In the modern business world, teleconferencing is an essential means through which business associates in different places communicate with each other. Teleconferencing may be done through audio or both audio and video channels, and is a cost-effective way of conducting business meetings with colleagues and associates who are in different parts of the same country or the world.

Because teleconferencing is dependent on long-distance communication and sometimes unreliable technology, problems in communication can often arise. For example, participants may not be able to hear each other because of audio problems. Also, a frequent concern is that native speakers of English tend to speak very quickly, and non-native speakers may find it difficult to follow what they are saying over a conference call. In such cases, it is useful to know how to interrupt politely, ask for clarifications, and handle general problems in communication.

A meeting to discuss a business proposal is usually an integral part of creating a business plan. While it is common for the proposal to be written by one person, it is also common for team members or prospective clients to be available during such meetings to give their opinions and input on what they feel should be changed or included. The person who has written the proposal should be prepared to answer questions on the content and should be open to the revisions that may be necessary.

The functional language involved in such a discussion focuses around two key areas. Firstly, we often find the conditional tense being used in such discussions, since the proposal has not been accepted yet. Secondly, auxiliary and modal verbs (also known as helping verbs) are commonly used along with words and phrases indicating personal opinions and suggestions as the speakers speculate about the future.  

In planning a business event such as a conference, the type of language that we use commonly includes verbs which refer to the future. In this podcast, we will see how the future simple tense, ‘will,’ ‘going to’ and the present continuous tense can be used to refer to future actions. We will also look at examples of how modal verbs can be used in discussing business plans.

During the course of planning a business conference or workshop, we often need more than one meeting to plan the event. In this podcast lesson, we will listen to extracts from two meetings, one to plan a business conference and the other to discuss and assign specific tasks.

Interrupting may sound like an impolite aspect of conversation, but it can be effective if it is done with politeness and skill. Interrupting may be preceded by non–intrusive gestures such as lifting your hand so that the person speaking is not caught by surprise. People speaking in meetings often tend to get carried away with what they are saying and may not know when to stop, so it is perfectly acceptable to interrupt someone if you need to make a point or ask a question.

In this podcast lesson you’re going to hear examples of effective as well as ineffective interruptions. You will also be introduced to the INSET technique for interrupting in business meetings. Understanding and applying this technique will make you a better contributor in your workplace meetings.