Susan , a junior secretary of ABC Company , is asked to arrange an important meeting . She doesn’t have much experience , so she asks David for help .
( S : Susan , D : David )
S:Hi,David.Can you do me a favor?
D:I will if I can.
S:Could you help me arrange this meeting?I don’t have much experience arranging meetings and I heard that you have done it before.
D:What kind of meeting is it going to be?
S:We’re going to have a meeting with all the departmental managers.
D:When is this meeting?
S:Next Tuesday.
D:That’s easy.The first thing we need to do is to set an agenda for the meeting and then give copies of it to everyone who is going to be attending.
S:No problem,I have a list of all the people right here.
D:Which meeting room are you going to use?
S:I think we should use Conference Room 2.It’s the most comfortable one and the facilities there are new and excellent.
D:That’s a good idea.
Suppose you are Susan , the secretary . You are calling to inform the Marketing Manager , Mr . Brown , ofa meeting .
Sophia , a secretary , is talking with Tony , the director of the Administrative Department , abouttaking minutes .
( S : Sophia , T : Tony )
S:Although I’ve taken minutes for several meetings,I don’t think I’ve done a good job.Would you please give me some tips?
T:I’d be happy to.To take good minutes,you really need to concentrate.Of course,you must be accurate as well.
S:Surely I did.But the problem is I can’t take down everything everyone says during the meeting.
T:You have to take down all the topics discussed,the main points made by each speaker and any decisions made,but you don’t have to write down every word.
S:So it’s OK for me to write down the main points about each topic?
T:You are right.And I think you should make good preparation before the meeting.
S:What should I prepare?
T:Make sure you have the name of the meeting,the date,time and venue correct and the names of all the people present.
S:Oh,I get it.Thank you very much,Tony!
T:Don’t mention it.
Suppose you are Linda . You are very interested in chairing a meeting , so you ask Peter , an experienced chairperson , some questions to get the generalidea of chairing meetings .
Mr . Jackson , the Chairman , Mr . Brown , the Marketing Manager , andMr . Wu , the HR Manager are having a discussion at a meeting .
Mr.Jackson:Mr.Brown thinks we need to reduce the training budget.What’s your opinion about this,Mr.Wu?
Mr.Wu:I’m afraid I don’t agree with that.
Mr.Jackson:Why?
Mr.Wu:If we cut the budget,we won’t be able to provide the most up-to-date technology training.
Mr.Jackson:But we’ll be in real trouble if we don’t find some way to reduce costs.
Mr.Wu:I understand that.But I think staff training is very important.What if we cut expenses in other areas first,like advertising budget?
Mr.Brown:May I cut in here?To be honest,I don’t like the idea.Advertising is one of the most useful marketing strategies.The advertising budget shouldn’t be cut.
Mr.Jackson:Well,what do you have in mind,Mr.Brown?
Mr.Brown:How about reducing travel budgets?
Mr.Wu:Good,I can accept that.
Mr.Jackson:Do we all agree on this?Then let’s move on to the next item.
Suppose you are Jack Brown , the Marketing Manager . You are discussing the pricing strategies for the new products with the staff members of your department .