You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin, and I'll be your host for today's lesson on hosting a conference.
If you've ever had to play host for a conference, a meeting, a fundraiser or any other type of event, you know it's a lot of work.
There's months of planning and preparation, all for a single day or single weekend.
And you want things to be perfect.
You want the attendees to have a fabulous time.
You want no problems or glitches.
Of course, it rarely works out that way.
There are always problems to solve.
But as the host, you can't lose your cool.
You're the face of the event, and you've got to smile and make sure everyone has a great time.
So how can you do that?
Today, we'll look at some of the techniques you need to be a great host.
In particular, we'll focus on giving an opening address to kick off a conference or other event.
We will learn how to officially welcome people, introduce the theme, outline goals and events and introduce a speaker.
In the dialogue you'll hear the officials start to a conference that has brought together a company's HR personnel from throughout the American Midwest.
The opening address is being delivered by Amy, the company's VP of Human Resources in Chicago.
You will hear the techniques Amy uses as host of the conference.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
One, what is the first goal of the conference that Amy mentions?
Two, what are some of the events in day one of the conference?
Three, what kind of information does Amy give about the keynote speaker?
Hello, everyone.
My name is Amy Tanner, Vice President of Human Resources here in the Chicago office.
I'd like to officially welcome everyone to this year's conference.
It's great to see so many people here.
I recognize a lot of you from previous gatherings, and I'm happy to see a lot of new faces as well.
Now.
The theme of this year's conference is hiring in the digital age, and we've got lots of great speakers and workshops lined up for you, as well as an interactive display in the Oak Room, so make sure to take a look.
Your folder has a full list of events, seminars and roundtable discussions, so expect an action-packed weekend.
Before we get into the program, I'd just like to outline some of our major goals for the weekend.
For starters, this is a chance for all of you to connect with HR personnel throughout the region.
We'll also be learning a lot about hiring in the digital age, including the opportunities that presents and the challenges it poses.
So, how does that sound?
Okay.
Great.
Well, day one is going to start with our keynote, followed by workshops, and then lunch.
In the afternoon, we'll have some breakout sessions and our roundtable discussion.
If you have any questions or need anything, please just grab me or one of our wonderful volunteers.
Now, we're very fortunate this year because we've got an absolutely wonderful speaker for you.
He's coming to us all the way from San Diego, fresh off a national speaking tour.
He's the author of several books in the HR field, including The Human Element, which is now every recruiter's Bible.
And he's also acted as an advisor to dozens of Fortune 500 companies.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to give a very warm welcome to Richard Fulton.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the techniques Amy uses to open the conference.
Hello everyone.
My name is Amy Tanner, Vice President of Human Resources here in the Chicago office.
I'd like to officially welcome everyone to this year's conference.
Amy begins her welcoming address by introducing herself, including her name and her position.
She then offers an official welcome to the conference.
This is normal procedure at the beginning of an event, and there are several other ways we can welcome attendees.
I'd like to thank you all for coming.
Let me start by welcoming you to our conference.
I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all of this year's participants.
I'm so glad to see everybody here today and delighted to welcome you all to our conference.
After her official welcome, Amy personalizes the introduction and expresses her excitement.
It's great to see so many people here.
I recognize a lot of you from previous gatherings, and I'm happy to see a lot of new faces as well.
Amy wants to set a positive tone right at the beginning of the conference.
She says she recognizes or is familiar with a lot of people, but she also makes sure to mention the new people or faces as well.
Let's listen as Amy continues.
Now, the theme of this year's conference is hiring in the digital age.
And we've got lots of great speakers and workshops lined up for you, as well as an interactive display in the Oak Room.
So make sure to take a look.
If your conference or event has a theme, you should be sure to mention it, as Amy does.
For this conference, the theme is hiring in the digital age.
Related to the theme, Amy mentions great speakers workshops, which are like small educational meetings and an interactive display.
When we introduce our theme, we often promote some of the activities around that theme.
Let's practice some more ways to introduce the theme.
For our Asia-Pacific sales conference, we've chosen the theme of teamwork.
This year, we've organized the event around the idea of customer service.
The theme for our workshop today is strategic thinking.
The main topics for our seminar are leadership and excellence.
Amy has mentioned some of the conference activities, and now she wants to make sure people know where to look for information about them.
Your folder has a full list of events, seminars and roundtable discussions, so expect an action-packed weekend.
Amy lists some more activities, including seminars, which are like workshops, and roundtable discussions in which people sit down and share ideas about a particular issue.
Notice that Amy calls it an action-packed weekend.
She's trying to generate energy around the event.
What does Amy do next?
Before we get into the program, I'd just like to outline some of our major goals for the weekend.
For starters, this is a chance for all of you to connect with HR personnel throughout the region.
We'll also be learning a lot about hiring in the digital age, including the opportunities that presents and the challenges it poses.
Besides a theme, an event often has specific goals.
There's obviously a purpose in bringing people together, so it's good to mention what that purpose is.
Amy introduces their conference goals very clearly, stating that she wants to outline some of those goals.
She then uses the expression for starters to talk about the first goal, which is about networking.
What are some other ways we can outline the goals of an event?
Let's run through a few more.
There are several objectives we'd like to accomplish at this conference.
Allow me to just go through our goals for the weekend.
I'd like to emphasize our two major goals over the next three days.
Now I'd like to outline our basic objectives during this event.
Now, let's get back to Amy's address.
So, how does that sound?
Okay.
Great.
Well, day one is going to start with our keynote, followed by workshops, and then lunch.
In the afternoon, we'll have some breakout sessions and our roundtable discussion.
At this point, Amy checks in with her audience, using the question, how does that sound?
It's a good idea in any speech or presentation to check in with your listeners like this.
Next, Amy outlines what is going to happen on day one of the conference.
She briefly runs through the day's events, including morning activities, lunch and afternoon activities.
This is important because it reminds people of how their day is organized.
Let's hear some more examples of outlining events.
Notice how this involves a brief summary of activities.
After our lunch break, we'll have a plenary session at 1, followed by small group seminars at 2.
We'll begin with our keynote speaker, then break for coffee and then come back for a group discussion.
Day two will start with a working breakfast, after which we'll head into workshops for the morning.
Amy is almost ready to start the day's events, but first she has one more reminder for the participants.
If you have any questions or need anything, please just grab me or one of our wonderful volunteers.
A big part of being a good host is making people feel comfortable asking for help.
You want participants to enjoy the event, so you should remind them to find you or grab you if they have questions.
Now Amy is ready to introduce the first activity, which is the keynote or main speaker.
Now we're very fortunate this year because we've got an absolutely wonderful speaker for you.
He's coming to us all the way from San Diego, fresh off a national speaking tour.
Amy chooses words that generate excitement, saying they are fortunate to have such a wonderful speaker.
Amy also underlines the speaker's importance by mentioning that he is coming all the way from San Diego and that he's fresh off or just finished a national speaking tour.
This establishes the fact that the speaker is an important person.
Amy then goes on to list the speaker's accomplishments.
He's the author of several books in the HR field, including The Human Element, which is now every recruiter's Bible.
And he's also acted as an advisor to dozens of Fortune 500 companies.
When introducing a speaker, we normally talk about the important things they've done.
In this case, Amy mentions the HR books the speaker has written, one of which has become every recruiter's Bible.
It's not the Bible, of course, but this is how we describe a book that is very, very important.
Amy also mentions that the speaker has advised many Fortune 500 companies, which is a list of the largest companies in the world.
Talking about the speaker and his accomplishments will get the audience excited and make the speaker feel appreciated.
It's only at the end of the introduction that Amy actually mentions the speaker's name, as you can hear in her official introduction.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to give a very warm welcome to Richard Fulton.
Notice how Amy signals this part of the introduction with ladies and gentlemen.
She also invites the audience to give a very warm welcome to the speaker.
When we ask an audience to give a warm welcome to someone, we are actually asking them to applaud or clap.
And at this point the speaker will come to the front of the room or take the stage to begin his talk.
Let's run through a few more examples of introducing a speaker.
Our keynote speaker today has a long list of accomplishments behind him.
Allow me to introduce one of the most influential investment gurus of our time.
Before I welcome our speaker on stage today, let me tell you a bit about the amazing things she's done.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our keynote speaker today.
Amy has done a great job of starting off their event on a positive note, welcoming people, outlining their theme, goals and activities and finally, introducing a great speaker.
Now, let's practice some of the language we've learned in today's lesson.
Imagine that you are giving the opening address at a conference.
I'll give you a cue telling you what you need to do.
Then you'll hear a prompt.
Use the words in the prompt to make an effective statement in your opening address.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
First, you're going to officially welcome people to the conference.
To begin, like to, welcome, conference.
To begin, I'd like to welcome everyone to our conference.
Now you will introduce the conference theme, which is cooperation.
This conference.
Chosen.
Theme.
Cooperation.
Answer.
For this conference, we've chosen the theme of cooperation.
Next, you need to begin to outline the goals of the conference.
Several Major Goals Conference Answer.
We have several major goals for this year's conference.
Now you need to briefly outline the day's events.
After Keynote Lunch Followed Workshops Answer.
After the keynote we'll have lunch followed by workshops.
Finally, you will introduce the keynote speaker.
Allow.
Introduce.
Wonderful.
Speaker.
Innovator.
Answer.
Now please allow me to introduce a wonderful speaker and innovator.
Now let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, including the missing word.
For example, if you hear... We have a great series of workshops lined...
You can say, After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
Answer In the afternoon, we attended a roundtable discussion on real estate.
We decided to spend a lot of money on a famous speaker this year.
Answer We decided to spend a lot of money on a famous keynote speaker this year.
The sales manager from L.A. thinks he knows me, but I don't him.
Answer.
The sales manager from L.A. thinks he knows me, but I don't recognize him.
Apple set up an amazing interactive at the last conference.
Answer.
Apple set up an amazing interactive display at the last conference.
We've learned some useful techniques to use when introducing an event, including officially welcoming people, outlining themes, goals and activities and introducing a speaker.
Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
