What is your name?
What is your job?
What are your hobbies?
Rural
Data
Mining
Summarize
Run
Short
Revise
Reach
Out
Session
Method
Brainstorm
Clarify
Business Meeting Vocabulary Definitions
Rural (adjective):
Land that is away from big towns and cities known as the country
She lives in a rural area.
Summarize (verb):
To tell information again using less words
I would like to take a moment to summarize the facts that I presented earlier.
Revise (verb):
To make changes to correct or improve something
We have to revise our plans because of the delays.
Brainstorm (verb):
To discuss a problem and suggest solutions
They had a meeting to brainstorm some ideas.
Session (noun):
A period of time that is used to do an activity
After the speech there will be a question and answer session.
Business Meeting Vocabulary Definitions
Clarify (verb):
To make something easier to understand
Could you clarify what you're recommending?
Method (noun):
A way of doing something
We need to use more modern methods of doing business.
Reach out (phrasal verb):
To try to get the interest of someone
He's reaching out to young voters.
Run short (verb + adverb):
Little time left to do something
Time is running short.
Data mining (noun):
The gathering of information from data stored in a database
Supermarkets use data mining to gather information about their customers' shopping
habits.
Useful Business Meeting Expressions
Opening the Meeting
 Good morning/afternoon/evening, everyone.
 Let‘s get started…
 Let’s start the meeting…
Welcoming and Introducing Participants
 Please join me in welcoming (name)…
 It's a pleasure to welcome (name)…
 I'd like to introduce (name)…
Stating the Objectives of a Meeting
 We're here today to…
 I've called this meeting in order to...
 By the end of this meeting, I'd like to have ...
Giving Apologies for Someone Who is Absent
 I'm afraid…, (name) can't be with us today. He or she is in...
Reading the Minutes (Notes) of the Last Meeting
 First let's go over the report from the last meeting, which was held on (date).
 Here are the minutes from our last meeting, which was on (date).
Introducing the Agenda
 Have you all received a copy of the agenda?
 There are three items on the agenda. First…
Introducing the First Item on the Agenda
 (Name), would you like to introduce this item?
 So, let's start with…
 So, the first item on the agenda is…
Closing an Item
 I think that covers the first item...
 Shall we leave that item?
 If nobody has anything else to add,…
Next Item
 Let's move onto the next item…
 The next item on the agenda is..
Summarizing
 Before we close, let me just summarize the main points.
 In summary,...
 Shall I go over the main points?
Scheduling the Next Meeting
 So, let’s schedule our next meeting on…
 So, the next meeting will be on (date and time).
 What about (date and time)?
Closing the Meeting
 I'd like to thank (names) for coming…
 Thank you all for attending.
 The meeting is closed.
Business Meeting Role Play
Mark:
Good evening, everyone.
Since we are all here, let's get started. First of all, I'd like you to please join me in welcoming Jack, our new
Regional Vice President of Sales for rural areas.
As you know, I’m Mark, the Regional President. I’d like to introduce Alice, who is our Regional Vice President of
Information Systems and John, who is our Regional Vice President of Customer Service.
Jack:
I'm looking forward to working with all of you.
Mark:
I'm afraid our Regional Vice President of Sales for urban areas, Anne Trusting, can't be with us today. She is in
South Bend at the moment, developing our Indiana sales team.
We're here today to discuss ways of improving sales in rural market areas. First, I’d like John to go over the report
from the last meeting which was held on September 16th.
John:
Thank you, Mark. Let me just summarize the main points of the last meeting. We began the meeting by approving
the changes in our sales reporting system discussed on September 2nd.
After revising the changes that will take place, we moved on to a brainstorming session to improve customer
service after the sale. You'll find a copy of the main ideas developed and discussed in these sessions in the
photocopies in front of you.
Mark:
Thank you, John. So, let's move on to today's agenda. Have you all received a copy of today's agenda?
Let’s start with sales improvement in rural market areas. Jack has agreed to give us a report on this matter. Jack?
Jack:
Before I begin the report, I'd like to get some ideas from all of you. How do you feel about rural sales in your sales
areas?
John:
In my opinion, we have been focusing too much on urban customers and their needs. I think we need to return to
our rural base by developing an advertising campaign to focus on their needs.
Alice:
I agree but I suggest we give our rural sales teams more help with advanced customer information reporting.
Jack:
Excuse me, I don’t understand your point. Could you clarify that, please?
Alice:
Well, we provide our city sales staff with database information on all of our larger clients. We should be
providing the same knowledge on our rural customers to our sales staff there.
John:
I had never thought about rural sales that way before. I have to agree with Alice.
Jack:
Well, let me begin with this PowerPoint presentation (Jack presents his report).
As you can see, we are developing new methods to reach out to our rural customers.
John:
I suggest we discuss the ideas we've seen presented. (Team discusses ideas).
Mark:
Unfortunately, we're running short of time. Jack could you summarize the main points from this meeting?
Jack:
In summary, rural customers need special help to feel more valued. Our sales teams need more accurate
information on our customers. A survey will be completed to collect data on spending habits in these areas. The
results of this survey will be delivered to our sales teams. We are considering specific data mining procedures to
help improve our understanding of the market.
Alice:
Let me add that we’ve hired three new Data Analysts this month. Our goal is to provide data requests within 24
hours.
Mark:
That’s great news. It looks as though we've covered the main items. So, let’s schedule our next meeting on
Monday, October 28th at 7 o'clock. Is everyone available on that date? Excellent. The meeting is closed. Thank
you all for attending.
Who are the participants?
Mark, Regional President
Jack, Regional Vice President of Rural Areas
Alice, Regional Vice President of Information Systems
John, Regional Vice President of Customer Service
What is the objective of the meeting?
The objective is to discuss and develop ways of improving sales in rural market
areas.
What solutions do the participants recommend?
Rural customers need to feel more valued.
Rural sales teams need accurate information on customers.
A survey will be completed to collect customer data.
The results of the survey will be delivered to sales teams.
They are considering data mining procedures to improve market information.
Your team has started a company that is competing with the largest purified drinking water company in your
market. In your meeting, you are going to discuss what marketing strategies to use to gain market share. The
following are your job titles and roles in the meeting.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO):
The CEO of a corporation is the highest ranking management officer and has final decisions over marketing,
financial, environmental and technical operations of the corporation.
You are concerned about the slow growth of the company this year. You want to reach out to more apartment
owners in the market to create larger accounts. You want marketing to start a campaign targeting owners of
apartments and boarding houses.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO):
A CFO tracks revenues and expenses, prepares and reviews tax documents, creates and manages budgets and
prepares financial statements.
You think that the marketing department has been spending too much money on expensive campaigns. You
want the marketing department to change the marketing strategy by doing more internet marketing and less
print advertising such as newspapers and billboards.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO):
The CMO is in charge of developing marketing strategies. A CMO uses research to determine the company's
target market, manages marketing budgets and determines pricing, promotion, development, packaging and
positioning of products and services.
You want more money in the marketing budget to focus on branding. You think that branding will improve your
company’s image to compete with your rival company who has been in business for 40 years. You think that a
reputable image will gain more market share specifically owners of apartments and boarding houses.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO):
The CTO is responsible for the overall technological needs and decisions of an organization. The CTO helps the
company with information management, social media, software selection and coming up with ways to determine
how technology can improve company operations.
Your department has improved its data mining method. You have data that shows customers’ spending habits.
You think the marketing department should get more money to target these customers. You think the data will
make the campaigns more successful and make the company more revenue.
Agenda
[Meeting Title]
[Date]
[Time]
Meeting called by
Participants
Please read
Please bring
: [Name]
: [Attendee list]
: [Reading list]
: [Supplies list]
[Time]
[Opening]
[Welcome and introductions]
[Objective]
[Discuss agenda]
[Time]
[Agenda Item 1]
[Time]
[Agenda Item 2]
[Time]
[Closing]
[Summarize main points]
[Schedule next meeting]