Meetings in English

Preparing a meeting
    In the run-up to a meeting there are a lot of things to bear in mind, especially when you are the one organising it. Booking a meeting room is only one task among many.
    In this chapter, you will see how to
invite people (page 6) and make arrangements (page 8),
accept, refuse and postpone meetings (page 11),
make the agenda (page 15),
organise the meeting (page 21).
    Inviting people to a meeting
    In formal business relationships, you may wish to write a letter or email to a business associate to suggest an initial meeting. This correspondence can then be followed up with a telephone call or an email to confirm the meeting time and place.
    Suggesting a meeting
    In an established business relationship, a less formal style can be adopted for suggesting meetings by both telephone and email. Email is especially useful if a number of participants are involved. In a formal email, the style of language, salutation and complimentary close is the same as that used in a letter.
    Example: formal UK-style letter/email
    Marketing proposal: initial meeting
    Dear Mr Smith
    Thank you for your telephone call of this morning. I am pleased to enclose [letter]/attach [email] the information you requested and would welcome the opportunity to meet you in person to discuss the proposal and to answer any questions you may have.
    I will contact you by telephone in the next few days to arrange a time that is convenient for you.
    In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.
    Yours sincerely
    David Braun
    Business Development Manager
    The correct way of writing salutations and endings
    In British English letters and emails, the trend is to omit punctuation in the salutation, people's names (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr, etc) and in the complimentary close. Letters and emails end with „Yours sincerely“, when the person is addressed by name, or „Yours faithfully“, when the letter begins „Dear Sir or Madam“. In US English , a period (British: full stop) follows abbreviations and the salutation ends with a colon, as in „Dear Ms. Jones:“. Standard complimentary closes are „Sincerely yours,“ and „Sincerely,“ (note that both end with a comma).
Useful phrases
    Less formal style
I was wondering if we could meet in the near future to discuss …?
Perhaps it would speed things up if we met face to face to discuss this?
Shall we meet next week to discuss the details in person?
    Responding to a request for a meeting
Useful phrases
I'm afraid my schedule is very full in the next few weeks. Would it be possible for us to discuss the matter by telephone instead?
As we're both very busy, I would like to try to resolve the matter by telephone, if possible.
I think it would be a good idea for us to meet.
I agree that it would be beneficial for us to meet face to face.
Useful vocabulary
    initial: erste(r, s)
    complimentary close: Schlussformel
    proposal: Vorschlag
    to welcome an opportunity: eine Gelegenheit gern wahrnehmen
    convenient: angenehm, bequem
    schedule: Terminkalender
    to resolve a matter: eine Sache klären
    Making meeting arrangements
    In an informal setting, once you have agreed with your business partner that you would like to meet, arrangements can be made by telephone or email. In both cases, the language used for organising the meeting is informal yet polite.
    Who would like to meet when?
    If you are organising a meeting with a larger number of participants and have to find out about their general availability on certain dates, „Doodle“ can help. This is a clever tool you'll find online free of charge at www.doodle.ch. You create your doodle by just entering the dates and/or times you would like to suggest. A link to this doodle is automatically sent to your email account. You can then forward the link to all the prospective participants, asking them to state when they would be available and when not. There is also a field for comments.
Lunch meetings
    If you meet over lunch make sure you can still take notes on a small pad. Follow your host's lead with regard to drinking alcohol. In Great Britain drinking alcohol in moderation is generally acceptable over lunch or dinner with business colleagues. However, if your business partners are sticking to water and you want to keep a clear head, avoid alcohol altogether.
Useful phrases
    When?
Would 20 November suit you?
What does your schedule look like on 3 December?
I'm afraid I'm away on business for the whole of that