Task 3. Work with a partner. You are having a business lunch together. Take turns to be the host and help your quest choose something to eat and drink from your menu.

You may choose from the following phrases:

• Now, what would you like to drink?
• It all looks very good.
• So, what do you recommend?
• Is there anything you don’t eat?
• You could try the lamb. That’s very good here.
• Shall we order a bottle of the house red?
• This is absolutely delicious.
• Could we order some mineral water, too?
• Now, how about a dessert?
• Better not. I’m on a diet.
• No, no, I insist. You’re my guest.

Unit 8. Check-up.

Make sure that you know the following words and word combinations, translate them into Russian.

The human content part, to gain a new client, customer relationship management mix, to entertain one’s clients, to put a face to a name, to look good, to show someone round, to see some of the sights, to be having a great year, to call off an event, to cut down on cigarettes, to make a conference a success, to look over notes for tomorrow’s presentation, to be doing a lot of business together, to build up sales.

Make sure that you know the following words and word combinations, translate them into English.

Удержать старого клиента компании, популярная форма развлечений, подвезти в аэропорт, принять приглашение, выбрасывать старые файлы, осматривать дом, комментировать качество еды и скорость обслуживания, отдохнуть в отеле, поговорить с коллегами о предложении.

Make up sentences or short dialogs with the following word combinations from the unit.

1. to stop for lunch

2. to be two hours late for a party

3. to last up to three and half hours

4. to wait for your host to serve you the main meat dish

5. to keep filling other quests’ glasses until they turn them over

6. to try the local specialty

7. to be absolutely delicious

8. to order a bottle of the house red

9. to be on a diet

10. to insist.

 

Unit 9: Meetings

Task 1. Complete the dialogue using the words in the box:

agenda apologies approves arising attend call consensus informally items minutes proxy quorum

A: So how do staff meetings work in this department, then?

B: Well, we have them monthly, and everybody is supposed to (1) ________________. If we want to discuss something we tell the secretary beforehand, and she puts it on the (2) ____________. We all receive this about a week before the meeting, along with the (3) _____________ of the last meeting.

We begin the meeting by signing a list of the people present, and the Chair reads out a list of (4) _____________ received from people who can't come.

A: The Chair?

B: Yes. Since our head of department is a woman, instead of saying "Chairman," or "Madame Chairman," we just say "Chair." Some people say "Chairperson" but "Chair" is shorter.

The first two items are usually to ask the meeting whether everyone (5) ___________ of the agenda, and of the minutes of the previous meeting. If necessary we then discuss matters (6) _____________ from the minutes.

We then go through the (7) ___________ on the agenda. The last one is always A.O.B., or Any Other Business, so we can add things that haven't been included on the agenda. For important decisions, if we can't reach a (8) ______________ we have a vote. If there's a tie, if the votes are even, the Chair has a casting vote.

B: And if you can't be there, can you ask someone else to vote for you?

A: Oh, no. We don't have (9) ____________ votes. You have to be there. Especially as we need 50% of the staff to have a (10) ____________, without which nothing can be voted on and no decisions can be taken.

B: And you only have them once a month?

A: Well, I suppose we could (11) ___________ an emergency meeting if there was something urgent to discuss, but it hasn't happened recently. You know, most of us work individually, we have our specific jobs to do, and we don't need to discuss too many things with the whole department. We collaborate (12) ___________ when necessary, like we're doing now, and only have meetings to discuss things that concern everybody. Otherwise, meetings are a waste of time. I still remember a line from Peter Drucker, the management theorist. He once wrote, "You can either work or meet. You can't do both at the same time."

Task 2. Which of the following do you agree with?

Successful meetings

1. The best number for a meeting is six people or fewer.

2. Never have food or drink during a meeting.

3. Always start and finish a meeting on time.

4. You should sit round a table when you have a meeting.

5. A meeting must always have a leader.

6. At a formal meeting each person should speak in turn.

 

Task 3. Work in groups. Imagine a company, think of its name and products. Then hold the meeting. You should discuss 2 problems: 1) the date of the launch of a new product; 2) marketing strategy: selling price, target consumer, advertising, sales outlets. Use the following phrases.

 

Chairperson:

Beginning the meeting

Can we start please?

Right, let’s begin.

Stating the aim

The main aim of the meeting is to decide the date of the launch.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss our marketing strategy and decide which sales outlets we should target. 

Asking for comments

Let’s hear a few more views.

What do you think when are we going to launch this product?

How do you feel about this?

What’s your view on this problem?

Changing the subject

Let’s move on now to marketing.

The next item on the agenda is promotion and price.

Clarifying

What do you mean by …?

Sorry, I don’t quite understand.

Summarizing

I think in balance we agree that we prefer the earlier date.

OK, let’s summarize.

Right, let’s recap …

 

Participants:

Giving opinions

I think …

I’m in favor of …

In my opinion….

Making suggestions

Perhaps we should

We could…

I suggest we launch this product in May or June.

Agreeing

I think you are right.

I totally agree.

Disagreeing

I don’t know about that.

I’m afraid I don’t agree.

Interrupting

Hold on a moment.

Can I say something?