Business English： Holding meetings in English 用英語主持會議

The Structure of a Meeting 會議的結(jié)構(gòu)

One of the most common requirements of business English is holding meetings in English. The following sections provide useful language and phrases for conducting meetings and making contributions to a meeting。

Meetings generally follow a more or less similar structure and can be divided into the following parts：

I - Introductions

Opening the Meeting

Welcoming and Introducing Participants

Stating the Principal Objectives of a Meeting

Giving Apologies for Someone Who is Absent

II - Reviewing Past Business

Reading the Minutes (notes) of the Last Meeting

Dealing with Recent Developments

III - Beginning the Meeting

Introducing the Agenda

Allocating Roles (secretary， participants)

Agreeing on the Ground Rules for the Meeting (contributions， timing， decision-making， etc。)

IV - Discussing Items

Introducing the First Item on the Agenda

Closing an Item

Next Item

Giving Control to the Next Participant

V - Finishing the Meeting

Summarizing

Finishing Up

Suggesting and Agreeing on Time， Date and Place for the Next Meeting

Thanking Participants for Attending

Closing the Meeting

The following pages focus on each part of the meeting and the appropriate language for each situation。

Running a Meeting 主持會議

The following phrases are used to conduct a meeting. These phrases are useful if you are called on to conduct a meeting。

Opening 宣布會議開始

Good morning/afternoon， everyone。

If we are all here， let’s get started / start the meeting / start。

Welcoming and Introducing 歡迎和介紹出席人員

Please join me in welcoming (name of participant)

We’re pleased to welcome (name of participant)

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to (name of participant)

It’s a pleasure to welcome (name of participant)

I’d like to introduce (name of participant)

Stating the Principal Objectives 闡明會議主要議題

We’re here today to 。.。

I’d like to make sure that we 。.。

Our main aim today is to 。.。

I’ve called this meeting in order to 。.。

Giving Apologies for Someone Who is Absent 對缺席者表示遺憾

I’m afraid.。， (name of participant) can’t be with us today. She is in.。。

Unfortunately， (name of participant) 。.. will not be with us to day because he 。.。

I have received apologies for absence from (name of participant)， who is in (place)。

Reading the Minutes (notes) of the Last Meeting 宣讀上次會議記要

To begin with I’d like to quickly go through the minutes of our last meeting。

First， let’s go over the report from the last meeting， which was held on (date)

Here are the minutes from our last meeting， which was on (date)

Dealing with Recent Developments 詢問近期動態(tài)

Jack， can you tell us how the XYZ project is progressing?

Jack， how is the XYZ project coming along?

John， have you completed the report on the new accounting package?

Has everyone received a copy of the Tate Foundation report on current marketing trends?

Moving Forward 轉(zhuǎn)向下一個議題

So， if there is nothing else we need to discuss， let’s move on to today’s agenda。

Shall we get down to business?

Is there Any Other Business?

If there are no further developments， I’d like to move on to today’s topic。

Introducing the Agenda 介紹議程

Have you all received a copy of the agenda?

There are X items on the agenda. First， 。.. second， 。.. third， 。.. lastly， 。.。

Shall we take the points in this order?

If you don’t mind， I’d like to go in order today。

skip item 1 and move on to item 3

I suggest we take item 2 last。