Meetings are a great opportunity to present your ideas and become engaged in the decision-making process. Meetings often involve open-ended discussion among different types of people. For this reason, there is no easy formula that will guarantee success. Instead, you need to develop a range of skills and techniques that will help you express your ideas clearly and tactfully.
In our last episode, we looked at giving, supporting, and contradicting opinions. In today's lesson, we'll cover more techniques of agreeing and disagreeing. We'll also learn how to change the scope of a meeting, which is an especially important skill for the chairperson.
Last time, we heard four managers—Alison, Stewart, Pat, and Nate—discussing how to reduce travel and transportation benefits. Today we will continue that dialog. The situation becomes a little more heated as the participants express their ideas with more force.
Listening Questions
1. What does the CEO of the company want to focus on?
2. How does Alison respond to Stewart's ideas?
3. What does Nate think about Stewart's ideas?