Business English Phrases: 48 Essentials by Topic

"Let's get the meeting started."

A neutral, professional way to open a meeting.

"Everyone's here, so let's get the meeting started."

"Could we table that for now?"

Politely suggest postponing discussion of a point.

"That's important, but could we table that for now and come back to it?"

"I'd like to hand over to…"

Pass the floor to another speaker.

"I'd like to hand over to Sarah, who'll present the Q3 results."

"Can we take that offline?"

Suggest continuing a detailed discussion outside the main meeting.

"That's a complex issue — can we take that offline?"

"Are we all on the same page?"

Check that everyone has the same understanding.

"Before we move on, are we all on the same page about the timeline?"

"Let's circle back to that."

Return to a topic later in the meeting.

"Good point. Let's circle back to that after the budget update."

"To wrap up today's meeting…"

Signal the closing of a meeting and summarise key points.

"To wrap up today's meeting, here are the three action items we agreed on."

"Who will take ownership of this?"

Ask who is responsible for a task or decision.

"We need to follow up with the client — who will take ownership of this?"

"I hope this email finds you well."

A polite and common opening line for professional emails.

"I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to follow up on our call last week."

"Please find attached…"

Indicate that a document is included with the email.

"Please find attached the revised proposal for your review."

"Further to our conversation…"

Reference a previous discussion at the start of an email.

"Further to our conversation yesterday, I have updated the project plan."

"I am writing to enquire about…"

A formal way to state the reason for writing.

"I am writing to enquire about the availability of training workshops in Q4."

"Please do not hesitate to contact me."

A polite invitation for the reader to get in touch.

"If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me."

"As per your request…"

Indicate that something was done because it was asked for.

"As per your request, I have cc'd the project manager on this email."

"I look forward to hearing from you."

A common and polite email closing line.

"Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you."

"Please revert by end of day."

Ask for a reply before close of business.

"Please revert by end of day with your confirmation so we can proceed."

"We would be willing to…"

Introduce a concession or flexible offer politely.

"We would be willing to reduce the unit price if the order volume increases."

"That's not something we can move on."

State firmly that a point is non-negotiable.

"The payment terms are fixed — that's not something we can move on."

"Could you come down on the price?"

Ask for a price reduction.

"The quality is excellent, but could you come down on the price slightly?"

"Let's split the difference."

Suggest meeting halfway on a disputed amount or term.

"You want $50,000 and we can offer $46,000 — let's split the difference at $48,000."

"We need this in writing."

Insist on a formal written record of an agreement.

"We're happy to proceed, but we need this in writing before we sign off."

"Subject to contract…"

An agreement is provisional until a formal contract is signed.

"Subject to contract, we agree to the terms discussed today."

"That's a deal-breaker for us."

State that a term makes agreement impossible.

"Extending payment to 90 days is a deal-breaker for us — we need 30."

"We have a mutual agreement."

Both parties have accepted the same terms.

"I am pleased to confirm that we have a mutual agreement on all key points."

"I'd like to begin by…"

Introduce the opening section of a presentation.

"I'd like to begin by giving you a brief overview of our company."

"Moving on to my next point…"

Signal a transition between presentation sections.

"That covers the market analysis. Moving on to my next point — our proposed solution."

"As you can see from this slide…"

Draw attention to visual information on a slide.

"As you can see from this slide, revenue has grown 22% year on year."

"To summarise what I have covered…"

Signal the summary section before closing.

"To summarise what I have covered, there are three key takeaways."

"Does anyone have any questions?"

Open the floor to questions after a presentation.

"That brings me to the end of my presentation. Does anyone have any questions?"

"That's a great question…"

Acknowledge a question positively before answering.

"That's a great question — let me pull up the data on that."

"I'll come back to that in a moment."

Defer a question to answer it at the right point.

"That touches on something I'll cover shortly. I'll come back to that in a moment."

"The key takeaway here is…"

Highlight the most important message of a section.

"The key takeaway here is that speed-to-market is our biggest advantage."

"I'll loop you in on that."

Include someone in communications about a topic.

"I'm meeting the supplier tomorrow — I'll loop you in on that thread."

"Can you give me a quick update?"

Ask for a brief status report on progress.

"Before the call, can you give me a quick update on where the project stands?"

"Let's put a pin in that."

Pause discussion of a topic to continue later.

"Interesting idea — let's put a pin in that and revisit it after the deadline."

"I need this by COB Friday."

Request something before close of business on Friday.

"Please send me the draft report — I need this by COB Friday."

"That falls outside my remit."

State that something is not your responsibility.

"Procurement decisions fall outside my remit — you should speak to the finance team."

"Could you walk me through that?"

Ask someone to explain a process or document step by step.

"I have not used this system before — could you walk me through that?"

"I'll push back on that."

Politely challenge or disagree with an idea or decision.

"I'll push back on that — the data suggests the opposite."

"Good work. Well done."

Concise, sincere praise for a completed task.

"The client was impressed by the proposal. Good work. Well done, everyone."

"Our core value proposition is…"

The primary benefit a company offers to its customers.

"Our core value proposition is same-day delivery at no extra cost."

"We need to diversify our revenue streams."

Develop additional sources of income beyond the main product.

"We're too reliant on one client — we need to diversify our revenue streams."

"The ROI on this initiative is strong."

Return on investment justifies the spend on this project.

"The ROI on this initiative is strong — we expect to break even within eight months."

"We are forecasting double-digit growth."

Predicting growth of 10% or more.

"Based on current pipelines, we are forecasting double-digit growth in H2."

"This is a scalable model."

The business model can grow without a proportional increase in cost.

"Because it is cloud-based, this is a scalable model for global expansion."

"We need to cut our burn rate."

Reduce the rate at which the company spends its cash reserves.

"We need to cut our burn rate before the next funding round."

"Our EBITDA margin has improved."

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation as a percentage of revenue has grown.

"Thanks to cost reductions, our EBITDA margin has improved from 12% to 17%."

"We're pivoting our go-to-market strategy."

Changing the approach to bringing a product to market.

"We're pivoting our go-to-market strategy to focus on mid-market enterprises."