English Phrases for Meetings: Useful Lines for Video Calls

Business English for online meetings: opening the call

The first minute sets the tone. These lines are short, polite and normal in most workplaces.

• “Hi, everyone. Can you hear me okay?” – a quick sound check when you start speaking or join.
• “Can you see my screen?” – say it right after you start sharing, before you explain anything.
• “Sorry I'm late. Thanks for waiting.” – when you join after the start. Short is better than a long apology.
• “Thanks for joining. Shall we get started?” – for the host, when most people are in.
• “Let me quickly introduce myself. I'm Ana, and I work on the billing team.” – for a first meeting. Swap in your own name and area.
• “Today I'd like to cover three things.” – to set the agenda. Then name the three things.
• “Sorry, you're on mute.” – friendly and common when someone talks but nobody hears them.

Phrases for video calls: asking someone to repeat, slow down or clarify

Asking again is normal in video calls, where sound is often imperfect. Nobody expects you to understand everything the first time.

Asking someone to repeat or slow down

• “Sorry, could you say that again?” – the all-purpose request. It works for any speaker.
• “I didn't catch the last part. Could you repeat it?” – when you understood the start but missed the end. It saves the speaker from repeating everything.
• “Could you speak a little more slowly, please?” – when someone talks fast. “A little” and “please” keep it friendly.
• “Sorry, your audio is breaking up.” – when the problem is the connection, not your English.

Checking that you understood

• “Just to make sure I understand, you're saying we should move the launch?” – repeat the point in your own words. This is the safest way to confirm a decision.
• “So the deadline is Friday, right?” – for numbers, dates and names, where a small mistake is costly.
• “Do you mean the first option or the second one?” – when a sentence could have two meanings.
• “Could you give me an example?” – when an idea is abstract or full of jargon.
• “Could you spell that, please?” – for names, email addresses and product codes.

Meeting English expressions for agreeing and disagreeing politely

In English, a direct “no” can sound harsh in a meeting. Most speakers soften disagreement and start with something positive.

• “That makes sense.” – you understand and accept the point.
• “I completely agree.” – strong agreement. Use “I agree” for a lighter version.
• “Good point. I hadn't thought of that.” – acknowledges a new idea, and also buys you a second to think.
• “I see your point, but I'm not sure that will work.” – the standard polite disagreement: acknowledge first, then add your doubt.
• “I have a slightly different view.” – introduces another opinion without attacking the previous one.
• “Could we look at it another way?” – suggests an alternative as a question, not as a correction.

Interrupting and closing a meeting

Taking your turn is harder on video, because people talk over each other and pauses feel longer. These lines help you step in and finish cleanly.

• “Sorry to interrupt, can I add something?” – when you must speak right now.
• “Could I jump in for a second?” – more casual, for teams that know each other.
• “Let's take this offline.” – this topic needs a separate conversation, not meeting time.
• “To sum up, we agreed to send the offer on Monday.” – a short recap before the end. Name the decision and the date.
• “I'll send a follow-up email with the next steps.” – tells everyone what happens after the call.
• “Thanks, everyone. Have a good rest of your day.” – a friendly, standard goodbye.

Common mistakes to avoid in English meetings

• Saying “yes” when you didn't understand. It feels polite, but it can cause real misunderstandings. “Could you say that again?” is always better.
• Being too blunt. “You are wrong” or “I don't agree” sounds harsh. Use “I see your point, but…” instead.
• Apologising too often. One “sorry” per request is enough. Too many make you sound unsure.
• Small grammar slips that repeat. “I'm agree” should be “I agree”. “I have a doubt” is usually “I have a question”. “Explain me” should be “explain to me” or “could you explain that?”.
• Waiting for the perfect sentence. In a live call, a short, simple sentence now is better than a perfect one ten seconds late.

Picking up phrases from real calls with Google Meet live translation

Lists like this are a start, but real meetings sound different. People shorten sentences, use idioms and speak fast. One way to see how natives actually phrase things is to read them as they speak.

Clozo is a Chrome extension that can translate Google Meet captions into your own language. For an English-language meeting, set the caption language in Meet to English (More options > Settings > Captions > Language of the meeting). Clozo then shows each sentence in the original English with the translated captions under it, plus the speaker's name. You hear the phrase, see it in writing and check what it means. It is a simple way to translate Google Meet captions for yourself while the call goes on. Only you see it.

• Use “Open live transcript” in the yellow pill menu after the call. The side panel keeps speaker, time, original and translation, and you can use “Search” and “Copy” to save phrases you liked.
• Keep in mind: the transcript stays in your browser's memory and is gone when Chrome closes. The last call remains available until the next call. Export to TXT or PDF is part of Pro.
• Free plan: 15 minutes of translation a day.

Captions can be wrong with accents, crosstalk or background noise, and machine translation can contain mistakes. Please tell the other participants that your captions are translated, and don't use Clozo in confidential meetings. It works only in Google Meet in Chrome on a computer, not in Zoom or Teams. Add Clozo to Chrome or see how it works.

Phrases don't replace practice

A phrase list helps you survive the first minutes of a call. It won't make you fluent, and no list will cover every conversation. Real meetings move faster than any list, and you will still miss words sometimes. That is normal.

• Say phrases out loud a few times before a call. Reading is not the same as speaking.
• Choose one or two new phrases per meeting and use them on purpose.
• Write down what you hear. Note phrases from other people that sounded natural.
• Accept small mistakes. Colleagues usually care more that you take part than that every sentence is perfect.

Clozo helps you understand what is said. It does not speak for you, and it does not translate voices. The speaking part still needs your own practice.

Questions and answers