Push Back Politely: Disagreeing in Meetings

Speaking cards for disagreeing politely in meetings in English, made for teachers of adult B1-B2 learners and Business English students. Students practise how to disagree, interrupt, suggest an alternative and stand their ground diplomatically, while the teacher plays a colleague or manager who pushes back.

• Meeting Language Cards (B1-B2) – 12 cards: key expressions for disagreeing in meetings in four moves: disagree (I see your point, but…, I’m not so sure about that), take the floor (Sorry to interrupt, but…, Can I just come in here?), suggest (What if we…?, Have we thought about…?) and move forward (Could we meet halfway?, Let’s take this offline). Each card has a TRY IT task: the teacher says something and the student reacts.
• Push Back Politely (B1-B2) – 16 meeting cards: one sentence the student can’t just accept, such as “Let’s just move the deadline again”, “We’re cutting the training budget” or “Everyone’s working this Saturday”, with the situation behind it and a clear task: disagree, interrupt or suggest something else.
• Your Meetings (B2) – 10 role-play cards: real situations from the student’s own work, such as a meeting they would cancel, a rule they would change, a tool they need or a decision they didn’t like. The teacher plays the manager, colleague or client and disagrees.
• Teacher Pushback Cards – 16 cards: one card for every meeting card, with the teacher’s role, two pushback lines and the condition for giving in, so the student has to hold their position and find a solution.