Preparing to Conduct a Business Meeting When English is a Secondary Language

Many people will agree that conducting a business meeting can require a lot of effort, but even more so if you are using a secondary language. There are often many industry related terms and formal expressions that are required. However daunting this may be, there are effective methods to ease the nerves and help the meeting run smoother. Let’s now discuss one of those essential strategies: Setting a meeting plan.

Setting an effective meeting plan usually is about writing down the topic of the meeting and any related points for discussion, along with supporting data and references. Though, if you are preparing it in a secondary language, then you’ll have to pay more than the usual attention.

First, carefully select the vocabulary and the expressions that you will need to use during the meeting. Try to use what you know as much as possible. If you have to include words you are not familiar with, make sure to look them up and understand how to use them in a sentence. Also, keep in mind that source data or reports written by others that need to be discussed at the meeting may have certain expressions that are unclear to you, so pay close attention to them.

After getting familiar with the wording, give yourself time to rehearse them and ensure that you use the proper pronunciation. Read the source reports out loud. Stand in front of an empty meeting table and conduct the meeting as if it were attended.

Next, make sure to distribute your meeting plan to those that will attend well in advance so that they have the opportunity to be familiar with what will be spoken about. This will allow them to anticipate the terms you will use, so if you do make a linguistic mistake, then they will have the context in which to understand what you mean. Also, by using a meeting plan, you will be able to direct where the discussion will be heading, which is in the realm of topics and vocabulary that you are familiar with.

Participants of the meeting will most likely have questions about what you have prepared. Try to anticipate which questions could be asked and prepare your answers in advance. That way, you will have time to formulate the proper responses using the correct grammar. Then, when you do answer in the meeting, you will also be able to reply with confidence, adding to your credibility.

If a question requires that you answer in terms that you are not prepared for, or with vocabulary that you do not yet understand, promptly note down the question and kindly let the person know that you will look into it and will address the matter at the next meeting or in a follow-up email. In this way, you’ll have time to reference the language used without drawing undue attention to any limitations on your part. Most people will readily accept waiting for a proper answer as they usually prefer receiving a meaningful answer rather than a spur- of-the-moment one that does not have any real value. They probably will see this as a normal procedure.

So, there you have it. If you need to use English as a secondary language, preparing the vocabulary of your meeting plan strategically can make a big difference and leave a much better impression with your colleagues!