Business English Dialogues for Meetings and More

Discussions in meetings and around the office are a major part of any working day. Getting familiar with different business English dialogues that might take place in these settings can help you feel confident and communicate effectively.

Let’s looks at some sample dialogues for various everyday business conversations.

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Dialogues for Business Meetings

Like it or not, a lot of your time at work is probably going to be spent in business meetings. Being familiar with appropriate business English dialogues for these situations can make all the difference in how well you present yourself to your boss and colleagues.

Let’s look at some sample dialogues that might take place in a business meeting situation. You can adapt these dialogues to your own company, projects and needs.

Scheduling a meeting

When scheduling a meeting, it’s important to clarify when and where the meeting will take place. You might also need to consider who should be present for the meeting. 

Anna: Hi, John. Can we schedule a meeting to discuss the new project?

John: Sure, Anna. When would be a good time for you?

Anna: How about tomorrow at 10 AM?

John: That works for me. Should we book a conference room or have it online?

Anna: Let’s do it online. I’ll send out the meeting invite.

John: Great, I’ll be there.

Expressing opinions

When you’re participating in a meeting, it’s important to show that you care about the topics being discussed by expressing your opinion. Consider this dialogue about an upcoming launch for a new product.

Project lead: What do you think about our plans for this product launch?

Colleague: It looks to me like you have a lot planned before your deadline. I’d suggest you push your deadline back so you have time to run a successful advertising campaign.

Project lead: I respectfully disagree with you there. The priority is to launch before the holidays, so we don’t want to move this deadline.

Colleague: OK, then maybe you should simplify the plan a bit so you can meet the deadline and achieve your main goals.

Asking questions 

If you don’t fully grasp a concept, it’s important to get clarification instead of pretending you understand.

Presenter: Did anyone have any questions before we move on?

Colleague: I’m not sure I fully understood the changes you mentioned in the report.

Presenter: No problem. What part wasn’t clear?

Colleague: You said there will be a new process for approvals. Could you explain how that works?

Presenter: Sure. From now on, approvals will go through a new software system. Each manager will receive an automatic notification to approve tasks.

Colleague: Got it. That clears things up. Thanks!

Navigating negotiations

Part of doing business is knowing how to negotiate. Sometimes it involves very simple issues like when to schedule the next follow-up on a project, while other times it can be more complex, like closing a major deal.

Boss: How do you think we should move forward with this project? As you know, we’re expected to present it to our clients next week.

Employee: How about we get in touch with Acme Corp and discuss moving the deadline out three weeks?

Boss: We really need to push forward with this project to have it completed by the deadline. They’re not interested in extensions.

Employee: In that case, we could delay completion on the Archibald Company work.

Boss: I think you’re right, that’s the only way we can finish working on the Acme project by next Thursday.

Here’s a sample dialogue for negotiating a contract when doing business with someone outside your company. 

Client: We’re interested in the proposal, but the pricing seems a bit higher than expected. Can we negotiate?

Sales Rep: I understand your concern. While our rates reflect the quality of service, we can offer a 10% discount for long-term contracts.

Client: That sounds better, but we were hoping for something more in the 15% range.

Sales Rep: Let me speak with my manager and see what we can do. I’ll get back to you by the end of the day.

Client: Thank you. We look forward to hearing from you.

Giving feedback to a colleague

In a healthy working environment, feedback is welcome. When giving feedback, it’s important to highlight both the positive aspects and the things that can be improved. 

Manager: Hi, Sarah. I wanted to give you some feedback on your presentation yesterday.

Sarah: Sure, I’d love to hear it.

Manager: Overall, it was great. Your data was well-researched, but I noticed the audience seemed a bit disengaged toward the end. Maybe next time, try incorporating more visuals or interactive elements.

Sarah: Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll definitely keep that in mind for my next presentation.

Here’s another sample dialogue from a business meeting:

Dialogues for Conference Calls

Knowing how to handle a conference call with professionalism is a very important skill to have in the business world.

Beginning the call

When you begin a conference call, it’s important to indicate you’re on the line and to determine if everyone has shown up for the call:

Call leader: Hi everyone, this is Cassandra Stone. I’m the CFO and I’m joined by Mark, our CEO and Kendra, our VP of Sales. Please introduce yourself and state your position.

Client: Hi, this is Dave Grossman. I’m the Marketing Director here.

[Other call participants introduce themselves as well.]

Call leader: It sounds like everyone is on the line, so we’ll get started.

Asking for clarification

When someone’s speaking and you miss something because you can’t hear them or they’re speaking too quickly, wait for a pause and then ask:

Person 1: Sorry, I didn’t catch that last part. Would you mind repeating yourself for me?

Person 2: Of course. I said that I think we need to double-check the budget to make sure we can cover the cost of the banquet.

Person 1: Thank you. Yes, I agree. Let’s look at the budget now.

Handling a complaint

If your job involves answering phone calls from customers, you might have to deal with a complaint from time to time. Here’s an example of how to successfully handle a customer complaint. 

Customer: I’m calling because my shipment arrived late, and several items were damaged.

Support Agent: I’m very sorry to hear that. Could you please provide your order number so I can look into this for you?

Customer: It’s 127553.

Support Agent: Thank you. I see the issue. We’ll send replacements for the damaged items immediately, and I’ll follow up with the courier about the delay. You should receive your new shipment within two days.

Customer: I appreciate the quick response.

Support Agent: You’re welcome. If there’s anything else, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Ending the call

It’s good practice to thank everyone and say goodbye before ending a conference call.

Call leader: I believe this concludes our call. Thank you all for joining us.

Client: Thank you for setting up this call. Discussing our marketing strategy was very helpful. I look forward to being in touch on this topic again soon. Bye, everyone.

To see a sample business phone conversation, check out this video:

Dialogues for Casual Conversation at the Office

Here are some dialogues for casual conversation around your office.

Greetings

Get the conversation going by saying “hi” when you see someone you know.

Amir: Hey, Jane!

Jane: Hi Amir, how are you?

Amir: I’m doing well, thanks for asking. How about yourself?

Jane: I’m great!

Introductions

If you’re meeting someone for the first time, it’s a good idea to be polite and introduce yourself.

Miguel: Hi, I’m Miguel. I’m not sure if we’ve met—what’s your name?

Stacy: I’m Stacy.

Miguel: It’s nice to meet you. I work in the marketing department, how about you?

Stacy: It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m in accounting.

Small talk 

Being able to comfortably navigate chit-chat or small talk (casual conversation) will make your work life a more pleasant experience. You’ll often find yourself talking about the time at work.

Jane: What time is it?

Amir: 2:30.

Jane: Great, thanks. When does our afternoon meeting start?

Amir: You have some time. It starts at 3:00.

Another common topic of casual conversation is the weather.

Amir: Crazy weather we’ve been having!

Jane: I know! I can’t believe how rainy it has been.

Amir: On top of everything, I forgot my umbrella today.

Jane: Oh, no! You can borrow mine if you go out for lunch.

In general with small talk, it’s a good idea to try and find some common ground with your colleagues. Sports, movies, books and food are all fruitful subjects.

Jane: Did you see “Wonder Woman” this weekend?

Amir: I did! How about you?

Jane: I did, too. What did you think of it?

Amir: I really enjoyed it.

Jane: So did I. What was your favorite part?

Saying goodbye

You can end a chat with a colleauge by saying a friendly goodbye.

Jane: It’s been great chatting with you. See you later!

Amir: See you soon, Jane!

Here are some more sample dialogues that could take place at the office:

For more English dialogues at the workplace and elsewhere, you can use an immersive language learning program like FluentU.

 

Business English dialogues can help you navigate work with ease. Knowing what to say for each situation you encounter helps you maintain a professional appearance regardless of what’s thrown your way.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)