updates right at the start I'll share a

few examples here in this video lesson

but you can get several more by visiting

this lesson at speak confident English

website and you'll find a link to that

just below this video a few common ways

to positively open the meeting include

starting with a greeting good morning

everyone or good afternoon everyone and

then now that everyone's here let's get

started or I'd like to get started and

welcome all of you to the meeting today

if introductions are necessary here are

a few ways you can get that started

before we dive into the agenda let's go

around the room and have everyone

quickly introduce themselves please be

sure to include your name and your

position or I know most of you here but

I do see a few unfamiliar faces so let's

do a quick round of

introductions and then when you're ready

to introduce the agenda and provide any

initial updates here are a few ways to

do that as a quick reminder our goal for

this meeting today is and then let

everyone know the purpose of the meeting

or that one specific outcome you want to

achieve another way to say that might be

by the end of this meeting today we

should have a decision on and then the

expected outcome if there are multiple

topics that you need to discuss you

could introduce them quickly by saying

we have a few items on the agenda to

discuss today the first is the second

the third and so on

as you review those sentences I just

shared you might notice some transition

words or phrases things like the first

one the second one and finally or by the

end of our discussion today these

transition words and phrases help to

guide your audience so they know where

you're going and what to expect at every

step and now strategy number five model

active listening skills recently my

confident women community spent 2 weeks

exploring the world of soft skills soft

skills include a mix of attitudes

character traits and interpersonal

skills that lead to productive

communication and successful problem

solving active listening is certainly an

essential component of interpersonal

skills in a meeting or discussion

listening carefully and demonstrating

that you're listening carefully lets

others know that you value their

contributions now I have a full lesson

on this topic of how to demonstrate

active listening or powerful listening

skills in English so I won't go over all

of that here I'm going to highlight just

a few key examples but if you want to

learn more about how you demonstrate how

you show that you're actively listening

I'll share a link to that lesson just

below this video in English-speaking

culture one way that we demonstrate the

we're listening carefully is by

maintaining eye contact looking at the

person speaking even if you're on a

video call you can still do this by

looking directly into the camera a

second key component for demonstrating

active listening skills in

English-speaking culture is to use body

language not only might you maintain eye

contact but we also tend to lean forward

or lean in when we're listening to

someone and might nod our head to show

agreement or understanding once again if

you want to get more examples of how you

can demonstrate active listening in

English be sure to check out my lesson

on that topic strategy number six on our

list is be ready to ask targeted

questions if you are leading the

discussion or if you've called the

meeting everyone else is looking to you

to guide the conversation along the best

best way to do that and the best way to

encourage vibrant

conversation is to ask a variety of

questions that are strategic that elicit

information or details questions that

help recognize others and their

contributions and questions that offer

help if needed let's take a look at a

few examples of each and again I provide

several more examples of targeted

questions you can ask in the online

lesson which you can find at my website

and there's a link below this video your

strategic questions might include based

on the opportunities we have what is the

best way forward or given these

challenges how should we proceed

elicitation questions include I'd like

to hand it over to Cindy who can share

her thoughts on or simply what does

everyone think about this a couple of

recognition questions

are how did your team accomplish this or

who helped you with this project and

questions that offer help might be what

would help you the most right now or

what resources do you need to achieve

your ultimate

outcome once you get the conversation

going with targeted questions you might

find that on occasion the conversation

goes off track or gets off topic so

strategy number seven minimize off trck

conversations and help others stay on

point if a discussion gets too far off

track it might result in not achieving

the outcome or the purpose of your

meeting so to help everyone stay focused

on the task at hand here are a few

things you can say this is certainly an

important topic that we need to continue

discussing but we'll have to save it for

another time for now we need to get back

to the agenda so that we can achieve our

goal for our meeting today or that's a

great point but we'll need to follow up

on that in another meeting or after the

meeting today I really appreciate your

idea on that can we explore it further

in another meeting so that we can get

back to the agenda for

today once again if you want more

examples of how you can successfully get

the conversation back on track be sure

to visit this lesson at my website and

now strategy number eight for successful

meetings and discussions in English say

your point and stop talking when we're

nervous when we're unprepared or we're

not getting the feedback from others

that we expect we have a tendency to

ramble to ramble means to speak without

Clarity or direction we just go on and

on and on WE repeat ourselves again and

again and ultimately we speak without

impact whether you're in introducing a

meeting topic or sharing your idea or

solution it's important to keep your

comments brief what that means is you

say what you need to say one time and

then stop speaking allow for a pause

some

silence that can be a little

uncomfortable or awkward the first time

but those pauses allow for a few things

to happen they allow you to observe the

reaction of everyone else and maybe get

some visual feedback as to whether they

understood or not it also shows that

you've finished speaking and so if

someone else has something to contribute

or a question they want to ask for

clarification that's the perfect time to

do so if no one says anything at all it

may be an opportunity for you to move on

to the next point it's important to

trust that when you have those moments

of Silence others will ask questions

questions if they have one and if they

don't it's perfectly appropriate to move

on to the next Point strategy number

nine in a meeting give thanks where

thanks is due a good leader will

recognize the contributions of others so

when it's applicable make sure to take

time to recognize and praise what others

have done and the good news is this

doesn't have to be a lengthy speech in

fact it's more powerful

when we keep our thanks limited to just

one or two

sentences I like to include three key

things when giving thanks or recognizing

others include the name of the team or

the individual identify what they did or

accomplished and Describe the impact

here's an example I'd like to take a

moment to thank Anna for urging us to

update our entire community on changes

we're made to the

platform in doing so not only did our

community feel more engaged in this

process but they also shared with us

their thoughts which allowed us to make

better decisions for our

platform and finally strategy 10 on our

list for how to lead a successful

discussion or meeting in English

summarize your key points and close with

your action steps this doesn't mean that

you have to repeat everything that was

said but rather highlighting the key

points and any significant decisions or

tasks that have been assigned here are a

few example phrases to help you do that

effectively we're getting close to our

time so let's wrap up with and then

summarize the key points the key

decisions or the key tasks that have

been assigned a second option if there

are no further issues to discuss I want

to finish with a quick summary and

highlight

and then once again highlight those key

points if you want a few more examples

of how to effectively summarize and

close the meeting definitely visit this

lesson at the speak confident English

website and if you've had an aha moment

while listening to this lesson today a

moment of insight I'd love to hear about

it as always you can share your

questions and comments with me in the

comment section below this video and

while you're here don't don't forget to

subscribe to the speak confident English

Channel thank you so much for joining me

and I look forward to seeing you next

time