Meetings in English

sorry, but …“ Notice how the chair continues to ask around the group until this important role has been assigned.
Useful phrases
Do I have any volunteers for taking the minutes today?
Who would like to be our minute-taker this morning?
Bill, could I ask you to be minute-taker today?
Jane, would you be so kind as to take the minutes for us?
Useful vocabulary
    minute-taker: Protokollführer
    to assume (informal: to take on) the role of: Rolle übernehmen
    to be tied up with sth: viel zu tun haben
    to turn sth around: etwas fertig machen und zurücksenden
    Active participation and asking for more information
    While it is the chair's job to manage the meeting, meeting participants also have an active role to play to aid communication and make the meeting as effective as possible. Asking questions is an effective method of obtaining more in-depth information, while active listening shows the person you are talking to that you are paying attention and have understood what they are saying.
    Interrupting politely
    Sometimes you may need to interrupt a speaker in order to ask your question before they move on to another point. Perhaps the speaker has finished their point and there is a natural pause in which you can ask your question.
    Sorry!
    This is the easiest and fastest way of attracting attention politely and stopping the speaker. This „catchword“ should, however, be backed up by saying what you actually want. If you just want to check back if you have correctly understood what the speaker said, you could say: „Sorry – how much did you say?“ or, „Sorry, when did you say?“
Useful phrases
    Formal meetings
Sorry, I'd just like to ask a question, if I may?
Sorry, could I interrupt you for a moment? I'd like to ask a question.
Excuse me, Peter, I wonder if I could interrupt you for a second?
Sorry, could I come in here with a question?
    Informal meetings
Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question.
    If, on the other hand, you are the speaker, you can prevent an interruption by either just ignoring the person or by saying one of the following phrases:
Sorry, John, can you hear me out, please?
Just let me finish, please.
No, Mary, please hear me out.
    Asking for more information
    Once you have politely gained the speaker's attention, move straight on to your question. Asking for a person's opinion when you ask them a question – for example, „What do you think will happen?“ rather than „What will happen?“ – helps „soften“ the question and makes it less direct. Notice, too, how the questioner below uses „would“ and „could“ instead of the more direct „will“ and „can“.
    Example: asking for and receiving further information
    A: Moving into the spring, we need to reassess the product range. Then, in the summer, we'll turn our attention to …
    B: Sorry, could I interrupt you there for a second?
    A: Sure.
    B: I have a question: you mentioned reassessing the product range in the spring. Could I ask you to expand on that?
    A: No problem. Sales of C123 and C124 dropped dramatically last year, so we want to look at the reasons for this and perhaps make some adjustments to the range.
    B: Do you mean introducing new products?
    A: Actually, it's more likely that some products will be discontinued.
    B: I see. What timescale do you have in mind for this process?
    A: Well, we're planning to start the assessment in the first week of March and we anticipate that we'll be finished by mid-April.
    B: Right. That's good to know – thank you.
Useful phrases
You mentioned that [repeat the key point]. Could you expand on that for us?
Could you elaborate/go into more detail on that for us?
Could you explain that in a little more detail?
I'm afraid I don't quite follow you there. Could you be a little more precise/specific?
How do you think that will affect …?
What do you think would be the outcome of that?
What do you consider to be the highest priority here?
How do you envisage implementing …?
What is the timescale likely to be for that/what is the anticipated timescale for this?
Do you foresee any problems/issues/difficulties there?
What do you think would be the possible repercussions of that?
    Active listening
    If you don't want to interrupt the speaker's flow, active listening can simply take the form of single words or „polite noises“, such as „okay“, „aha“, „oh“, „mmm“. Body language, such as nodding and smiling from time to time, should of course accompany all your polite