Welcome to the very first episode of the Community podcast! I have been looking forward to getting started with the podcast for a while now, and here it finally is! Each podcast episode includes the sections “Business Word of the Week” and “Phrase of the Week” as well as a main topic.  In this first episode the main topic is “How to Succeed in Meetings in English”.  I talk about how important it is to prepare before a meeting, and how exactly you can go about this.  Also, as a non-native speaker of English, it is important to have some phrases pre-prepared and ready to use before you go into a meeting, and so I am including some phrases in this podcast. Being successful in meetings is difficult enough when everything is conducted in your own language, but when it is in English and your native language is not English, then it can by doubly difficult!  Hopefully in this audio, I can help you overcome some of the issues typically encountered by non-native speakers in English, and help you to be even more successful in your career! What is your experience of attending meetings in English? Do you find it difficult?  Are there any particular strategies which you find helpful? Please let me know what you think in the comments section below, and all the best! Paul Here is the full transcript: Hi there. I’m Paul Urwin, and welcome to the very first episode of the Business English Community Podcast, where English meets business and culture. I discuss strategies, techniques, vocabulary, phrases, grammar, and much more. Sign up for a free online training session at www.businessenglishcommunity.com. Right. Let’s get started. Well, I am really, really looking forward to getting into this podcast and helping you as much as I possibly can to improve your level of business English. This podcast is aimed at intermediate and advanced speakers. We will be covering all aspects of business English and really helping you to get to the next level. If you wish to get in touch with me, you can contact me via the website. There is a contact form on the website, and I’m looking forward to answering any of your questions. In this episode I’m going to be talking about success in meetings. Attending a meeting when you are not a native speaker of English and the meeting is going to be in English requires certain strategies and techniques right from the outset, so I’m going to give you a few suggestions. First of all, word of the week, the word of the week — well, it’s actually two words this week — is balance sheet. Balance sheet. Well, balance sheet is part of a set of financial statements, part of a set of accounts. It’s one component, and on the balance sheet you will find the assets, that is, everything that the company owns; and the liabilities, everything that the company owes; and the difference between assets and liabilities, which is called shareholders’ equity, that is, the value that the company has, which is going to be the difference between assets and liabilities, so that’s all found on the balance sheet and that’s this week’s word of the week. Okay. Well, let’s get into our main section now, our main section on succeeding in meetings in English, so a couple of general points just to get started. I think when you are attending or running meetings in English and English is not your first language, you really want people to focus on your message. You really want your colleagues, your coworkers, your boss, your clients, anyone involved to focus on your message, to focus on what you are saying and not to focus on your level of English, unless it’s to say what a great level of English you have. But not to focus on any mistakes that you might make, not to focus on errors, not to think or believe that you do not a sufficient level of English in order to be in that situation, so how can we make sure that