TY - BOOK AU - Comfort, Jeremy TI - Effective Meetings / SN - 0194570908 (Student book) PY - 2004/// CY - Oxford PB - Oxford University Press KW - Meetings in business KW - English language KW - Business communication KW - Staff meetings KW - Conversation and phrase books KW - Textbooks for foreign speakers N1 - Unit 1: Why are we here? -- Communication skills: Key features of an effective meeting -- Language knowledge: Discussing and evaluating meetings -- Meetings practice: Calling a meeting ; Unit 2: Where do we start? -- Communication skills: How to open a meeting, objectives, roles, procedure -- Language knowledge: Opening a meeting -- Meetings practice: Opening a meeting ; Unit 3: Where are we going? -- Communication skills: How to control the direction of a meeting -- Language knowledge: Linking items and ideas -- Meetings practice: Structuring a meeting ; Unit 4: Your views count -- Communication skills: How to interrupt, and to hold the floor -- Language knowledge: Interrupting and finishing a point -- Meetings practice: Presenting arguments and interrupting ; Unit 5: Keeping to the point -- Communication skills: Focusing on essentials, active listening techniques -- Language knowledge: Questioning and clarifying -- Meetings practice: Questioning techniques for specific information ; Unit 6: What’s the idea? -- Communication skills: Eliciting ideas, managing interruptions and dominant speakers -- Language knowledge: Asking for, giving, and commenting on opinions -- Meetings practice: Participating in a brainstorming meeting ; Unit 7: Making decisions -- Communication skills: Obtaining consensus and making difficult decisions -- Language knowledge: Agreement and disagreement, recommendations -- Meetings practice: Participating in a decision-making meeting ; Unit 8: What’s next? -- Communication skills: How to end a meeting effectively -- Language knowledge: Summarizing, clarifying, and closing -- Meetings practice: Organizing and participating in full-length meeting ; Intended for intermediate and upper-intermediate level students (B1-B2). N2 - "Effective Meetings is a practical, video-based course designed for professional people who need to attend meetings in English. It takes learners systematically through the core communication and language skills needed to participate effectively in meetings, and helps them to develop these skills in meaningful and realistic ways. With the video as its central component, the course is divided into eight units which deal progressively with the key elements of meetings, from preparation and organization through to decision-making ad follow-up action. It focuses on useful language for performing these skills, and offers authentic meetings practice tasks which draw on the learner’s own knowledge and experience. The video illustrates both bad and good extracts from meetings for analysis and discussion. In each unit, it demonstrates what can go wrong in different situations, and why. It looks at ways to avoid such problems, and provides a positive model for learners to follow. Effective Meetings is intended for intermediate and upper-intermediate level students, and lends itself both to classroom-based teaching and elements of self-study. It can be used as a short intensive specialist course, or integrated into a wider-ranging Business English programme. The course consists of four interdependent components: a 30 minute video, accompanying Student’s Book, audio cassette, and Teacher’s Book. Effective Meetings was developed from materials used by York Associates, a specialist language and communications training partnership based in York, England" (Book cover). ER -