Meetings. Love them? Hate them? Or muttering silently that it should have been an email? If you work in English, meetings are unavoidable.
Use these 20 phrasal verbs and expressions and you will sound professional, organised, and annoyingly competent.
10 Phrasal Verbs for Meetings
Bring up
Introduce a topic.
"I would like to bring up the budget issue at the end."
Put back
Delay to a later time.
"Can we put the review back until next week?"
Bring forward
Move to an earlier time.
"We have brought the demo forward to 9am."
Call off
Cancel a meeting.
"We had to call off the session due to illness."
Run through
Quickly review items.
"Let us run through the slides before the client joins."
Wrap up
Finish the meeting.
"We are running late, let us wrap up in five."
Take over
Start controlling or managing.
"I will take over the demo from here."
Chip in
Join the conversation and contribute.
"If anyone wants to chip in, please do."
Go over
Review something carefully.
"We need to go over the contract line by line."
Note down
Write something important.
"I will note that down in the minutes."
10 Idioms and Expressions People Actually Use in Meetings
On the same page
Agree and understand the same thing.
"Let us make sure we are all on the same page before we proceed."
Touch base
Have a brief update or chat.
"I will touch base with you on Friday."
Circle back
Return to a topic later.
"We will circle back to that after the break."
Take it offline
Discuss privately, outside the meeting.
"That is a bigger issue, let us take it offline."
Ahead of schedule
Finished earlier than planned.
"Good news, we are ahead of schedule on the build."
Behind schedule
Running late compared to plan.
"We are behind schedule. Can we add extra resources?"
The ball is in your court
It is your turn to act.
"I have sent the brief. The ball is in your court now."
Think outside the box
Be creative and suggest different ideas.
"This is boring. Let us think outside the box."
Cut to the chase
Get to the important point quickly.
"We are short on time. Cut to the chase, please."
Back to square one
Start again from the beginning.
"The client rejected the design. Back to square one."
Before You Go
Try using one or two of these phrases in your next meeting. Use them sparingly because overuse makes you sound like someone who reads a business-jargon calendar for fun.