About Lesson
The problem with meetings that sometimes the mix of personalities coupled with a lack of clear leadership can lead to disaster.
Watch the video and annswer the questions that follow.
How to use this course
A quick introduction about how to use this course and how to navigate around it easily.
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The problem with meetings …
We have all lied and continue to live through bad meetings. In this course we will be looking at meetings in general and how we can become more effective and get more out of meetings and how we can do all of this in English too.
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Grammar For Everyone
Some helpful tips on using grammar and correcting some of the more common mistakes that learners make in English.
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Learning Hacks
In order to learn effectively, you need to be able to find a strategy that works for you. In these sections on learning hacks, we will look at strategies and tips to help you learn more effectively.
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Asking effective questions
Asking questions is a uniquely powerful tool for unlocking value in organisations: It spurs learning and the exchange of ideas, it fuels innovation and performance improvement, it builds rapport and trust among team members.
It can mitigate business risk by uncovering unforeseen pitfalls and hazards. But few executives think of questioning as a skill that can be honed—or consider how their own answers to questions could make conversations more productive. That’s a missed opportunity.
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The Present tenses in English
There are four present tenses in English. Use the present tense to talk about something that is going on now or that is true now and any time.
Simple present to express habits and general truths.
Present continuous to talk about an action happening now.
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Two Past Tenses in English
There are four past tenses in English. Use them to talk about things that started and ended in the past or things that started in the past and continue to the present.
Simple Past for actions starting and ending in the past.
Past Continuous for actions starting in the past and continuing to the present.
Past simple tense verbs — show actions that occurred and completed at a particular time in the past.
The past simple tense of regular verbs is marked by the ending -d or -ed. Irregular verbs have a variety of endings.
The past continuous is a verb tense which is used to show that an ongoing past action was happening at a specific moment of interruption, or that two ongoing actions were happening at the same time.
The past continuous is formed by using was / were + verb + ing.
Let's look at how to use the past in English.
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The Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect tense is a verb tense used to express actions that occurred at a non-specific time. The present perfect tense is also used to express actions that started in the past but continue to the present.
The present perfect tense expresses actions that happened at a time that is not specific.
The Present Perfect is Used to Express:
actions of duration that occurred in the past (before now) of unspecified time
actions that started in the past but continue to the present
actions that started in the past but stopped recently
It is important to consider that the TIME of the present perfect tense is unknown.
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Talking about the future
Talking about what will happen / probably happen or what you forecast will happen in the future.
In short, how to use the future in English with ease.
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The Past Perfect Tense
Find out how to use this very useful tense to say exactly what you mean in English
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Vocabulary
In thi ssection we will be looking at useful expressions, false friends and other useful bits of vocabulary to make your English more fluid and accurate.
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Pronunciation
Learn some simple tips to improve your pronunciation in a flash.
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Email English
Writing effective emails
Using polite expressions
Writing effective informal and formal emails
Meetings
In this section we will be looking at parts of a meeting, The beginning, going through the agenda, right down to closing the meeting.
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Starting a meeting
The start of the meeting is a very important step to setting the tone and energy of a meeting and sadly is one of the steps that is often neglected.
In this section we will look at effective ways to start a meeting.
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The Language of meetings
The language of meetings, whilst it is not difficult, is specific and important to master.
In this section we will look at some examples that you can practice and use in your own meetings.
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Presenting Information
Presenting information in a user-friendly, easy to understand format is essential for meetings and presentations. If you are unclear, then you could give the impression that you are unprepared or just do not know what you are talking about.
Of course, this may be untrue, but this is what could be perceived. We will look at ways that you can present information clearly, concisely and professionally.
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Talking about Figures
How to talk about big numbers, finance, sales, turnover and trends in English.
In meetings, reports, presentations etc..., it is important to have to describe and compare numeric data such as profits or sales figures and trends from graphs, charts or tables.
In this section we will be learning ways to describe changes in numbers/figures/trends/sales/P&L etc.
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Agreeing and disagreeing
We need to be able to agree and disagree in a professional and well adapted way in meetings.
In this section we will look at ways to strongly agree and disagree in English, whilst remaining polite and professional.
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Introducing subjects & Topics
In this section we will look at ways of introducing subjects and topics in a meeting and moving smoothly through an agenda.
Managing conflict in a meeting
When agreeing and disagreeing, at times it can lead to friction within a team that can often result in conflict. If it a conflict of ideas, then this is often the roots of creativity, however, if it is a conflict of personalities, then this can produce tension in a meeting that can result in negativity at best.
Let's look at ways of managing conflict and channeling creativity in our meetings.
Taking Meeting minutes directly in English
In this section we will be looking at how you can improve your skills at taking notes and minutes directly in English during meetings.
The point of taking notes is to write down short but significant information for our later review or as a reminder. Meeting minutes recorder may have different roles than other meeting attendees and their notes may differ.
We will lokk at tips and strategies to take effective notes directly in English faster.
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Business Idioms
Learn some business idioms to speak more accurately and simply when in a business meeting or meeting with clients
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Cross-cultural Meeting skills
We have all experienced bad meetings. In Western countries this may mean lack of punctuality or urgency, redundant discussions that go on and on, or conversation domination. But when meeting attendees are from different countries, it gets more complex. What is bad meeting behavior in one country is not necessarily bad in another.
The ground rule is: make no assumptions except the assumption that cross-cultural difference will impact the meeting. The differences are so vast that it is important to have a framework for understanding cross-cultural meeting behaviors.
When to schedule meetings
Did you know that there are ways to ensure that your meetings go well, apart from all of the tips and information that you have seen.
There are exellent and very bad times and days to schedule a meeting.
Let's look at the best days and times to plan meetings and why this is so.
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Human Resources Matter
Learn vocabulary, phrasal verbs and expressions to talk about Human Resources.
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Real English!
This is the real English we speak every day - when you understand this, you will have one of the keys to really advancing in English.
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Telephone English
Using the telephone in English can be tricky as we can't see the speaker and sometimes the conversation is difficult to hear and understand due to outside noise or interruptions. In this module we will look at getting more confident with the telephone in English.
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Travel
English for travel - pleasure or business, it doesn't matter, this may help you for both.
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Innovation and technical English
Get to grips with some technical English as we look at new technologies that are shaping the future of work in industry.
From the aeronatic industry to the automotive industry passing through the IT industry, see what the future holds for the way we work.
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Marketing
Talking about marketing and the relationship between sales, pre-sales and marketing.
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Procrastination
Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn't make sense, but he's never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes and bouts of staring out the window -- and encourages us to think harder about what we're really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.
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Talking about your job
Talking about your job and company is an essential element when meeting new and potential clients as well as existing clients or colleagues. In this section you will learn ways to do exactly this.
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Listening Comprehensions
These listening comprhensions are designed to help you up your game in listening for detail and to enhance your global listening skills.
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Writing
A variety of writing tasks that you can undertake and then follow up in a session or by a telephone call that you can schedule to work on your writing, grammar, syntax and spelling.
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Final thoughts and wrap-up evaluation
Some final thoughts on the course you have completed and an overall evaluation of what you have learnt.
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