Business Meetings

The discussion on marriage proposals was the highlight for our lesson this week (Lecture 3). A marriage proposal is a speech event which differs slightly between cultures, but is generally governed by rules for the use of speech. How different can a marriage proposal be between various cultures, besides Singaporeans using “Let’s buy a HDB flat together” as a marriage proposal? It’ll be interesting to hear of the different ways some people use, isn’t it?

During this class, I kept thinking that these days, the use of speech for different speech events are now not exactly defined by the culture. Some people from one culture may adopt some aspects of another culture’s way of a certain speech event. For example, in this modern age, Chinese in Singapore may seem to adopt some characteristics of the same speech event distinctive to the American culture. This is truly an example of the changing nature of culture.

On another note, I have been very busy with my Consulting Practicum, an Honors year requirement for Business School students. For this project, my team had the opportunity to go to Batam, Indonesia and Pontian, Malaysia where we met businessmen (which explains why I’m not in class on Wednesdays sometimes!). It was then that I realized that business meetings are very interesting speech events too. Have you encountered any?

Let me share with you an analysis of this speech event:

Genre: Business meeting

Topic: To discuss the lease of land

Purpose or Function: To set up a processing facility

Setting: In the boss’s office

Key: Serious yet casual

Participants: My company’s two bosses, my team, the Indonesian/ Malaysian boss (land owners) and their assistants

Message Form: Spoken, written

Act Sequence:

B: My company’s two bosses and my team

C: The other party we were meeting

B: Thank you for meeting with us today. *shakes the other party’s hand*

C: Yes, thank you for coming all the way from Singapore. *nods and shakes hand in return*

B and C: *sits down with a drink*

B: Tell us more about your business etc. (gradually goes into the topic)

C: (Responds to the question.)

… (Exchange of questions and answers follows)

B: We look forward to working with you in the future, and will get back to you if we have further questions.

C: It’s my pleasure and thank you for coming today. I hope we can work together in the future and I’ll be willing to answer any further questions you may have. Let’s proceed to have lunch together now.

Rules for Interaction:

Be polite at all times, though there is room for jokes once in a while.

Be sensitive to the other party’s interests.

Be careful not to reveal too much on the company’s weaknesses.

Norms of Interpretation: Know when to speak and ask only appropriate questions.