To sound fluent and professional in a business meeting, you must master key phrasal verbs like 'call off,' 'bring up,' 'go over,' and 'follow up.' These common expressions are crucial for understanding discussions, contributing effectively, and navigating the nuances of corporate English. This guide will walk you through the essential phrasal verbs for a business meeting so you can communicate with confidence.
Why Are Phrasal Verbs so Important in Professional Communication?
Phrasal verbs—verbs combined with a preposition or adverb—are incredibly common in everyday English, and the workplace is no exception. While you might know the formal vocabulary, native speakers frequently use phrasal verbs in presentations, negotiations, and conference calls.
Learning them helps you:
- Understand Natural Speech: You'll be able to keep up with conversations and understand the subtle meanings behind what your colleagues are saying.
- Sound More Fluent: Using phrasal verbs correctly makes your English sound more natural and less like a textbook, helping you build better rapport.
- Communicate Precisely: Often, a phrasal verb is the most efficient and precise way to express an idea, such as saying "put off" instead of "postpone the meeting to a later date."
A Guide to the Most Essential Phrasal Verbs for a Business Meeting
To help you master your next meeting, we've broken down the most useful phrasal verbs by the different stages of a typical business discussion.
Which verbs can I use to start or schedule a meeting?
Setting the stage correctly is vital. These verbs help you manage scheduling and initiation.
- Set up (to arrange or organize): This is used for organizing a meeting, call, or appointment.
- *Example:* "I will set up a Zoom call for Thursday at 10 AM to discuss the quarterly report."
- Call off (to cancel): Use this when a meeting will not happen at all.
- *Example:* "Due to the client's emergency, we have to call off this afternoon's presentation."
- Put off / Push back (to postpone): These mean to delay a meeting to a later time or date.
- *Example:* "Can we put off the team sync until tomorrow? I need more time to prepare the data." or "Let's push back the deadline review by one week."
Which verbs are common during the meeting discussion?
Once the meeting starts, these phrasal verbs are key for participating in the conversation.
- Bring up (to introduce a topic): When you want to start discussing a particular subject.
- *Example:* "That's a good point. I'd also like to bring up the new marketing budget."
- Go over (to review or examine): Perfect for when you need to review a document, a plan, or key points.
- *Example:* "Before we begin, let's go over the action items from our last meeting."
- Deal with (to handle or manage): This is used when talking about managing a task, problem, or situation.
- *Example:* "Our next agenda item is to decide how we are going to deal with the negative customer feedback."
- Weigh in (to give an opinion): An excellent, professional way to offer your thoughts.
- *Example:* "I'd like to hear what the design team has to say. Sarah, could you weigh in on this?"
- Figure out (to understand or find a solution): Use this when you are trying to solve a problem or understand something complex.
- *Example:* "We need to figure out why our website traffic has dropped this month."
How do I use phrasal verbs to end the meeting and plan next steps?
Concluding a meeting effectively involves summarizing and defining the next steps. These verbs are perfect for that.
- Wrap up (to finish or conclude): A common phrase to signal the end of the meeting.
- *Example:* "We have five minutes left, so let's wrap up the discussion."
- Follow up (to take further action): This refers to the communication or tasks that happen *after* the meeting.
- *Example:* "I will follow up with an email summarizing what we've decided today."
- Draw up (to prepare a formal document): Used for creating official documents like contracts, proposals, or meeting minutes.
- *Example:* "The legal team will draw up a new contract based on the terms we agreed upon."
- Look into (to investigate or research): When a topic needs more investigation before a decision can be made.
- *Example:* "That's a valid concern. I will look into the production costs and report back next week."
By mastering these 12 expressions, you'll be well-equipped to handle any professional discussion. Focus on understanding their meaning in context, and soon you'll be using these essential phrasal verbs for a business meeting like a native speaker.
Frequently Asked Questions about Business Phrasal Verbs
Q1: Are phrasal verbs too informal for a business meeting?
Not at all. While some phrasal verbs are very informal, the ones listed above (like 'go over', 'follow up', 'set up') are standard in corporate English and used daily in offices around the world. The key is to learn which ones are appropriate for a professional setting.
Q2: What's the difference between 'put off' and 'call off'?
'Put off' means to postpone or reschedule an event for a later time. The event will still happen. 'Call off' means to cancel it completely; it will not happen.
Q3: How many phrasal verbs should I learn for business English?
There's no magic number. Start with the most common ones, like the 12 in this article. Focus on quality over quantity. It's better to know 15-20 common business phrasal verbs and use them correctly than to know 100 you can't remember in a conversation.
Q4: How can I practice using phrasal verbs for work?
Context is key. Pay attention to how they are used in business articles, podcasts, or TV shows. Try to write your own example sentences related to your job. For instance, after a real meeting, try to summarize it in an email to yourself using verbs like 'follow up,' 'go over,' and 'wrap up.'
Q5: What's the best way to remember phrasal verbs with multiple meanings?
Focus on learning one meaning at a time, specifically the one most relevant to a business context. For example, 'look into' can have a physical meaning, but in business, it almost always means 'to investigate.' Grouping phrasal verbs by topic, as we've done in this article, is another effective memory aid.