How to use it: choose one phrase from four sections before your next meeting: opening, clarification, disagreement and closing. Practise each one aloud with the real topic, names and deadlines you expect to discuss.
1. Open the meeting
“The main objective today is…”
“Shall we quickly run through the agenda?”
“There are three points I’d like us to cover.”
2. Give your opinion
“From my perspective…”
“The way I see it…”
“My main concern is…”
3. Clarify
“Just to clarify…”
“Just to make sure I’ve understood…”
“What would that mean in practice?”
4. Disagree politely
“I see where you’re coming from, but…”
“I’m not completely convinced that…”
“Could there be another way of looking at this?”
5. Interrupt naturally
“Sorry to jump in, but…”
“Can I just add something there?”
“Before we move on, could I clarify one point?”
6. Refocus
“Can we come back to the main point?”
“Perhaps we can park that for now.”
“Before we move on, can we agree who will handle this?”
7. Decide and assign
“Are we in a position to make a decision?”
“Who is taking ownership of this?”
“What deadline are we working towards?”
8. Close clearly
“Just to summarise where we are…”
“So the next steps are…”
“I’ll send a short follow-up with the actions and owners.”
Teaching tip: avoid learning isolated vocabulary only. Practise complete chunks such as raise a concern, take ownership, meet a deadline and reach a decision. Complete phrases are easier to retrieve under pressure.
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