You have a meeting with a client from another country and you don’t speak each other's languages so you’ll both use English as a common, shared language, although neither of you are native speakers. You are a professional in your field so it’s normal for you to prepare the information and documents that you’ll need and to have them ready in advance. Now, you just have to prepare yourself; what you want to say and what you expect to hear.

You know the topic of the meeting, of course, so you can prepare your welcome and introduction, a little small-talk perhaps and then, down to business. You write down some key words and phrases which you know you’ll need and that will help to guide you through the meeting. You make a note of what you’re expecting as a response to the questions that you’ll ask or the points that you’ll make.

Once all the points are dealt with, you’ll close the meeting with the appropriate phrases and thank your client for his time, perhaps confirming the time, date and location of a future meeting. You shake hands and make an appropriate comment about having a good weekend or journey, for example, and that’s it, the task is complete and you can relax; but just before you do, take a moment to review what went well and what was more difficult. This is what you have to prepare better next time.