Interrupting

Could/May I come in at this point?

I wonder if I might comment on that last point?

If I may just interrupt you for a moment, I’d like to…

I don’t want to Sorry to

interrupt butt in

but don’t you think that …? but couldn’t…?

Handling Interruptions

Yes, go ahead.

If I may finish my point…

Let me finish.

Concluding

Let me conclude by …

In conclusion I’d like to say…

Summarizing

Briefly, the main points that have been made are …

To sum up then, there seems to be …

Task 1: Answer the questions and do the assignments

1. What is the idea of a meeting?

2. What lines are meeting divided along?

3. Characterize different types of meetings.

Task 2: Organize the vocabulary below by matching them with the right question. The first one has been done for you.

uncooperative decide a meeting brainstorm a waste of time competitive a chat friendly action interesting chair (person/man/woman) propose delegate negotiate a discussion useful items reports to call a meeting exchange ideas a conference matters colleague postponeto set up a meeting participant recommend subjects issuesagreement stimulating topics pointless points boring positive negative collaborative unproductiveminutes hostile cooperative helpful productive proceedings useless unfriendly agenda discuss disagreement
What do we call it?	How do we organize it?
Who participates?	What’s the atmosphere like? uncooperative
What do we do?	What do we talk about?
What’s the result?	What did we think of it all?

Task 3. Role-play. Enact a meeting of the Board of Directors of an imaginary company. Follow the lines:

• Choose the type of the meting

• Work out the agenda (the main issue on the agenda: the position of a company during/after the crisis)

• Determine the list of participants

• Hold the meeting using the recommended vocabulary.

Negotiations

Negotiation is one of the most common approaches used to make decisions and manage disputes. It is also the major building block for many other alternative dispute resolution procedures.

Negotiation occurs between spouses, parents and children, managers and staff, employers and employees, professionals and clients, within and between organizations and between agencies and the public. Negotiation is a problem-solving process in which two or more people voluntarily discuss their differences and attempt to reach a joint decision on their common concerns. Negotiation requires participants to identify issues about which they differ, educate each other about their needs and interests, generate possible settlementoptions and bargain over the terms of the final agreement. Successful negotiations generally result in some kind of exchange or promise being made by the negotiators to each other. The exchange may be tangible (such as money, a commitment of time or a particular behavior) or intangible (such as an agreement to change an attitude or expectation, or make an apology).

Negotiation is the principal way that people redefine an old relationship that is not working to their satisfaction or establish a new relationship where none existed before. Because negotiation is such a common problem-solving process, it is in everyone's interest to become familiar with negotiating dynamics and skills.

A negotiation process usually requires a special strategy which depends on the character of the negotiations and their goals. But typically any negotiation consists of the following stages:

1.  Opening the Negotiations2.Clarifying Proposals3.Exploring the Zone of Bargaining and Options 4.  Bargaining5.Entering the Critical Phase6.Closing