Participating in a meeting
Getting the Chairperson's Attention
(Mister/Madam) chairman.
May I have a word?
If I may, I think...
Excuse me for interrupting.
May I come in here?
Giving Opinions
I'm positive that...
I (really) feel that...
In my opinion...
The way I see things...
If you ask me,... I tend to think that...
Asking for Opinions
Are you positive that...
Do you (really) think that...
(name of participant) can we get your input?
How do you feel about...?
Commenting
That's interesting.
I never thought about it that way before.
Good point!
I get your point.
I see what you mean.
Agreeing
I totally agree with you.
Exactly!
That's (exactly) the way I feel.
I have to agree with (name of participant).
Disagreeing
Unfortunately, I see it differently.
Up to a point I agree with you, but...
(I'm afraid) I can't agree
Advising and Suggesting
Let's...
We should...Vb Obj
Why don't you.... Vb Obj
How/What about...(Noun/gerund/noun phrase)
I suggest/recommend that..SVO.
Clarifying
Let me spell out...
Have I made that clear?
Do you see what I'm getting at?
Let me put this another way...
I'd just like to repeat that...
Requesting Information
Please, could you...(tell/notify/inform) me/us…….
I'd like you to... .(tell/notify/inform) me/us…….
Would you mind... (/gerund/noun phrase)
I wonder if you could...
Asking for Repetition
I'm afraid I didn't understand that. Could you repeat what you just said?
I didn't catch that. Could you repeat that, please?
I missed that. Could you say it again, please?
Could you run that by me one more time?
Asking for Clarification/more detail
I don't quite follow you. What exactly do you mean?
I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you’re getting at.
Could you explain to me how that is going to work?
I don't see what you mean. Could we have some more details, please?
Asking for Verification/Confirmation
You did say next week, didn't you? ('did' is stressed)
Do you mean that...?
Is it true that...?
Asking for Spelling
Could you spell that, please?
Would you mind spelling that for me, please?
Asking for Contributions
We haven't heard from you yet, (name of participant).
What do you think about this proposal?
Would you like to add anything, (name of participant)?
Has anyone else got anything to contribute?
Are there any more comments?
Correcting Information
Sorry, I think you misunderstood what I said.
Sorry, that's not quite right.
That's not quite what I had in mind.
That's not (really/quite) what I meant.
Keeping the Meeting On Target (time, relevance, decisions)
We're running short of time.
Well, that seems to be all the time we have today.
Please be brief.
I'm afraid we've run out of time.
I'm afraid that's outside the scope of this meeting.
Let's get back on track, why don't we?
That's not really why we're here today.
Why don't we return to the main focus of today's meeting.
We'll have to leave that to another time.
We're beginning to lose sight of the main point.
Keep to the point, please.(direct)
I think we'd better leave that for another meeting.
Are we ready to make a decision?
Shall we take a vote?
