Chairing a meeting- Common expressions

1.     Dealing with formalities

As a chair, you'll probably want to first welcome people to the meeting, ask if they all have an agenda, then get down to business.

"Thank you everyone for coming today."

"I've called a meeting to discuss…"

"The purpose of this meeting is to…"

"Has everyone received a copy of the agenda?"

"Let's get started."

2.     Dealing with the agenda

The chair leads the participants through the points in the agenda, which might contain the following sections:

1. Apologies for absence (apologies from those people invited to the meeting but who can't attend)

"I've received the following apologies for absence from…."

2. Minutes of the previous meeting (people check to see if the notes from the last meeting are correct)

"Can we take the minutes as read?"

3. Matters arising (people report on what they have done as a result of the last meeting)

"Are there any matters arising from the last meeting?"

4. Action points (the main points for discussion)

"I'd like to go to point one on the agenda."

5. AOB (Any other business: people can make any additional points before the meeting finishes)

"Is there any other business?"

6. Date of next meeting

"I'd like to propose that we meet again on…"

"I think that just about wraps it up for today…"

"Thank you everyone for coming."

3.     Keeping the meeting focused on the objectives

"We're getting a little sidetracked here. Can we stick to the main points?"

"Let's not get off the subject."

"Can we get back to the agenda?"

4.     Moving on to a different point

"Could we move on to item 2 on the agenda?"

"If nobody has anything else to add, perhaps we could look at the next point."

5.     Deferring action

"I think we should leave this for now."

"Can we come back to this point later?"

6.     Asking for people's opinions

"I'd like to give the floor to…"

"Does anyone have anything else to add?"

"What are your views on this?"

7.     Asking for agreement or a vote

"Can we have a show of hands?"

"Can we put this to the vote?"

"Are we in agreement on this?"

8.     Clarifying and summarising

"So, in a nutshell, you're saying…"

"Could I just clarify something here…"

"I'd just like to summarise the key points."

"So, to summarise…"

Source: English at Home