Six phrases that get you heard

In a meeting with partner and contractor managers, the person who gets heard is rarely the one with the best English. It is the one who signals clearly what they are about to do.

1. Taking the floor: "Can I add something on that point?"
2. Asking for precision: "When you say soon, do you mean this week or this month?"
3. Disagreeing safely: "I see it differently, and here is why."
4. Protecting your position: "I can agree to the date, but not without two extra technicians."
5. Parking a subject: "Can we take that offline and come back to it with figures?"
6. Closing with a commitment: "So my action is to send the manning plan by Thursday."

Number six is the one most people skip, and it is the one that decides whether the meeting produced anything.