Business English Vocabulary

I’m afraid John can’t be here today. He sends his apologies. I’m afraid Susan can’t be with us today.

If everybody’s here, we can get started. Let’s begin. I’d like to welcome everybody. Let’s get the ball rolling. Thanks for coming. Let’s start. Please join me in welcoming Helen to the meeting. It’s a pleasure to welcome Phil. Glad you could join us. Sit anywhere I appreciate that you made the time to come….

Sorry, I can’t make Tuesday. I’m afraid I’m tied up all day. I’m not free for the next month. I’d like to but I really can’t. I only wish I could. That doesn’t work for me. I’m afraid not. Unfortunately I’m away. Much as I want to come, I can’t. I’m sorry, I can’t.

Fine, see you then. Friday suits me perfectly. Looking forward to meeting you. So that’s Thursday at 2 in the Conference Room. Great. I’ll see you then. Friday at 2 would be fine for me. Thursday at 3 works for me. Just to confirm, we said Wednesday at 6? Tuesday at 2 it is. See…

How about 3.00 on Friday? Could you make lunch on Tuesday? Would Wednesday at two suit you? What day do you have in mind? What about next Monday? When are you available? When are you free? What would be a suitable time to see you? Let’s say in one hour. Could you fit me in…

Could you spare me a minute? Let’s have lunch and we can discuss it. How about meeting in your office at 3? Why don’t we all meet later on today and talk about it? The best thing to do is to all get together and discuss it. Perhaps you and Kate could Skype me later?…

Prepare the agenda Send out the invitations. Book the meeting room or venue. Establish the terms of reference. Reserve the flights and hotels. Organise the catering Print out the reports. Write the minutes of the last meeting Prepare the financial report. Brief the support staff.

It can approve a proposal. It can discuss an idea. It can react to a proposal. It can review progress. It can develop new ideas. It can make decisions. It can solve problems it can raise issues. It can launch a new project. It can exercise its legal responsibility.

Formal meetings are held at set times on set days and have a clear agenda. Informal meetings are often not arranged in advance and can be unstructured. Videoconferencing is becoming more popular. Participants connect in using software such as Zoom or Skype. This is often used for informal meetings but more and more formal meetings…