These phrases help you make professional decisions in business meetings. They are categorized by purpose:

1. "Whether" Usage

Whether is used in sentences with two options or an if/if not scenario:

2. "The advantage/disadvantage of" + -ING

3. Flexible Phrases (Multiple Verb Forms Accepted)

These phrases can combine with different verb forms:

• The most important thing is to stay / staying / Will we stay...?
• We've agreed to meet / meeting...
• Another alternative is to reduce / reducing...

Thanks for meeting today, everyone. I'll try to make this as quickly as possible. Our aim is to figure out how we will handle Rick's absence. As you know, he is undergoing a minor surgery and will be home for about four days. However, his doctor will probably not clear him to fly for another week. So, we're here to decide whether to postpone the London trip or send someone else in his place.

The advantage of sending someone else, such as Laura, is that we could close the deal before the client finds a different offer. On the other hand, though, Rick already has a great rapport with the client, so I don't know how I feel about sending them someone new. I'm wondering if it would be better to wait.

Another alternative is to fly the client here instead. Although Rick's doctors don't want him to travel internationally right away, he is confident he'll be able to participate in a meeting here at the end of the week. Above all else, we must consider his health. What are your thoughts? Does anyone have any other ideas?

These terms describe increases and decreases in price:

Term	Meaning	Intensity
cut	reduce	Normal decrease
slash	reduce dramatically	Sharp decrease ⬇⬇⬇
raise	increase [v] / an increase in pay [n]	Normal increase
hike	increase sharply and unexpectedly	Sharp increase ⬆⬆⬆
freeze	prohibit any change	No change allowed
stable	having little to no change	Steady/constant

Term	Meaning	Intensity
falling	decreasing steadily over time	Gradual decline ↘
plunging	decreasing dramatically	Sharp decline ⬇⬇⬇
rising	increasing steadily over time	Gradual increase ↗
soaring	increasing dramatically	Sharp increase ⬆⬆⬆

Example Sentences

Term	Definition
dominate	to control
break into	to enter (a difficult market) for the first time
declining	decreasing over time
niche	small and specialized; a focused part of the market
mass (market)	the whole; many
flood (the market)	excess inventory causes prices to decrease
saturation	to fill or satisfy 100%
obsolete	no longer in use
be forced out of	be caused to leave

As online streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix continue to grow in popularity, the demand for cable television is declining significantly. For decades, cable television dominated in-home entertainment. However, now that home Internet access is increasingly common, streaming services have become an important mass market option.

Although most streaming services do not offer live/real-time television, their catalogues are quite complete and their monthly prices are lower than most cable providers. Many people think that cable television is slowly being forced out of the market and may soon become obsolete.

Conditional statements discuss hypothetical situations. They usually include an if-clause.

Expression	Meaning	Example
unless	if... not / "except if"	Unless the hotel has Wi-Fi, I'll be out of touch.
provided/providing that	if... yes or no	We can postpone the meeting, provided that everyone's schedule is clear.
so long as / as long as	only if	I will help you, as long as you're more careful next time.
should (+subject)	if... yes or no (formal)	Should you have any concerns, please contact HR.
had (+subject)	if... yes or no (past unreal)	Had I known the client was vegetarian, I would have picked a different restaurant.
or / otherwise	expresses consequence if... not	Rehearse the presentation or it will look sloppy!

"Unless" (if... not)

"Provided/Providing that" (if... yes)

"Should" & "Had" (formal inversion)

"Or" / "Otherwise" (consequence)