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Innovation in Learning

A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Chairing meetings
Lesson code: MRAR-K9SB-F8LE-I UPPER INTERMEDIATE +

1 Warm-up
Who is the chairperson of a meeting? What are his/her main roles?

2 Qualities and skills of a chairperson

Match the adjectives on the left with their opposites:

1. calm a. biased
2. impartial b. discouraging
3. open-minded c. disorganised
4. well-organised d. forgetful
5. attentive e. intolerant
6. encouraging f. passive
7. self-disciplined g. temperamental
8. domineering h. uncontrolled

Now look at the following roles of a chairperson. In pairs, put `Do' or `Don't' next to each sentence and
match each sentence to a suitable adjective above.

Talk the most at the meeting.

Strive for consensus.
Allow one or two people to dominate the meeting.
Encourage people to contribute to the discussions.
Force people to contribute to the discussions.
Keep calm.
Lose your temper.
Forget what was said earlier.
Make all the decisions.
Try to allow everyone to make a contribution.
Cut people out of discussions if you don't agree with their opinions.
LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 1/4

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 lingua house
TM
Chairing meetings
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

3 Chairing a meeting
The managers of Global Training Solutions are holding a meeting to discuss advertising ideas for their
language school business. Listen and choose the best answer for each of the questions.

1. What is Helen's proposal?

a. a billboard campaign focussing on the school
b. a billboard campaign focussing on the students
c. a billboard campaign focussing on the teachers

2. What is Lorenzo's opinion?

a. He thinks it's risky.
b. He thinks it's a good idea.
c. He thinks it will create a strong impact.

3. What is Helen's reaction?

a. She totally agrees with Lorenzo.
b. She acknowledges Lorenzo's concern.
c. She totally disagrees with Lorenzo.

4. Why does the chairperson cut off Mark?

a. His opinion was not related to the topic of the discussion.
b. He was taking too long to explain his idea.
c. His idea had already been discussed.

5. Why does Mark favour the idea he suggested in the previous semester?
a. He thinks it will be successful.
b. He thinks it is original.
c. He thinks it will create a strong impact.

6. Why does Anne think this is not an original idea?

a. She thinks it is boring.
b. All schools are using the idea.
c. The school's main competitor launched a similar campaign.

7. What does the chairperson do at the end of the discussion?

a. He summarises the discussion.
b. He takes a vote.
c. He closes the meeting.
LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 2/4

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 lingua house
TM
Chairing meetings
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

Listen again and tick the chairperson's functions in this particular meeting.

Welcoming the participants 2 Opening the meeting 2

Establishing the agenda 2 Inviting contributions 2
Managing time 2 Sticking to the agenda 2
Organising voting 2 Dealing with conflicts 2
Summarising the points of view 2 Closing the meeting 2

4 Useful expressions
Look at the following expressions from the meeting. Complete them and match them to the appropriate
functions in the previous exercise:

1. T for c everybody.
2. A you all k , the p of this m is t ...
3. OK, l get s then, s we?
4. Helen, w you like t get us off the m ?
5. W anyone l to c ?
6. L get s other i . Mark?
7. L try not t d t much.
8. We w c back t t at the next meeting.
9. A t on that?
10. OK, we're a b s on t so let's w this up.
11. We'll t av on the two propositions.
12. A those in f of Helen's idea?
13. Now, o to the n item o the agenda.

Look at the following expressions and match them to the functions in Exercise 3.

As you all know, we're here today to discuss last month's sales figures.
Mario, what's your position?

Let's try and speed things up a bit.

All right, everybody just calm down.
We'll have to finish off here.
OK, we're getting side-tracked here.

OK, just to sum things up so far. Basically, ...

LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 3/4

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 lingua house
TM
Chairing meetings
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

5 Role play
Get into small groups of 3 or 4 and assign a chairperson. Choose an agenda/topic from the list below
and hold a short meeting. Then assign a different chair, choose another agenda and repeat the exercise
until everyone has been in the chairperson's role.

1. Your office is going to be relocated. Discuss potential locations.

2. Ideas for the end-of-year office party.
3. Your team is responsible for marketing. Set your marketing budget and discuss how to spend it.
4. How to improve your company's sales.
5. A topic of your choice.

LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 4/4

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 lingua house
TM
Chairing meetings - Transcripts
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

3- Chairing a meeting

Chair: Thanks for coming everybody . As you all know, the purpose of this meeting is to decide on an
effective marketing strategy for the next semester. OK, let's get started then, shall we? The first
item on the agenda is advertising. You are all aware that the competition is getting pretty
intense, and we really need to stand out more than ever. Helen has some interesting ideas.
Helen, would you like to get us off the mark?
Helen: Thank you Bobby. My idea is to focus on a street billboard campaign with each poster featuring
one of our teachers. After all, it is the teacher, not the school, that the students are ultimately
buying, so I think we should have a campaign that strongly reflects this.
Chair: I think this is quite an interesting approach. Would anyone like to comment? Lorenzo?
Lorenzo: Yes, I'm not too sure about this idea, actually. You know what the market is like. Teachers come
and go, and it's risky to invest in an expensive campaign without being able to guarantee
potential students that what they see is what they get.
Helen: That's true, Lorenzo, but the way I see it, it doesn't really matter. The point of advertising is to
create an impact. We need a brand image that people are going to instantly recognise.
Chair: Let's get some other ideas. Mark?
Mark: I'd like to see us being more directly in touch with potential students. We should be more active
in educational trade fairs in different cities and on the Internet. As far as trade fairs are
concerned, we need to ...
Chair: Let's try not to digress too much. We will come back to that at the next meeting, but what I want
to focus on at this meeting is your ideas for advertising.
Mark: In that case, I tend to agree with Lorenzo, and I think we should consider the idea that I
suggested last semester --- using that image of a man reaching the summit of a mountain to
represent achievement and success. I think that would make a strong impact and it would go
well with our slogan.
Chair: Any thoughts on that?
Anne: Well, I agree that it's a pretty eye-catching image. I just don't think it's particularly original. Look
at our main competitor, they've launched a similar billboard campaign this semester so I don't
think it would help us stand out in the market. Personally, I like Helen's idea.
Chair: Ok, we're a bit short on time so let's wrap this up. We'll take a vote on the two propositions. All
those in favour of Helen's idea? All those in favour of Mark's? Right, Helen's it is then. Right,
now on to the next item on the agenda. We need to discuss ...

LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex i

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 lingua house
TM
Chairing meetings - Key
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

1- Warm-up

The chairperson is the person in charge of a meeting. Main roles include opening the meeting, managing time,
agenda and contributions, summarising, etc.

2- Qualities and skills of a chairperson

1. g
2. a
3. e
4. c
5. d
6. b
7. h
8. f

Suggested answers
1. Talk the most at the meeting. - Don't - uncontrolled
2. Strive for consensus. - Do - impartial
3. Allow one or two people to dominate the meeting. - Don't - uncontrolled, disorganised, passive
4. Encourage people to contribute to the discussions. - Do - encouraging, open-minded
5. Force people to contribute to the discussions. - Don't - domineering
6. Keep calm. - Do - calm
7. Lose your temper. - Don't - temperamental
8. Forget what was said earlier. - Don't - forgetful
9. Make all the decisions. - Don't - domineering, biased
10. Try to allow everyone to make a contribution. - Do - encouraging, open-minded, well-organised,
impartial
11. Cut people out of discussions if you don't agree with their opinions. - Don't - temperamental,
biased, intolerant, domineering

3- Chairing a meeting

Play the audio file or use your mobile device to scan the QR code (make sure you have installed a QR code reader
app and can access the Internet on your device).

Pre-teach any vocabulary from the recording script that might be unfamiliar to the students, e.g. billboard, trade
fair, impact, eye-catching.

1. c 2. a 3. b 4. a 5. c 6. c 7. b

! Welcoming the participants

! Opening the meeting
! Establishing the agenda
! Inviting contributions
! Managing time
! Sticking to the agenda
! Organising voting
LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex i

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 lingua house
TM
Chairing meetings - Key
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS SITUATIONS

4- Useful expressions

1. Thanks for coming everybody. - Welcoming the participants

2. As you all know, the purpose of this meeting is to ... - Establishing the agenda
3. OK, let's get started then, shall we? - Opening the meeting
4. Helen, would you like to get us off the mark? - Inviting contributions
5. Would anyone like to comment? - Inviting contributions
6. Let's get some other ideas. Mark? - Inviting contributions
7. Let's try not to digress too much. - Sticking to the agenda
8. We will come back to that at the next meeting. - Sticking to the agenda, Managing time
9. Any thoughts on that? - Inviting contributions
10. OK, we're a bit short on time so let's wrap this up. - Managing time
11. We'll take a vote on the two propositions. - Organising voting
12. All those in favour of Helen's idea? - Organising voting
13. Now, on to the next item on the agenda. - Sticking to the agenda

As you all know, we're here today to discuss last month's sales figures. - Establishing the agenda
Mario, what's your position? - Inviting contributions
Let's try and speed things up a bit. - Managing time
All right, everybody just calm down. - Dealing with conflicts
We'll have to finish off here. - Closing the meeting
OK, we're getting side-tracked here. - Sticking to the agenda
OK, just to sum things up so far. Basically, ... - Summarising the points of view

LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex ii

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT