Effective Meetings & Small Talk in the Workplace
Description
Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Conduct polite and professional small talk with colleagues.
- Participate effectively in meetings (express opinions, ask questions).
- Use common business phrases for clarity and professionalism.
Materials:
- Slides or PDF with key phrases
- Example meeting dialogues
- Optional: Zoom chat for role-play exercises
Lesson Flow:
1. Warm-up (5–7 min)
- Ask: “What do you find most challenging about workplace conversations?”
- Quick discussion or mini-poll.
- Introduce the topic: “Today we will practice business small talk and meetings to sound confident and professional.”
2. Vocabulary / Key Phrases (10 min)
- Small talk phrases:
- “How was your weekend?” / “Did you have a good trip?”
- “I heard about [project]; how is it going?”
- Meeting phrases:
- “Could I add something here?”
- “I see your point, but…”
- “Can we clarify the timeline?”
- Go through pronunciation and polite intonation.
3. Main Activity – Role-Play (25 min)
- Students practice small talk and meeting scenarios in pairs or groups.
- Encourage using the key phrases naturally.
- Optional: Conduct role-plays via Zoom chat or breakout rooms.
4. Wrap-Up / Homework (5–8 min)
- Discuss: “Which phrase did you like most, and why?”
- Homework: Prepare 3 sentences to start a professional conversation in English (e.g., with a new client or colleague).
- Optional add-on: Provide a mini cheat sheet of business phrases for students to keep.
Cafetalk's cancellation policy
Before request is confirmed (fixed)
- Cancellation possible at any time without charge.
After request is confirmed (fixed)
- More than 24 hours before lesson start time.→ Cancellation is possible at any time.
- Less than 24 hours before lesson start time.→ The tutor may take a cancellation fee.
-
No-Show→ The tutor may take a cancellation fee.
(Please check with the tutor for details.)