Online Meetings in English: 10 Tips for Professional Video Conferences

Opening the Meeting Professionally

First impressions matter -- even in virtual spaces. A professional meeting opening in English follows a clear structure: greeting, brief introductions (if needed), presenting the agenda, and clarifying roles.

Here are the key phrases:

Greeting:

• "Good morning/afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining."
• "Let's wait another minute for everyone to join."
• "Shall we get started?"

Presenting the agenda:

• "Today we have three items on the agenda."
• "The purpose of this meeting is to discuss..."
• "By the end of this call, we should have decided on..."

Clarifying roles:

• "I'll be chairing the meeting today."
• "Could someone volunteer to take the minutes?"

Presenting and Discussing Ideas Professionally

In meetings you often need to present your ideas, react to others' suggestions, and sometimes politely disagree. Having the right vocabulary is crucial, as English has clear gradations between agreement, neutral responses, and disagreement.

Agreeing:

• "I completely agree with that."
• "That's a great point."
• "I think you're absolutely right."

Partially agreeing:

• "I see your point, but..."
• "That's true to some extent, however..."
• "I agree in principle, but I think we should also consider..."

Politely disagreeing:

• "I see it slightly differently."
• "I'm not sure I agree with that."
• "With all due respect, I think..."

Politely interrupting:

• "Sorry to interrupt, but..."
• "Could I jump in here for a moment?"
• "If I may add something..."

Handling Technical Issues with Confidence

Technical glitches happen constantly in online meetings: the microphone doesn't work, the camera is off, someone is frozen, or the internet connection drops. These situations are awkward enough -- if you're also missing the English words, it's doubly stressful.

Here are the key phrases for technical issues:

Audio problems:

• "You're on mute." / "I think you're muted."
• "We can't hear you. Could you check your microphone?"
• "There's a lot of background noise. Could you mute yourself?"

Video problems:

• "Your screen is frozen." / "I think you've frozen."
• "Could you turn on your camera, please?"
• "Can you see my screen?"

Connection problems:

• "I'm having connection issues. Let me rejoin."
• "You're breaking up. Could you repeat that?"
• "Sorry, I lost you for a moment. What did you say?"

Summarizing and Closing the Meeting Professionally

A good meeting close is just as important as a good opening. You should summarize the key results, assign tasks, and clarify next steps. This way, all participants leave the meeting with a clear understanding.

Summarizing:

• "Let me quickly summarize what we've discussed."
• "So, to recap the main points..."
• "Just to make sure we're all on the same page..."

Assigning tasks:

• "Tom, could you take care of the report by Friday?"
• "I'll send around the action items after the call."
• "Who's going to follow up on the client feedback?"

Closing the meeting:

• "Thank you all for your time. I think we've covered everything."
• "If there are no further questions, let's wrap up."
• "Great meeting, everyone. Talk to you next week."

The Perfect Follow-up Email in English

After every important meeting, you should send a follow-up email. This email summarizes the points discussed, records the agreed tasks, and shows your professionalism. Here are proven phrases:

Subject line:

• "Meeting Summary -- [Topic] -- [Date]"
• "Follow-up: Action Items from Today's Meeting"

Opening:

• "Thank you all for a productive meeting today."
• "Following up on our discussion earlier..."
• "As discussed in today's meeting, here is a summary of our key decisions."

Listing tasks:

• "Action items: [Name] will [task] by [deadline]."
• "Please find the agreed next steps below."

Closing:

• "Please let me know if I've missed anything."
• "Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions."