Business meetings are the best place where employees get to communicate with each other. Meetings put forth the desired work expected out of the respected teams. Hence, what you say in a meeting matters. Whether you are expressing an idea during a meeting or making a casual comment at lunch, everything you say adds to your overall character. How you act, how you speak and how you look makes your professional impression. Speaking fluently not only improves your communication skills, but also builds up your overall personal and managerial presence.
Things to avoid
There are some phrases which can instantly demoralize your professionalism, and therefore, should be avoided in a meeting.
1. Does that make sense?
While you are in a meeting and if someone comes up with an idea or a suggestion, listen to it carefully. Don’t rush out and ask, “Does that make sense?” When you ask this, it implies to the listener that you didn’t understand the idea.Instead try and understand the concept and use your English skills and ask, "What are your thoughts? Can you please provide a practical example?"
2. It’s not fair
Simply complaining about an injustice isn't going to change the situation. Whether it's a serious problem or a small issue at work, avoiding this phrase is actively recommended. By avoiding this phrase, you can stop complaining about an issue and start thinking about a solution.
3. I already sent you an email
Sometimes face-to-face discussions are very important. Therefore, before telling “I already sent you an email”, think about the subject of the meeting. Letting someone know you already communicated by email is not always effective. Instead of suggesting the person to read their email, you can summarize the topic right then.
4. That's a secondary issue
This idiom comes up often in meetings. The term "secondary" actually sounds rude. It makes the person think about secondary to what, because what is secondary for you, might be a high priority for someone in accounting or marketing. And just because some topic isn't the highest priority, that doesn't mean it should be rejected.
5. Bad idea
If you disagree with any idea, then don’t just bluntly dismiss it by saying as bad idea. There's a reason why Steve Jobs used to question why people were at his meetings. In fact, sometimes the best ideas are those that everyone thinks will fail miserably. You can instead, pay a little extra attention to ideas that everyone ignores.
However, in a business meeting, follow professional conduct and communicate your ideas expressively with your effective Spoken English.
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-By Shailja Varma
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