Learn how to set up a meeting
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Planning an English Business Meeting. Becky here. |
| John: Hi, I'm John. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to set up a meeting. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| John: It's between Linda and John Sullivan. |
| Becky: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Linda: Mrs. Smith wants to check the PR team's ongoing projects. Can we set up a meeting by Friday? |
| John Sullivan: Sure! |
| Linda: Does the team have any events that cannot be extended? |
| John Sullivan: Not this week. |
| Linda: Do you need time to get ready for the meeting? |
| John Sullivan: Yes, at least half a day. |
| Linda: Okay, so what about the day after tomorrow at ten a.m.? |
| John Sullivan: That sounds good. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one more time, slowly. |
| Linda: Mrs. Smith wants to check the PR team's ongoing projects. Can we set up a meeting by Friday? |
| John Sullivan: Sure! |
| Linda: Does the team have any events that cannot be extended? |
| John Sullivan: Not this week. |
| Linda: Do you need time to get ready for the meeting? |
| John Sullivan: Yes, at least half a day. |
| Linda: Okay, so what about the day after tomorrow at ten a.m.? |
| John Sullivan: That sounds good. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: In this dialogue, Linda wanted to set up a meeting. |
| John: There are always meetings to set up in American businesses! |
| Becky: For what kinds of reasons do these meetings happen? |
| John: Things like performance reviews. |
| Becky: Oh, to discuss company performance? |
| John: Also staff performance. If they’re for company or team performance reviews, they could be daily meetings. |
| Becky: I think it’d be unusual to have one-to-one meetings daily though. |
| John: Yeah, I think so too. |
| Becky: What about an employee who has a problem with something at work? Would that lead to a meeting too? |
| John: Maybe. The employee should speak to their manager first about any problems. |
| Becky: How about trade unions? |
| John: They exist in America, but membership is low, with only 11% of the US workforce belonging to one. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: PR [natural native speed] |
| Becky: public relations - the image of a company |
| John: PR [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: PR [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: ongoing [natural native speed] |
| Becky: continuing, not yet ended |
| John: ongoing [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: ongoing [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, there’s... |
| John: to set up [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to prepare, to arrange |
| John: to set up [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to set up [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next up is... |
| John: to be extended [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be lengthened |
| John: to be extended [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to be extended [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next, we have... |
| John: to get ready for [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to prepare for |
| John: to get ready for[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to get ready for [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Then, there’s... |
| John: at least [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the minimum amount |
| John: at least [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: at least [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And lastly... |
| John: to sound [natural native speed] |
| Becky: used to talk about your opinion or impression |
| John: to sound [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| John: to sound [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| John: PR team |
| Becky: ...meaning "the group of people that manages a company’s image." |
| Becky: First, is an acronym. What do the letters “PR” stand for? |
| John: “Public relations.” |
| Becky: And a “team” is a group of people, usually a group working towards a common goal. |
| John: So the “PR team” refers to the people responsible for the company image, and its relations with its customers. |
| Becky: You can use this pattern to talk about other groups in a company. |
| John: Right, such as a “sales team” or “marketing team.” |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| John: Sure. For example, you can say “The PR team arranged several interviews to promote the new movie.” |
| Becky: ...which is like saying "The people responsible for the company’s image arranged several interviews to promote the new movie" |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| John: ongoing |
| Becky: ...meaning "continuing, not yet ended." |
| Becky: This word is an adjective. |
| John: It can be used to describe things that are continuing. |
| Becky: So, if you have some work that you are doing and it isn’t yet finished... |
| John: ...you can say that it is “ongoing.” |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| John: Sure. For example, you can say “The investigation is ongoing.” |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| John: meeting |
| Becky: ...meaning "a planned time when people discuss things." |
| Becky: This is a noun. |
| John: It’s used to refer to anytime when people come together to discuss things. |
| Becky: Yes, it doesn’t matter if it’s planned several days in advance or just a few minutes before. |
| John: It’s used a lot in the business world. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| John: Sure. For example, you can say “We have a meeting every day at ten a.m.” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about how to set up a meeting. Let’s start at the beginning of setting up a meeting. If we’re going to have a meeting, we need a space to hold it! |
| John: Yes, if it’s an informal meeting this isn’t so important, but for formal meetings you need a room. |
| Becky: Let’s hear some sentence patterns that we can use to ask about rooms. |
| John: You can say “Is the meeting room free…” or “Is the meeting room available…” |
| Becky: And then say the date or time that you want to use it. |
| John: Remember, when talking about days, we use the preposition “on” - “on Monday.” |
| Becky: For times, we use a different preposition. |
| John: Yes, we use “at” - “at three o’clock.” |
| Becky: Let’s hear all of that together in a sentence. |
| John: “Is the meeting room free on Tuesday at four p.m.?” |
| Becky: Now we have a room, we need to ask people if they can attend. |
| John: We can use the same sentence patterns, only change “meeting room” to “you” or a name. |
| Becky: We also need to change the “be” verb from “is” to “are” if you are using “you.” |
| John: Right. “Are you free on Wednesday afternoon?” |
| Becky: Sometimes you don’t have a set time, or the time you decided on doesn’t work. So, you have to ask about time. You can ask your co-workers with phrases like these. |
| John: “When are you available?” |
| Becky: “What time is good for you?” If the time they give you isn’t good for you, you can say... |
| John: “I’m busy then” or “I’ll be out of the office.” |
| Becky: If the time is good, then you can say something simple. |
| John: Yeah, just a “That’s fine” or “That works for me too.” |
| Becky: It might take a bit of talking to find a time and day that works for everyone. |
| John: You can keep using the same sentence patterns, though, until you find something that works. |
| Becky: Yes, you can! |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| John: See you! |
9 Comments
HideWhat would you say to set up a meeting?
Hello Patricia,
Great to hear that! 😇 Thank you very much for your message.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Good luck with your language studies.
Kind regards,
Levente
Team EnglishClass101.com
I had a litter problem with the quiz but I passed.👍
Hi Mahdiyeh,
Thank you for taking the time to leave us your comment. 😇
If you ever have any questions, please let us know.
Best,
Levente
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hi,
Thanks for coming on time .
Hello Mawahib,
Thanks for taking the time to share. 👍
Please let us know if you ever have any questions throughout your studies, we would be happy to assist.
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
That works for me too
Hello Devinder,
So nice to have you here studying with us! Welcome! 😉
If you ever have any questions, please let us know!
Kind regards,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
nice👍