A) Managing time
- Let’s try to keep it to five minutes each, please.
- We’re running short on time.
- I’m afraid we’re really running out of time here folks, so
- I’m afraid we’ve got to keep an eye on the time.
- I’m afraid we’ll have to leave that to another time.
- I think we’ll have to leave that there for now and move on to….
- Can you hold off on that for just a minute? William is going to bring that up.
- That’s a valid point, but let’s take it offline after the meeting.
- These are all good ideas we’re throwing out, but we need to focus on the main goal.
- Are we ready to make a decision?
- For the sake of time, why don’t we move on to…
- We’re pushed for time, so let’s discuss….
- Okay, if nobody has anything else to add, let’s …
- Let’s not waste any time here.
- Please be brief.
- Okay, very quickly, please.
B) Getting back the agenda
- I’m afraid that’s outside the scope of this meeting.
- Let’s not go off on a tangent here, the main point is still…
- Let’s get back on track, and return to…?
- That’s not really why we’re here today.
- Why don’t we return to the main focus of today’s meeting.
- We’re beginning to lose sight of the main point.
- Keep to the point, please.
- I think we’d better leave that for another meeting.
- Can we continue this discussion later and go back to…?
- We are getting away from our topic. Can we return to…?
- Can we go back to our subject, please?
- Getting back to the topic…
- Let’s skip this topic and take it up at another time.
- We can continue talking about this later. Now, let’s go back to our previous subject.
- Okay, I think we’re going off topic a bit here. Let’s get back to…
- Okay, we’re getting way off track here.
- Let’s try to stay on topic, that can be discussed another time.
- You can discuss that amongst yourselves after the meeting.
- This matter is not on today’s agenda, let’s leave it for next time.
- Let’s save this for another meeting.
- Getting back to the task at hand…
