Business English

Business English for meetings: 40 phrases to lead, interrupt and disagree politely

Many of the professionals I coach have excellent English on paper, yet freeze in live meetings. The problem usually isn't grammar; it's not having the right phrase ready at the right moment. Here are the ones I teach first.

Opening the meeting

Shall we get started?
Thanks, everyone, for making the time.
The aim of today's meeting is to…
By the end of this call, I'd like us to have agreed on…
We've got 30 minutes, so let's keep things focused.

Managing the agenda

Let's move on to the next item.
I'd like to come back to that point later, if that's OK.
Can we park that for now and pick it up at the end?
I'm conscious of time, so let's try to wrap this point up.
That's a bit outside the scope of today's meeting.

Inviting contributions

Maria, what's your take on this?
We haven't heard from the finance team yet.
Does anyone have any concerns before we move on?
I'd be interested to hear other perspectives.
Is there anything we've missed?

Interrupting politely

Interrupting is often necessary, especially on video calls. The key is to signal it, then keep it short.

Sorry to interrupt, but…
Could I just come in here?
If I could just add something quickly…
Sorry, can I just check what you mean by…?
(When someone interrupts you) If I could just finish my point…

Disagreeing diplomatically

This is the area where direct translation from other languages causes the most problems. In British and many international business settings, a flat “I disagree” or “That's wrong” can sound much stronger than intended. Softening your disagreement makes people far more willing to listen to it.

I see your point, but I'm not sure I agree.
I take your point. However, I wonder if…
That's one way of looking at it. Another might be…
I'm not entirely convinced that…
I'd see it slightly differently.
Have we considered the risk that…?

Same message, different impact

Too direct: “Your plan won't work.”
Diplomatic: “I'm not sure the plan will work as it stands. Could we look at the timeline again?”
Too direct: “That's too expensive.”
Diplomatic: “I'm a little concerned about the cost. Is there any flexibility there?”

Checking understanding

Just to make sure I've understood: you're saying that…?
Could you expand on that a little?
Sorry, the line broke up. Could you repeat the last part?
So, in other words…
What would that mean in practice?

Summarising and agreeing actions

So, to sum up what we've agreed…
Let's go over the action points.
Who's going to take ownership of this?
Can we agree on a deadline for that?
I'll send round a summary by the end of the day.

Closing the meeting

I think we've covered everything. Thanks, everyone.
Let's leave it there for today.
Same time next week?
Thanks for your input; that was really productive.

How to make these phrases stick

Reading a list won't make these phrases automatic. What works for my clients is this:

Choose three phrases you'd genuinely use in your next meeting, not twenty.
Say them out loud several times before the meeting, in a full sentence about your actual work.
Use each one at least once in the meeting, then note how it went.
Add three more the following week.

In lessons, we go a step further by role-playing your real upcoming meetings, presentations or negotiations, so that the language is ready before you need it.