English Experts

Business English Expressions I – Starting a Meeting

Hello everybody! How’s everything? I hope you’re all doing well. Well, Alessandro wrote a post about business meetings in English so I thought I’d give him a hand and write some more about it, in a series of five articles. So let’s get down to business! First of all, I’ll give you guys a small dialogue in formal English, then the most important expressions and their definitions ok? I’ve gathered some examples from several sources and materials so if you read something which looks familiar, it is NOT a coincidence! The topic today is “Starting a Meeting”.

On behalf of this company, I’d like to call this meeting to order. This is a meeting of some of the key players in our company: our top managers. Our purpose this morning is to hear a presentation about a new initiative for outreach and marketing, and to discuss this plan with all of you.

This is a presentation that all of us have looked forward to. This initiative marks a new milestone in the evolution of our company. First, it serves as an assessment of where our company is now in terms of communicating its message to its customers domestically and abroad. Furthermore, this plan has the potential to drive our company forward by transforming our corporate outreach and marketing strategies.

We are delighted that all of the major contributors to this initiative are here today. They will use their unique perspectives to talk about the current state of affairs in terms of outreach and marketing, give details about the new proposed initiative, and outline the path for implementation.

On behalf of – speaking in the name of

Call a meeting to order – start a meeting officially

Key players – most important team members

Outreach – communication with people outside an organization

Milestone – a small accomplishment or achievement that is part of a larger project or goal

Assessment – evaluation

In terms of – regarding; with reference to

Domestically – in your own country or city

Furthermore – in addition to, besides

Drive something forward – help something progress and become better

Major – important

Current state of affairs – the way things are today; the status of something at the moment

Outline – describe the main points of an idea or plan

Well, very soon we’ll have more business expressions! And teachers who always log on to English Experts, if you teach business English and know more expressions for starting a formal meeting in English, write us!

Take care!

Autor: Adir Ferreira (adirferreira.wordpress.com) é professor e tradutor de inglês e espanhol há 18 anos. É responsável pelo blog de língua espanhola da empresa americana Transparent. Trabalha com educação corporativa, treina professores e ministra workshops sobre metodologia. Outros textos do autor.