Meetings fill so much of the working week that people talk about them constantly: in the hallway, in chat messages, at the coffee machine. You're double-booked, a meeting ran over, you'd like to sit in on a call, or you'd quietly like fewer meetings in general.
These lines are relaxed and often a little dry. "That could have been an email" is a mild complaint most offices share, and people say it with a smile, not in front of the organizer. "Let's take this offline" sounds technical, but it only means "let's talk about this later, with fewer people," and it's a polite way to stop one detail from taking over a meeting.
Phrases
you won't be free until later
one meeting right after another
you have two meetings at the same time
it took longer than planned
asking who's in charge of it
asking to attend and mostly listen
you know about it and you'll be there
a mild complaint that the meeting wasn't needed
a short, informal meeting
a private meeting between two people, often you and your manager
a regular short team meeting
a warning before a meeting starts
talk about it later, outside the meeting, with fewer people
Say it out loud
Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.
Practice · 3 min
Say the line that fits. Situation on the left, one natural line on the right.
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Say it today
Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.