what should i say to those greetings?

[emily wong]

A client visited my company this morning. While I came into the meeting room, the client greeted me by saying "How are you!" I have been thinking that when people first meet, they should greet each other by saying "nice to meet you!" How should I respond to his greeting？ Should I follow my text book of high school, by saying "fine. How are you?", or something else?

Also, I don't know how to respond to the other greetings like "How are you doing?", "What's up?", etc., etc..

Could you help me out? Thanks a lot.

Emily
from Beijing

[Casiopea]

Welcome Emily.

You can fill in the blank below with the following:

Excellent, Fantastic, Wonderful, Great, Not bad, Good, Fine, Not great, Not good, Terrible.

Pat: How are you (doing)?
Max: ________, thanks, and you?

As for "What's up?", it means "What's new with you?", so the response is variable. A standard reply is, Not much (is new with me). What about you?

[emily wong]

Thank you so much, Casiopea!

As the meeting progressed, I met more problems. (Correct me, whenever I make a mistake during my recital.) The meeting was already had for some time before I entered. And I would like to know what is going on there. What should I ask? Please note it was a very formal business talk, and my question is supposed to be appropriate one.

After that, I would like to introduce my company to my client, and found again it was difficult to start the introduction. I had in mind the words “May I introduce my company to you first?”, or “I’d like to introduce my company to you first.” Are those words appropriate?

Thank you for your time, tutor!

Smile,

Emily

[Casiopea]

You're welcome, Emily. My suggestions are underlined.

As the meeting progressed, I met with more problems. (Correct me, whenever I make a mistake during my retelling of the event.) The meeting had been going on for some time before I entered, and I wanted to know if I could interrupt. What should I have asked? Please note, it was a very formal business meeting, so my question should be an appropriate one.

What about?

• Excuse me, my apologies for interrupting / May I interrupt?

After that, I introduced my company to my client, and found again it was difficult to start the introduction. I had in mind the words “May I introduce my company to you first?”, or “I’d like to introduce my company to you first.” Are those words appropriate?

Well, "May" is a formal request, and what you're looking for is something more business-like, so why not try?

• First, allow me to introduce you to (the members of) my company.

In short,

Excuse me, may I interrupt? I'd like to introduce / Allow me to introduce

[emily wong]

Thank you, tutor! Didn't expect your replies could always be this quick.

(Please correct me whenever I make a mistake, if that does not bring you too much trouble.)

If I'd like to find out what was going on when I entered the meeting room, like what they had already talked about, and what was the topic they were talking about, what should I have asked?

Then I went on with my introduction of my company: Our company has a history of eight years in the area of intellectual property. We have a wide range of services, including trademark, patent, and copyright. As to trademark alone, our services cover from trademark application, renewal, licensing, franchising to litigation. Am I correct with every details of the introduction?

(There will be more questions under the same scenario. And I am wondering if there is anything I could do for you or your organization? I feel upset when I solicit free help again and again from you, tutor.)

Emily, with appreciation