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IELTS Speaking Lesson about Mettings - Part 1

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In IELTS Speaking Meetings can be a topic that appears, whether it is meetings at work, college or even with friends and family. 

In this lesson we will look at the vocabulary, expressions and ideas you need to discuss this topic fluently. 

Table of Contents

IELTS Speaking vocabulary: Meetings

Here is some useful vocabulary for this topic.

  • To meet 
  • To have a meeting (formal)
  • To attend a meeting (formal)
  • To hold / call / schedule a meeting (formal and you organise)

If we are going to meet friends and family which would be a more informal context, then we can say,

To meet up (informal – with friends)

To get together (informal – with friends/family)

To have a get together = family and friends gathering for a dinner / a party

Formal meetings need a plan and notes. So we can use these expressions:

  • To set an agenda
  • To follow the items on the agenda
  • To stick to the agenda = follow 
  • To chair a meeting = to organise the  discussion
  • To take the minutes = to take official notes 
  • To jot down some notes – take informal notes 
  • To give / voice an opinion 
  • To put back to a later date = to postpone a meeting 

Different kinds of meetings

If a meeting is only for colleagues within the same company, we call it,

An internal / in-company meeting 

When you meet colleagues or customers for the first time, we can say,

  • First meeting
  • Introductory meeting 
  • Initial meeting 
  • Get-to-know-you meeting 

Other types of meeting might include the following:

  • Status updates = give an update on your work activity 
  • Recurring meetings = happens on a regular basis
  • A follow up meeting (e.g. with potential customers)
  • Team-building meetings
  • A virtual meeting = an online meeting = a Zoom meeting
  • A face-to-face meeting

When specifying the activity of a meeting, we can say

  • Problem-solving meetings
  • Brainstorms
  • Decision-making meetings
  • Information sharing meetings
Participation Meetings

Adjectives to describe meetings

When a meeting is good and with a positive outcome, we can say,

  • Successful 
  • Valuable = very useful 
  • Fruitful = beneficial (with a good outcome/result) 
  • Productive 
  • Constructive

When a meeting doesn’t go well and doesn’t have a good outcome, we can say,

  • Difficult = hard work and no clear result (maybe due to personality clashes, disagreements) 
  • Stormy = very difficult 
  • Fruitless = no result 
  • Inconclusive = no conclusion 
  • Pointless = without meaning

What makes a successful meeting?

Here are some ideas on what can make a meeting a successful one:

  • Listening carefully
  • Being participative
  • Working as a team
  • Having a well organised and enthusiastic chair (person)
  • Having a clear and shared agenda
  • Having a clear purpose / goal / outcome  

Find more guidelines and useful language about running an effective meeting here:

https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm

Idioms to talk about meetings

To begin a meeting we can say, 

  • Let’s get the ball rolling 
  • Let’s get down to business 
  • It’s time to roll up our sleeves 

Sometimes people go off track in a meeting, but you want people to be direct, so we may say, 

Don’t beat around the bush (=ramble), please get to the point

To get to the point = to say what you mean directly

When it comes to working as a team we can say,

  • Put your heads together = to work together
  • Work hand in hand = collaborate
  • Two heads are better than one = teamwork is a good thing 
  • We are on the same page = we agree 
  • We see eye to eye = we agree

We need blue sky thinking = Original or creative thinking 

To have your work cut out = to have a difficult task to do

There are many phrases to say – To begin again from the beginning

  • To begin from scratch 
  • To go back to the drawing board 
  • To go back to square one

To call it a day = to finish 

This is a long meeting, I think it is time to call it a day. Thanks for coming.

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