One of my first jobs was working in the office of a children’s
museum. I can still remember preparing to participate in my first big meeting there.
I was so anxious because I did not know what to expect.
My supervisor gave me this advice: walk into the meeting with a notebook and a pen, and try to appear attentive.
From there, I had to wing it (improvise).
In
the meeting, I felt a bit lost as everyone introduced themselves and
explained their work. It would have been so nice to have practiced lines
to use when it was my turn to speak.
Thankfully, it was not as
stressful of an experience as I was anticipating. After attending that
first meeting I had a much better idea of what to expect for the future
and how to participate without seeming foolish.
Discussions in
meetings and around the office are a major part of any working day.
Whether participating in an important presentation, joining a conference call or simply shooting the breeze (having casual conversations) with colleagues, knowing what to say makes life at work much easier.
It can be really helpful to practice different business English dialogues that will help you be confident and communicate effectively. In this post, we will provide sample dialogues and scripts for a number of everyday office conversations.
You may want to partner up with someone so you can get live experience speaking these lines aloud. Hearing the conversations aloud can help you memorize what to say and how to say it properly.
Practical Business English Dialogues for Everyday Office Interactions
For these dialogues, we will use brackets to indicate information you should fill in yourself.Otherwise, the dialogues will refer to sample situations that you can adapt to your own company, projects and needs.
Dialogues for Participating in Business Meetings
Like it or not, a lot of your time at work is probably going to be spent in business meetings. Having appropriate business English dialogues memorized for these situations can make all the difference in how well you present yourself to your boss and colleagues.Introducing business presentations:
If you are giving a presentation, it is a good idea to have an introduction planned ahead of time. You want to give an organized and professional first impression.Here is a sample introduction that you could use to begin any meeting:
- Please hold your questions until the end of the presentation.
- Please ask questions at any point during our presentation.
Expressing opinions:
When you are participating in a meeting, it is important to show that you care about the topics being discussed. One way to show your interest is to express your opinion on a given topic in a respectful way.Consider this dialogue about an upcoming launch for a new product:
Asking questions in meetings:
If do not fully grasp a concept it is important to get clarification instead of pretending you understand. Usually, during a business meeting, the presenter will explicitly open the discussion up to questions.Navigating negotiations:
Part of doing business is knowing how to negotiate. Sometimes it involves very simple issues like when to schedule the next follow-up on a project, while other times it can be more complex, like closing a major deal.