Today's words · 📊 Meetings & reports
Speak up in German meetings: 10 words that help
B1B2
If you've ever left a meeting without saying a word, these are for you.
Monday, 10 a.m., everyone's in the meeting room. The agenda is on the screen, someone's taking the minutes, and your manager turns to you: "Was schlagen Sie vor?" You know what you want to say, but it won't come out in German.
Today's ten words come up in every meeting and report. With them you can follow the agenda, make a suggestion, give a presentation and write up the results. 📊
📋 The ten words at a glance
- die Besprechung — meeting, discussion
- das Meeting — meeting
- die Tagesordnung — agenda
- die Präsentation — presentation
- präsentieren — to present; to show
- die Entscheidung — decision
- das Protokoll — minutes, record; protocol (etiquette)
- der Bericht — report
- besprechen — to discuss, talk over
- vorschlagen — to suggest, propose
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
die Besprechung
[buh-SHPREKH-oong]meeting, discussion(Pl. die Besprechungen)
📌 Ich habe um 10 Uhr eine Besprechung mit meinem Chef.
→ I have a meeting with my boss at 10.
💡 besprechen (to discuss) + -ung = a discussion 🗣️ -ung, so it's die.
Bonus I'm in a meeting = Ich bin in einer Besprechung.
das Meeting
[MEE-ting]meeting(Pl. die Meetings)
📌 Ich habe gleich ein Meeting mit dem Chef.
→ I've got a meeting with the boss in a minute.
💡 Borrowed straight from English 💼 Offices use it alongside Besprechung.
⚠ In German it's neuter: das Meeting.
die Tagesordnung
[TAH-ges-ort-noong]agenda(Pl. die Tagesordnungen)
📌 Was steht heute auf der Tagesordnung?
→ What's on the agenda today?
💡 Tag (day) + Ordnung (order) = the order of the day 📋 That's your agenda.
Bonus an der Tagesordnung sein = to be an everyday occurrence
die Präsentation
[pray-zen-tah-TSYOHN]presentation(Pl. die Präsentationen)
📌 Deine Präsentation war sehr interessant.
→ Your presentation was very interesting.
💡 Almost the same as English presentation 🖥️ Nouns ending in -tion are always die.
⚠ You ‘hold’ one: eine Präsentation halten.
präsentieren
[pray-zen-TEER-en]to present; to show(präsentiert – hat präsentiert)
📌 Morgen präsentiere ich mein Projekt.
→ Tomorrow I'm presenting my project.
💡 Lots of -ieren verbs come from English or French 🎤 present → präsentieren.
Bonus -ieren verbs take no ge- in the perfect: hat präsentiert
die Entscheidung
[ent-SHY-doong]decision(Pl. die Entscheidungen)
📌 Das war eine schwierige Entscheidung für mich.
→ That was a difficult decision for me.
💡 ent- (away) + scheiden (to separate) = separating one path from the rest 🔀
⚠ You ‘meet’ a decision: eine Entscheidung treffen (not machen).
das Protokoll
[pro-toh-KOLL]minutes, record; protocol (etiquette)(Pl. die Protokolle)
📌 Wer schreibt heute das Protokoll?
→ Who's taking the minutes today?
💡 In a German office it usually means the minutes, not diplomatic protocol 📝
Bonus to take the minutes = (das) Protokoll führen
der Bericht
[buh-RIKHT]report(Pl. die Berichte)
📌 Ich muss bis Freitag einen Bericht schreiben.
→ I have to write a report by Friday.
💡 be- + richten (to direct) = directing the facts to someone 📄 That's a report.
Bonus The verb: berichten = to report
besprechen
[buh-SHPREKH-en]to discuss, talk over(bespricht – hat besprochen)
📌 Das müssen wir noch besprechen.
→ We still need to discuss that.
💡 be- + sprechen = to talk something through 💬 The be- already means ‘about’.
⚠ No über: Wir besprechen das Projekt.
vorschlagen
[FOR-shlah-gen]to suggest, propose(schlägt vor – hat vorgeschlagen)
📌 Ich schlage vor, dass wir uns am Freitag treffen.
→ I suggest we meet on Friday.
💡 vor (forward) + schlagen (to put out) = putting an idea forward 💡
⚠ Separable: Ich schlage vor, … / hat vorgeschlagen
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
German meetings usually start on time. Even five minutes late gets noticed, so it's worth arriving a little early. The agenda (Tagesordnung) is often sent round beforehand, and people tend to stick to it.
If you disagree, it's normal to say so in the meeting itself. A sentence like "Da bin ich anderer Meinung." (I see it differently) isn't rude — it shows you're taking part.
Afterwards, many teams send round the minutes (Protokoll) so everyone knows who's doing what and by when. Forms of address depend on the company: start-ups often use du from day one, while more traditional firms tend to stick with Sie. 🤝
✅ Quick quiz
Q. A colleague phones for Ms Weber, but she's in a meeting right now. What do you say?
- ① Sie ist gerade in einer Besprechung.
- ② Sie schreibt gerade das Protokoll für morgen.
- ③ Sie schlägt einen neuen Termin vor.
Show the answer
① Sie ist gerade in einer Besprechung.
Sie ist gerade in einer Besprechung. = She's in a meeting right now — in einer Besprechung sein is the set phrase.
Say "Ich schlage vor, dass wir das morgen besprechen." out loud three times today. It'll be ready for your next meeting! 💪
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 📧 Work email & calls