Useful Lexis for Business Meetings

Below is a list of phrases and lexis categorized by their use in different parts of a meeting.

1. Starting a Meeting

  • Lexis: Introductions, greetings, setting the agenda, outlining objectives.
  • Phrases:
    • “Let’s get started.”
    • “Shall we begin?”
    • “Thank you all for joining.”
    • “The purpose of today’s meeting is…”
    • “First on the agenda, we have…”

2. Giving Opinions

  • Lexis: Expressing viewpoints, sharing ideas, proposing solutions.
  • Phrases:
    • “In my view…”
    • “I believe that…”
    • “From my perspective…”
    • “As far as I’m concerned…”
    • “I’d like to point out that…”

3. Agreeing

  • Lexis: Acknowledging, supporting, affirming others’ points.
  • Phrases:
    • “I completely agree with you.”
    • “That’s a great point.”
    • “You’re absolutely right.”
    • “Exactly.”
    • “I see your point.”

4. Disagreeing Politely

  • Lexis: Offering counterpoints, presenting an alternative view, challenging ideas diplomatically.
  • Phrases:
    • “I see your point, but…”
    • “I agree to some extent, however…”
    • “I’m afraid I disagree.”
    • “That’s one way to look at it, but…”
    • “I understand your perspective, but…”

5. Summarizing and Concluding

  • Lexis: Wrapping up, recapping, outlining key takeaways, setting follow-up actions.
  • Phrases:
    • “To sum up…”
    • “In conclusion…”
    • “Let’s recap the main points.”
    • “The next steps are…”
    • “That wraps up the meeting.”

Role Play

Facilitator (Speaker A):
“Good morning, everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. Let’s not waste any time and let’s get started. Thank you all for joining today’s meeting. The purpose of today’s meeting is to review the progress of our new product launch and to address some of the challenges we’re facing, particularly with the marketing strategy. First on the agenda, we have the product development status. Lisa, could you kick us off with an update?”

Team Member (Speaker B):
“Absolutely. In my view, we’re making good progress on the development side. We’ve completed most of the core features, but I believe that we’re moving a bit slowly on the testing phase. From my perspective, if we could allocate more resources to testing over the next week, we could still meet our projected deadlines.”

Facilitator (Speaker A):
“That’s a good insight, Lisa. I think you’re right about needing to speed things up. I completely agree with you that testing is crucial at this stage. Now, let’s move on to the marketing strategy. John, I’d like to hear your thoughts on where we stand with the promotional plan.”

Team Member (Speaker C):
“Thanks. Well, to be honest, I see your point, but I’m afraid I disagree with the idea of shifting resources to testing right now. As far as I’m concerned, the bigger issue is that our marketing strategy is lagging behind the product timeline. If we don’t align our promotional efforts properly, we risk launching a great product without sufficient market awareness.”

Facilitator (Speaker A):
“You make a valid point, John. I agree to some extent, but I think we can manage both areas simultaneously. We don’t necessarily have to choose one over the other. Perhaps we could focus on fine-tuning the marketing plan while also accelerating our testing. Does that sound reasonable?”

Team Member (Speaker B):
“That could work. If we divide our focus, I think we can keep the momentum going in both areas. But I’d still suggest setting clear priorities for the team so we don’t spread ourselves too thin.”

Facilitator (Speaker A):
“Agreed. To sum up, our immediate focus will be on boosting the testing efforts while making sure that the marketing team is preparing the groundwork for a synchronized launch. The next steps are to allocate a few extra testers to speed up the process and for the marketing team to draft a detailed promotional timeline. I’ll need both of you to coordinate closely on this.”

Team Member (Speaker C):
“Absolutely, I’ll get started on that right away. In conclusion, we’ll aim to have the testing wrapped up by the end of next week while finalizing the marketing materials. I’ll also make sure we touch base mid-week to review our progress.”

Facilitator (Speaker A):
“Perfect. I’ll schedule a quick follow-up to check on both fronts. It’s really important that we stick to the schedule this time, and I appreciate everyone’s efforts to make this happen. Let’s recap the main points one last time: our focus is on testing and marketing alignment, we’ll adjust resources as needed, and we’ll regroup in a few days to assess our status.”

Team Member (Speaker B):
“Got it. Thanks for the clear direction. I’ll update the project timeline based on these adjustments and send it out to all relevant stakeholders later today.”

Facilitator (Speaker A):
“That’s exactly what we need. That wraps up the meeting for today. Thank you, everyone, for your valuable input. If there are no further questions or comments, I’ll consider the meeting adjourned. Let’s keep the momentum going and make sure we’re all aligned for the next phase!”