🏆Mastery·Lesson 2· 25 min

Business English: Meetings, emails, presentations

The English of the workplace. Run meetings, write emails that get responses, negotiate without offending.

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👋 Mr. Gee says

“Business English is its own world. It has its own phrases, its own rhythm. Master it and your career opens up. Today we cover the three pillars: meetings, emails, presentations.”

The story

Three business situations

MEETING: 'Thanks for joining. Let's start with the Q3 numbers. John, would you like to walk us through them?'

EMAIL: 'Hi team, please find attached the updated proposal. I would appreciate your feedback by Friday. Let me know if you have any questions.'

PRESENTATION: 'Good morning everyone. Today I'd like to walk you through our results, the key takeaways, and what we plan to do next. We will leave time for questions at the end.'

Each of these uses standard business phrases that natives say every day. Memorise them.

Meeting English

Opening: 'Thanks for joining.' 'Let's get started.' 'Shall we begin?'

Setting an agenda: 'Today we will cover three things.' 'First we will discuss... then... finally...'

Inviting input: 'What are your thoughts?' 'Anyone want to add to that?' 'John, would you like to weigh in?'

Agreeing: 'That makes sense.' 'I see your point.' 'I am with you on that.'

Disagreeing politely: 'I see it differently.' 'I'm not sure I agree.' 'Could we look at it from another angle?'

Closing: 'Let's wrap up.' 'To summarise...' 'Thanks everyone, see you next time.'

Professional email phrases

Opening: 'I hope this email finds you well.' 'Thanks for getting in touch.' 'I am writing to ask about...'

Attachments: 'Please find attached...' 'I have attached the document for your review.'

Requesting: 'Could you let me know by Friday?' 'I would appreciate your input on this.'

Apologising: 'Apologies for the delay.' 'I am sorry for any inconvenience.'

Following up: 'Just checking in on this.' 'Following up on my previous email.'

Closing: 'Looking forward to hearing from you.' 'Let me know if you have any questions.' 'Thank you in advance.'

Presentation language

Opening: 'Good morning. My name is X and today I'd like to talk about Y.'

Outline: 'I will cover three main points. First... then... finally...'

Signposting: 'Moving on to my next point...' 'Let me give you an example...' 'As you can see from this slide...'

Emphasising: 'The key takeaway here is...' 'What I want you to remember is...'

Handling questions: 'That is a great question.' 'I am happy to follow up offline on that.' 'Let me get back to you on the specifics.'

Closing: 'In summary, we covered X, Y, Z.' 'Thank you for your time. I'll take any questions now.'

Vocabulary list

The 8 words from this lesson

Click “Translate” below if you need any word in your own language.

walk throughphrase

Explain step by step.

Let me walk you through the data.

weigh inphrase

Give your opinion.

Sarah, want to weigh in?

wrap upphrase

Finish.

Let's wrap up the meeting.

follow upphrase

Continue contact about something.

I'll follow up next week.

stakeholdersnoun

People affected by a decision.

We need stakeholder approval.

deliverablenoun

A specific output or product.

What are the deliverables for this quarter?

actionableadjective

Specific enough to act on.

Give me actionable feedback.

circle backphrase

Return to a topic later.

Let's circle back to this on Friday.

Translation tip

Business English is more international than other forms. A Japanese executive and a Brazilian manager use the same phrases when emailing each other. Once you learn the key phrases, you can do business with anyone, anywhere.

Your turn

Practice prompts

Try these on paper or out loud. Mr. Gee's rule: practice today, do not save it for tomorrow.

Write an email to your team announcing a meeting: subject, greeting, purpose, time, agenda, sign-off.
Outline a 5-minute presentation on a topic you know. Use 'today I will cover...', then signposting between points.
Practise polite disagreement: 'I see it differently because ___.'
Watch a TED talk in English. Notice the opening, the signposting, the closing. Copy the structure.

Take this with you

Three pillars: meetings (opening, agenda, inviting input, closing), emails (greeting, body, sign-off), presentations (open, outline, signpost, close). Memorise the phrases as fixed blocks. You will use them again and again.

👨🏽‍🏫

Mr. Gee's tip of the day

Read aloud every day. Even if it sounds funny. Your tongue needs practice.

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Formal vs informal English: Knowing the room

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Academic writing: Essays, research, citations