One of the most common requirements of business English is holding meetings in English. The following sections provide useful language and phrases for conducting meetings and making contributions to a meeting.

　　Meetings generally follow a more or less similar structure and can be divided into the following parts:

　　1、IntroductionsOpening the Meeting

　　Welcoming and Introducing Participants

　　Stating the Principal Objectives of a Meeting

　　Giving Apologies for Someone Who is Absent

　　2、Reviewing Past BusinessReading the Minutes (notes) of the Last Meeting

　　Dealing with Recent Developments

　　3、Beginning the MeetingIntroducing the Agenda

　　Allocating Roles (secretary, participants)

　　Agreeing on the Ground Rules for the Meeting (contributions, timing, decision-making, etc.)

　　4、Discussing ItemsIntroducing the First Item on the Agenda

　　Closing an Item

　　Next Item

　　Giving Control to the Next Participant

　　5、Finishing the MeetingSummarizing

　　Finishing Up

　　Suggesting and Agreeing on Time, Date and Place for the Next Meeting

　　Thanking Participants for Attending

　　6、Closing the Meeting

　　The following pages focus on each part of the meeting and the appropriate language for each situation.