Have you all received a copy of the agenda?
There are X items on the agenda. First, ... second, ... third, ... lastly, ...
Shall we take the points in this order?
If you don't mind, I'd like to go in order today.
skip item 1 and move on to item 3
I suggest we take item 2 last.


Allocating Roles (secretary, participants)

(name of participant) has agreed to take the minutes.
(name of participant), would you mind taking the minutes?
(name of participant) has kindly agreed to give us a report on ...
(name of participant) will lead point 1, (name of participant) point 2, and (name of   participant) point 3.
(name of participant), would you mind taking notes today?


Agreeing on the Ground Rules for the Meeting (contributions, timing, decision-         making, etc.)

We will first hear a short report on each point first, followed by a discussion of ...
I suggest we go round the table first.
Let's make sure we finish by ...
I'd suggest we ...
There will be five minutes for each item.
We'll have to keep each item to 15 minutes. Otherwise we'll never get through.