Back when I first started with video calls, what truly helped me was figurative language like 'Let's go around the table' when the participants were introduced. It helped me understand what was going on and follow the conversations.

As the leader of the conference, are you helping people navigate the 'dark box' feeling?

In this blog, I want to share some more language you can use to express yourself confidently during video conferences.

What to say before the video conference starts

While you are waiting for guests, you can chat a little with each other about the weather, your hometown, interests or maybe even business topics. You could ask questions like:

• What's the weather like where you are located?
• May I ask where you are from?
• What is your job like?
• What is Glasgow like?

After the initial small talk phase, you can start the meeting with the sentence: 'Let's get down to business'.

Introducing participants

In case the meeting participants don't know each other or some participants are attending for the first time, you should introduce them. Here are some examples:

'May I introduce myself..'.

'May I introduce you to John.' 

Agenda

After the introductions, you might also want to state what you will discuss in the videoconference/what's on your agenda.

You could use the following suggestions:

'We are here today to discuss the following topics.'

'The aim of the meeting is to find solutions for the following topics.'

'As agreed, our meeting covers these topics:'

Checking for understanding

Especially in videoconferences, it is vital to check understanding because there can be a lot of disturbances like sound,  frozen images, delays, etc. 

Here are some ideas for polite ways of checking understanding.

'Sorry, could you repeat the part about our annual revenue?'

'Sorry, I didn't catch the first part of your sentence. There was a delay on the video.'

'What do you mean by 'necessary implementations?'

'Sorry, could you say it again, please?'

Interrupting

People tend to talk at the same time in online meetings. It can be an awkward situation, especially when you don't know each other and come from different cultural backgrounds. In bigger meetings, it is also a good idea to use your name to make it easier for the other participants to follow the conversation. In addition, to keep a polite and constructive atmosphere, you might want to use the following ways of interrupting:

'This is Petra. Sorry to interrupt.'

'May I just come in here, Kate?'

'Petra speaking. May I say something here?'

'Sorry, can I just add something?'

Talking about technical issues

There are very often technical issues in online meetings, like frozen videos, sound issues, delays, etc. 

Being able to address this makes life easier for you, and once there is a solution, you can continue discussing the actual topics. Here are some of the issues that occur most of the time and how to address them:

'There is a bit of a delay.'

'There is a delay on the video.'

'Have you checked the settings?'

'We'll have to continue without the video.'

'Your image is jerky.'

'Your video is blurred.'

Summarising

At the end of the videoconference, you want to highlight the most important outcome. Most of the time, the participants also need to take specific actions after the conference..

Therefore, it is helpful to summarize. It helps to remember the next steps and the key points of the discussion/ conversations.  Here are some suggestions:

Let's just summarize the most important points of our meeting.

To sum up what we've discussed.

Takeaway

Video conferences might be challenging, especially in business, when you are speaking a foreign language.

Use the language suggested in this post to gain confidence in your language skills.

You'll want to go into your next video conference with the English you need to handle the most vital parts of the meeting such as checking for understanding, talking about technical issues, or interrupting politely.

Make sure that you learn phrases for each step of your video conference by role-playing with a partner or a coach, for example

As a result, you will feel much more relaxed and be able to speak confidently, and people will take you seriously.

Do you want more tips on how to speak English in videoconferences? Sign up for my newsletter or get in touch.