Meetings in English by Lisa Foerster, Annette Joyce Read Free Book Online

saying.
    Interrupting politely
    Sometimes you may need to interrupt a speaker in order to ask your question before they move on to another point. Perhaps the speaker has finished their point and there is a natural pause in which you can ask your question.
    Sorry!
    This is the easiest and fastest way of attracting attention politely and stopping the speaker. This „catchword“ should, however, be backed up by saying what you actually want. If you just want to check back if you have correctly understood what the speaker said, you could say: „Sorry – how much did you say?“ or, „Sorry, when did you say?“
Useful phrases
    Formal meetings
Sorry, I'd just like to ask a question, if I may?
Sorry, could I interrupt you for a moment? I'd like to ask a question.
Excuse me, Peter, I wonder if I could interrupt you for a second?
Sorry, could I come in here with a question?
    Informal meetings
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question.
    If, on the other hand, you are the speaker, you can prevent an interruption by either just ignoring the person or by saying one of the following phrases:
Sorry, John, can you hear me out, please?
Just let me finish, please.
No, Mary, please hear me out.
    Asking for more information
    Once you have politely gained the speaker's attention, move straight on to your question. Asking for a person's opinion when you ask them a question – for example, „What do you think will happen?“ rather than „What will happen?“ – helps „soften“ the question and makes it less direct. Notice, too, how the questioner below uses „would“ and „could“ instead of the more direct „will“ and „can“.
    Example: asking for and receiving further information
    A: Moving into the spring, we need to reassess the product range. Then, in the summer, we'll turn our attention to …
    B: Sorry, could I interrupt you there for a second?
    A: Sure.
    B: I have a question: you mentioned reassessing the product range in the spring. Could I ask you to expand on that?
    A: No problem. Sales of C123 and C124 dropped dramatically last year, so we want to look at the reasons for this and perhaps make some adjustments to the range.
    B: Do you mean introducing new products?
    A: Actually, it's more likely that some products will be discontinued.
    B: I see. What timescale do you have in mind for this process?
    A: Well, we're planning to start the assessment in the first week of March and we anticipate that we'll be finished by mid-April.
    B: Right. That's good to know – thank you.
Useful phrases
You mentioned that [repeat the key point]. Could you expand on that for us?
Could you elaborate/go into more detail on that for us?
Could you explain that in a little more detail?
I'm afraid I don't quite follow you there. Could you be a little more precise/specific?
How do you think that will affect …?
What do you think would be the outcome of that?
What do you consider to be the highest priority here?
How do you envisage implementing …?
What is the timescale likely to be for that/what is the anticipated timescale for this?
Do you foresee any problems/issues/difficulties there?
What do you think would be the possible repercussions of that?
    Active listening
    If you don't want to interrupt the speaker's flow, active listening can simply take the form of single words or „polite noises“, such as „okay“, „aha“, „oh“, „mmm“. Body language, such as nodding and smiling from time to time, should of course accompany all your polite utterings to show that you are listening. Use the handy phrases below if you want to signal to the person speaking that you understand.
Useful phrases
I see.
I understand.
Right.
That's interesting.
Oh, really?
That makes sense.
Okay, thank you for explaining that.
    Responding to questions
    If you need a couple of seconds to think before answering a question, one trick is to repeat the asker's question and clarify what they want to know while you gather your thoughts. When a speaker needs