Meetings in English

English language that must be followed by a gerund (-ing form). „To mind“ is such a verb. Other verbs and fixed expressions of that kind which are useful for meetings are as follows:
This would involve bringing in an external consultant.
Shall we consider expanding into China?
I suggest planning two years ahead.
You cannot avoid taking risks altogether.
This risks spinning out of control.
I'm looking forward to seeing you.
I apologise for being late.
We are thinking about investing in oil shares.
Useful vocabulary
    to run through it: noch einmal durchgehen
    premature: voreilig
    in a nutshell: kurz und bündig
    to gauge [geid?] the success: Erfolg beurteilen, bewerten
    Diplomacy and politeness
    It's bad news, I'm afraid …
    Diplomacy and politeness are not only important elements when it comes to expressing agreement and disagreement in English-speaking meetings. They also come to the fore when English-speakers are about to deliver bad news or present information that they know may not be well received by the listener.
    Example: using language to persuade
    A: Right, we've got some broad agreement on the way forward, but let's now focus on some practical details. Karl, do you think I could ask your team to do the figures for the presentation?
    B: Well, in principle, yes, but this comes as a bit of a surprise.
    A: I see. What do you think would be a reasonable deadline?
    B: I'm afraid I can't promise anything right now. Shall we say by the day after tomorrow, around noon?
    A: That could be cutting it a bit fine – ideally we need the figures tomorrow at 5.00 p.m. at the latest.
    B: Let me think. I was wondering if we could speed up the process by outsourcing some of the graphics. Wouldn't it be faster if the charts were done by our colleagues in Prague? You know, we're all pretty busy with the Wang project, which is already slightly behind schedule.
    A: Okay, fair enough. Could you get on to them right away?
Useful phrases
I'm afraid it's not good news.
As (I'm sure) you appreciate, this is a difficult situation.
I'm sorry to say that …
Regrettably, we …
Unfortunately …
    Polite questions
    However, there is more to diplomatic language than just lists of readymade phrases: expressing the matter in a different way, i.e. using little twists with language can help. If you ask a question, eg, instead of making a statement, your request will sound more sophisticated and less dogmatic; „would“ and „could“ also sound far more polite than „can“ and „will“.
    For example, compare, „Wouldn't it be a good idea to deliver in two weeks?“ with bluntly stating: „We will deliver in two weeks.“ And the longer a sentence is, the more politely it is perceived to be by the listener; eg „How old is the car?“ sounds much better if it is preceded by an introductory phrase:
I was wondering how old the car is?
Do you happen to know how old the car is?
Do you think you could tell me how old the car is?
Would you be able to tell me how old the car is?
Checklist: sounding more polite
    This table summarises what you can say to sound more polite:
    What you want to say/do
What you say
Win time, make your counterpart curious about what you are going to say or prepare them for disagreement
Well
    actually
    right
    in fact
    to be honest
Give a negative statement
I'm afraid
Use a question instead of a statement to make it sound like a mere suggestion;
    a negative question sounds even more negotiable
Is Monday next week okay for you?
    Isn't Monday next week good for you?
Sound softer when refusing: „would“ instead of „will“
That would be a problem.
Soften criticism – use words (qualifiers) such as „very“, „slight“, „some“, „little“, „a bit“, „some“
This sounds like a slight problem.
    There are some reservations about the concept.
Make countersuggestions using comparisons or negative questions
It may be more convenient to …
    Wouldn't Friday be better?
Use your voice for stress
Of course we can do this.
    This is quite a large sum.
Sound less pushy by using the continuous form
As I was telling you …
Avoid negative adjectives, even if they are linguistically correct
The idea doesn't seem to be very helpful.
    I'm not very happy with that.
    A diplomatic game of give and take
    Discussion partners in English-speaking cultures are often more open to acknowledging their own mistakes if the other party is also willing to admit their share of responsibility for an error. The pattern that often