[General] Maybe next time you can be on time

[Silverobama]

I met Jack after the English club meeting was over today and I talked to him for a while.

Jack: You chose a good topic. Your speech was good. (I gave a speech at the English club meeting.)
Silver: But I didn't see you. Where were you? (We sat in a room and there were many people. Jack wasn't there.)
Jack: I was late and I just took a look at the room.
Silver: Maybe next time you can be on time.

I wanted to say that next time you should arrive on the dot to enjoy someone else's speech.

Is my italic sentence natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

I [STRIKE]met[/STRIKE] chatted to Jack for a while after [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] today's English club meeting. [STRIKE] was over today and I talked to him for a while.[/STRIKE]

Jack: You chose a good topic. Your speech was good. (I gave a speech at the [strike]English club[/strike] meeting.)
Silver: But I didn't see you. Where were you? ([STRIKE]We sat in a[/STRIKE] There were many people sitting in the room and [STRIKE]there were many people.[/STRIKE] I thought Jack wasn't there.)
Jack: I was late and I just took a quick look [STRIKE]at[/STRIKE] in the room.
Silver: Maybe next time you [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] could/should be on time!

I wanted to say that next time [STRIKE]you[/STRIKE] he should arrive at [time] on the dot to enjoy someone else's speech.

Is my italic sentence natural?

See above. I've tidied up some of your text as it's quite wordy and a bit repetitive in places. We don't use "on the dot" without giving a time before/after it.

You should be there at 8pm on the dot.
You should be there on the dot of 8.

 

[tedmc]

How about: Try to be puncutual next time?

 

[emsr2d2]

How about: Try to be [STRIKE]puncutual[/STRIKE] punctual next time?

That's OK, too, but "on time" is less formal than "punctual".

 

[canadalynx]

I am not a teacher.

I find the situation a bit strange.
Jack did come albeit late according to his statement. He was there listening to you and was there long enough to be able to comment on your speech.
He enjoyed your speech hence, the compliment.
I don't think it is approriate to ask someone to come early or to be on time after what he said.

You could perhaps say "Thank you" and then suggest "There are other great speakers too. We start at [time] on the dot, if you can come not long after that, you will be able to listen more [speeches]."

That would be my view.

 

[jutfrank]

I think that the precise wording of what you want to say depends on the tone and attitude you want to express.

Are you trying to sound annoyed?

 

[Silverobama]

I think that the precise wording of what you want to say depends on the tone and attitude you want to express.

Are you trying to sound annoyed?

No, but thanks for asking, jutfrank.

 

[emsr2d2]

Are you trying to sound annoyed?

No, but thanks for asking, jutfrank.

In that case, avoid the original suggestion. Any permutation of "Maybe try turning up on time next time!" sounds sarcastic, aggressive, annoyed and rude.

 

[Silverobama]

In that case, avoid the original suggestion. Any permutation of "Maybe try turning up on time next time!" sounds sarcastic, aggressive, annoyed and rude.

Oh, why? Would you please elaborate on it?

The speech began at 10 am on 4th floor. After the speech finished, I met Jack at the first floor at around 12:05 pm. Then I wrote down our conversation (in the OP).

If I can't say the italic sentence in OP. What else can I say instead? I don't know why it sounds sarcastic but when I said that to Jack with smile, he smiled to me too.

Jack did come albeit late according to his statement. He was there listening to you and was there long enough to be able to comment on your speech.
He enjoyed your speech hence, the compliment.
I don't think it is approriate to ask someone to come early or to be on time after what he said.
​

Jack was late but he didn't listen to my speech at all. He said my speech was good because he thinks my spoken English is good and he flattered me by saying that to me. It's not weird at all because Jack isn't a new friend of mine. He learned that online that I would give a speech that day. He complimented not for listening to the speech but for old time's sake. He thinks my English is good and handled the speech well. ​

 

[GoesStation]

It sounds sarcastic because it's an obvious and probably unhelpful suggestion.

 

[emsr2d2]

Try one of canadalynx's suggestion in an earlier post. Using something like "Just to let you know, though, we always start promptly at 10, so the earlier you get here, the more speeches you'll hear".

 

[canadalynx]

Jack was late but he didn't listen to my speech at all. He said my speech was good because he thinks my spoken English is good and he flattered me by saying that to me. It's not weird at all because Jack isn't a new friend of mine. He learned that online that I would give a speech that day. He complimented not for listening to the speech but for old time's sake. He thinks my English is good and handled the speech well.

Okay. You should have included this in your OP.;-)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I think that the precise wording of what you want to say depends on the tone and attitude you want to express.

Are you trying to sound annoyed?

I think that the precise wording of what you want to say depends on the tone and attitude you want to express.

Are you trying to sound annoyed?

Yes, that's what I was thinking. The "Maybe" is snarky.

In English-speaking cultures, virtually any comment on punctuality can seem critical or superior. If your role as organizer means you feel you need to say something, you can say something a bit more neutral and direct, like:

- Well, try to be on time next time so you don't miss anything.

- We had to start on time. You understand.

I don't know what his "I just took a look at the room" means.