Starting
- Let’s get down to business
- OK, shall we make a start?
- Right, let’s begin.

Welcoming and Introducing
- Welcome, everybody.
- I’d like to start by welcoming everybody.
- Firstly, I’d like to introduce…
- I don’t think everyone knows…

Apologies for absence
- I’m afraid that…cannot be with us today because…
- I have received apologies for absence from…

Defining the objective
- Our objective today is to…
- I’ve called this meting to look at the question of…
- By the end of this meting we should have…

Introducing the agenda
- Have you all seen a copy of the agenda?
- OK. As you can see from the agenda, there are…items.
- Firstly…, secondly…, thirdly…, finally…
- I suggest we follow the agenda.
- Can we start with…then go on to, and finish with…?
- Is there any other business?

The minutes
- John will be taking the minutes.
- Tim, could you take the minutes?

Process and roles
- I suggest we go around the table first.
- I’d like to hear what everyone thinks before we make a decision.
- Firstly, I would like to give you a little more background.
- Perhaps I should start by outlining my view on this.
- Mr. Gonzales is going to take us through point one.

Length of meeting
- I would like to finish by three o’clock.
- The meeting is scheduled to finish at…
- We’re short of time, so can I ask you to be brief?
- Can we keep each item to fifteen minutes?

Let’s begin
- So, the first item in the agenda is…
- Right, let’s start with…
- Mr. Chin, could you introduce this item?
- Abu Bakar, would you like to start with the first point?

Fill in the blanks.

take minutes        go around                target                absence

Bob: OK. Let’s get down to business. First, I’d like to welcome everybody to today’s meeting. Jeff sends his apologies for his _________ from today’s meeting. His son is sick. The objective of our meeting today is to brainstorm ideas for more effective sales techniques. That is our _______ this afternoon. I have a few ideas I’d like to share first, and then we will _______ the table and hear other ideas from each person here today. We’ll try to keep to ten minutes for the discussion of each idea. That way the meeting won’t run too long. And I’ve asked Karen to ____ for the meeting. So, as background I’d just like to take you through the standard sales techniques used in our department.

Match the word with the correct object.

VERBS                                OBJECTS

1. allocate                                a. main points
2. go around                             b. business
3. outline                                 c. funds
4. Take care,                            d. minutes
5. get down to                          e. the table

Correct the mistake in each of the following sentences.

1.He wanted to keep the meeting through less than an hour.
2. I’d like to start by giving you some backgrounds about the project.
3.She located each person a special role at the meeting.
4.Tom will be our minute-person at this meeting.
5.Wendy sends her apologizes because she couldn’t come to the meting today.