English for Meetings: Agreeing

Agreeing in a meeting in English is pretty risk free.  You won’t get much friction or heat when you tell someone that they are absolutely right.  However learning some of these phrases will add some diversity or nuance to your repertoire.

Total agreement

You are probably already using “yes” or “I agree” fairly often, but try the following ‘Total Agreement’ phrases to add a little spice and flavour to your routine.

• I totally agree with you.
• I’m 100% behind you.
• I completely agree
• I couldn’t agree more
• Absolutely

Partial Agreement

Agreeing with your counterpart is great for moving things along in the meeting, but how do you say ‘yes’ when you don’t agree with them?  These ‘Partial Agreement’ phrases can be very useful for maintaining communication, growing relationships, and finding consensus.  They are especially effective because they build bridges when there are disagreements.  They focus the discussion on the common ground that you all share and draw attention to what you agree on. 

For example, “I see where you’re coming from”, doesn’t mean that you agree with the person or their idea.  It simply means that you understand them, and you understand why they said that.

If you want to focus on the positive, you can use ‘I agree with you that… but…’. 

For example:

“I agree with you that we need to cut costs, but we need to honour our current obligations”

• I see what you mean
• I can see what you’re getting at
• I see where you’re coming from
• I hear you
• I know what you’re talking about
• I see your point
• You have a point
• You’ve brought up a very valid point
• I agree with you that…. but…

Example Dialogue:

John:	We need to cut costs, and we should start by finding cheaper suppliers.
Donna:	I completely agree with you. That’s a great place to find cost savings.
Tim:	I agree that we need to cut costs, but our supplier contracts are legal obligations that could have long term consequences
John:	I see what you mean
Donna:	I get your point. What areas do you recommend that we cut costs, Tim?

Check out the other units in the English for Meetings Workshop. In each section you will find standard English phrases that you can mix, match and adapt to your specific content.