[Business English Meetings] 10 Useful Phrases for Leading a Meeting with Confidence

Do you always feel incredibly stressed whenever you have to attend a business meeting in English? And when you’re the one hosting the meeting, do you feel nervous and worried all over again? This article will introduce useful English phrases in sequence, from the beginning to the end of a meeting. Just remember these 10 phrases and practice using them regularly, and you’ll be able to host business meetings in English smoothly and confidently!

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1. “How’s everything going?” （一切都還好嗎？）

Bringing this up at the beginning of a meeting can help break the ice, allowing different participants to build rapport through some small talk before getting down to business.
Besides making the meeting feel less formal, it can also encourage participants to speak up and share their thoughts later on!

_{How’s everything going over there in the Singapore office this week?
這週新加坡辦公室那邊的狀況如何呢？}

_{How’s everything going on the project?
項目進行的狀況都還好嗎？}

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2. “Thank you for joining us today.” （謝謝大家今天的參與）

Before starting the meeting, thank everyone for taking time out of their busy schedules to join.
This is especially important when there are notable participants, such as senior leaders or people joining from different time zones.

_{I especially want to thank Rama for taking the time to join us today.
我想特別感謝Rama今天抽出時間來參與我們。}

_{I would also like to thank the Chicago team for getting up early to join us today.
我也要另外感謝芝加哥團隊今天特別早起加入我們。}

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3. “The purpose of our meeting today is to…” （我們今天會議的目的是...）

Start by outlining the overall objective of the meeting and explaining why you invited these people to attend.
This helps everyone in the meeting establish a shared goal.

_{The purpose of our meeting today is to reach a consensus on the product design.
我們今天會議的目的是就產品設計達成共識。}

_{Our goal today is to confirm the timeline for project deliverables.
我們今天的目標是確認項目交付的時間規劃。}

_{I called this meeting today to propose a new regional escalation framework.
我今天招開會議是為了提出一個新的區域擴充架構。}

Grammar tip:

We can say “our meeting,” “today’s meeting,” or “our meeting today,”
but “our today’s meeting” is incorrect!

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4. “Let’s get into it. I’d like to start by…” （讓我們開始吧。我想先從...開始）

Keep the opening remarks and other introductions as brief as possible to maintain the momentum of the meeting and keep everyone engaged and energized.

_{Why don’t we get right into our first discussion item?
我們何不直接進入第一個討論項目呢？}

_{If there aren’t any further questions, let’s move on to our next agenda item.
如果沒有其他問題，讓我們繼續下一個討論議題。}

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5. “What are your views on this?” （你對於這個有什麼看法？）

As the meeting host, it’s your responsibility to make sure everyone has a chance to be heard and to invite people who haven’t shared their views yet to speak up,
especially when you believe they have valuable insights to contribute.

_{Sarah, we haven’t heard from you yet on this topic. What do you think?
Sarah，我們還沒聽到你對於這個主題的看法，你怎麼想呢？}

_{Jerry, do you have anything to add from the sales perspective?
Jerry，你從銷售角度來看，有什麼想補充的嗎？}

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6. “That’s outside the scope of our meeting today.” （這已超出我們今天會議的範圍了）

One of the host’s responsibilities is to keep the meeting on track and focused on its objectives.
We shouldn’t be afraid to step in, interrupt, or say something to bring the discussion back to the original topic.

_{That’s a great suggestion, but it’s not within the scope of our meeting today.
這是一個很棒的提議，但它不在我們今天會議的範圍內。}

_{I’ll note that down for future discussion, but in the interest of time, I’d like to get back to the topic of…
我會記下來以備將來討論，但由於時間關係，我想回到...的話題。}

Phrase tip:

When someone keeps bringing up other topics, we can “take something offline” to end that part of the discussion and assure the person that the topic will be addressed outside the meeting. Just remember to actually follow up with them separately, otherwise you may lose their trust!

_{Kevin, how about we take this offline after the meeting? 
Kevin，不如我們會議後再私下討論這件事如何？}

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7. “To conclude this item, we’ve decided to…” （總結這個項目，我們決定...）

Summarizing the conclusion of each agenda item (and the meeting itself) helps everyone reach a shared understanding of what was discussed,
including the action items and who is responsible for each one. Summarizing also helps the meeting host demonstrate the progress that has been made!

_{Alright, so for this item we’ve decided to move forward with proposal A.
好的，所以對於這個項目，我們決定推進A方案。}

_{Ok, so in conclusion, we will table this decision until the Sales team provides the additional information.
總結來說，在銷售團隊提供更多資訊前，我們將暫緩這項決定。}

_{Ok, so our consensus on this agenda item is to escalate this issue to the regional team. Now let’s move on to the next agenda item.
所以我們對於這個議題的共識是將此問題上報給區域團隊。現在讓我們進入下一個議題。}

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8. “We’ve made a lot of progress today…” （我們今天有了很大的進展...）

Many people aren’t used to highlighting the progress made toward the meeting’s objectives before the meeting ends,
but this can actually be a very useful technique for meeting hosts!
It can give participants a sense of accomplishment and make them feel that the time they invested in the meeting was worthwhile.

_{I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made today on the product design.
我對於今天在產品設計上取得的進展感到相當滿意。}

_{We received a lot of valuable feedback in our discussion today that will help guide us as we move forward on the project.
我們在今天的討論中得到許多有價值的回饋，為我們的項目推進指引了方向。}

_{I think we’ve resolved a lot of outstanding issues today. This should help a lot to ensure the success of this important initiative.
我想我們今天解決了許多問題，這有助於確保我們第一步的成功。}

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9. “In terms of next steps…” （就下一步而言...）

To bring the meeting to a smooth close, the host can reiterate the key next steps, including any follow-up communication or the date and time of the next meeting.

_{So, in terms of the next steps, I’ll get the additional information to you this week and then once I get your approval, we can move forward with the implementation.
就下一步而言，我會在這週提供更多資訊給您。一旦獲得您的批准，我們便能繼續執行。}

_{As for the next steps, the legal team will complete their review of the draft contract by Wednesday and then we will set up our next meeting with the client.
至於下一步，法務團隊會在週三前完成合約審查草案，並安排與客戶的下一次會議。}

_{Alright, so we’ll all meet here again next week at the same time.
好的，所以我們會在下週同一時間再次在這裡進行會議。}

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10. “Thank you again for taking the time…” （再次謝謝大家抽出時間...）

Of course, expressing your appreciation again at the end of the meeting lets participants know that you value their contributions.
Being specific about what they contributed can also make your appreciation sound more sincere!

_{Thank you everyone again for taking the time to join us today and share your valuable insights.
再次感謝各位今天抽出時間參與我們並分享寶貴的想法。}

_{I really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to attend this meeting.
我真的非常感謝各位在百忙之中抽出時間參與本次會議。}

_{Thank you again for your candid feedback on the employee annual objective setting process.
再次感謝各位對於員工年度目標設定流程給予真實的回饋。}

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Boost your business English!

Once you remember the useful phrases for each stage of a meeting and learn how to adapt them to different situations, people, and topics, hosting a business meeting in English smoothly will no longer be a challenge! Of course, the most important thing is to keep practicing and gaining experience. By staying relaxed and natural when hosting meetings, you can continue to improve and become an even more confident meeting host!