Lesson 7 – Managing a Discussion
 [bad word] to [bad word] s "Business Meetings" course: lesson seven. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff [bad word] to you from the Center for Educational Development, in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In the sixth lesson of "Business Meetings," we learned business vocabulary for ending presentations at formal and informal meetings. In this seventh lesson, we're going to learn how to manage a discussion.

When we ended lesson six, Shawn was asked to be the moderator, or the person who leads a discussion. Let's listen to Shawn managing the discussion at the formal business meeting.

Shawn: When you have a question, please raise your hand. This will allow me to call on people one at a time and avoid having people talk over each other. Also please make sure that your questions are on topic. Who would like to begin?

Chris: I need to voice my concern about how the focus groups were not asked about color or design. I think this would have….

Hannah: Please pardon my [bad word]  but with all due respect, Mr. Hanson, [bad word] disagree with you. I understand your concern, but in our experience those product characteristics pale [bad word] next to "affordability" and "ease of use." I don't have time to address your concern fully, but most customers aren't interested in design as much.

Alex: If I may offer my opinion, I believe Mr. Hanson has a legitimate concern and I'm glad he asked that question, but Ms. Graff may be right about the importance of listening to our customers. However, this topic is outside the scope of my expertise.

As the moderator, Shawn begins the discussion by asking people to please raise their hands when they have a question. To "raise one's hand" means to put one's hand in the air to ask for permission to speak, usually in a classroom or in a large meeting. In the United States, it is often [bad word] (or not polite) to speak without first raising your hand and asking permission, especially if you are at a meeting or in a classroom.

Shawn says that if people raise their hands, he'll be able to "call on" people one at a time. To "call on someone" means to say someone's name and ask him or her to speak. In a classroom, the teacher calls on students to answer questions, and in this business meeting Shawn is going to call on the people who want to share their ideas. Shawn says that this will help to avoid having people talk over each other. To "talk over" someone means to speak when someone else is speaking, so that two people are speaking at the same time, which makes it difficult to understand. In the United States, in a business setting, you should always try to let the other person finish speaking before you begin speaking, because talking over another person is considered impolite, [bad word] 

Shawn asks people to make sure that their questions are on topic. To "make sure' (sure) means to be certain of something, or to be careful to do something in a certain way. You might ask your wife to be sure, or to not forget, to go to the store on her way home from work. "On topic" (topic) means relevant, or related to the subject. question that is "on topic" is related to the discussion. The opposite would be called "off topic'; that would be a question that is not related to the subject. For example, if I'm speaking about U.S. history and you ask a question about Japanese Sumo wrestling, your question would be off topic. But if you ask about President Abraham Lincoln, your questions would be on topic. Shawn is asking everyone to please make sure, or be careful, that their questions are on topic, or related to the Vision Corporation product or marketing strategy. Then Shawn asks who would like to begin the discussion.

Chris says that he needs to voice his concern. To "voice one's concern" means to say what you are worried ab