Lesson 2 – Introducing the Participants

Welcome to ESLPod.com's " Business Meetings" course. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In the first lesson of " Business Meetings, " we learned business vocabulary for starting formal and informal business meetings. In this second lesson, we're going to learn how to introduce the participants, the people who are at the meeting.

Let's get started by listening to the formal meeting.

Alex: Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to introduce the

participants who have graciously agreed to share their time with us today. I believe that all of you already know me, Alex Aurora, the CEO of Vision Corporation.

On my immediate right is Ms. Hannah Graff, the account representative from our marketing consulting firm. She has been a visionary leader in coordinating the focus groups and helping us identify our target market.

On my far right, the gentleman in the gray suit is Mr. Chris Banda, who is the Senior Vice President of Product Development. Over the past few months, he has shown great flexibility and willingness to These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

And last but not least, I'd like to introduce our Senior Vice President of Marketing, Mr. Shawn Edwards. He has been coordinating our marketing efforts for the past seven years, and his hard work is culminating in today's presentation.

With that, I'll turn it over to our Senior Vice President of Marketing, Shawn Edwards, who will lead the proceedings today. Thank you to all of you for being here, and welcome.

Alex starts by saying, " Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to introduce the participants." To " take a moment" means to do something for a short period of time or to pause or interrupt something for a short time. In this case, he is delaying the beginning of the meeting because he wants to introduce the participants first. For example, you might " take a moment" to put on your jacket before you go outside.

Alex says that the participants " have graciously agreed to share their time with us." The word " graciously" (graciously) means generously, kindly, or very thoughtfully. If someone graciously accepts an invitation, it means that he or she did so very kindly and politely. Then Alex introduces himself as the CEO of Vision Corporation. " CEO" means Chief Executive Officer; this is the person who leads a business, like a president, but more important. Some other titles you may hear related to leaders in a company are " CIO, " which " stands for" (or means) Chief Information Officer, and " CFO, " which is the Chief Financial Officer.

Then Alex begins introducing the other participants. He says that on his " immediate right" is Ms. Hannah Graff. To say that she is on his " immediate (immediate) right" means that she is right next to him on his right-hand side. And note that Alex uses Hannah's title, " Ms., " because this is a formal meeting. " Ms." is the most common title for a woman, whether she is married or not. You won't hear " Mrs." or " Miss" as much anymore in formal business meetings. In the informal meeting you'll see that people call each other by their first names.

Alex says that Hannah " has been a visionary leader in coordinating the focus groups." A " visionary (visionary) leader" is someone who has many new, creative, and intelligent ideas. " Visionary" comes from the word " vision, " which means a plan for the future. " Visionaries" usually refer to people who are very creative. " Visionaries" today might be thinking about flying cars or space travel.

A " focus group" is a small group of people who are asked to give their opinions about a product or a topic. Market research companies often ask focus groups for their opinions about new products or advertisements before they start selling or using them. This company is using focus groups to learn why its sales are falling. Alex says that in addition to coordinating the focus groups, Hannah has been helping the company identify its " target market" (target market), which is the group of people that a company wants to sell its product to, usually with the same sex, race, education, and economic status. The target market for dolls is young girls, and the target market for paint might be people who own their homes.

Next, Alex says that on his " far right, the gentleman in the gray suit is Mr. Chris Banda." Being on the " far right" means that Chris is on Alex's right-hand side, but further away from him, not right next to him (because that's where Hannah is). " Far" means distant, not near. That's why we sometimes say that something is " far away, " meaning it isn't close to us. Alex calls Chris a " gentleman, " which is a polite and respectful word for a man. You have probably heard speeches that begin with " Ladies and gentlemen…" because that is a polite way to address the audience.

Alex says that Chris " has shown great flexibility and willingness." " Flexibility" (flexibility) is the ability to adapt or adjust quickly to changes or new situations. Someone who knows that gas prices are going up and decides to use an electric car instead shows a lot of flexibility. " Willingness" (willingness) means that someone is ready or prepared to do something. For example, a person is more likely to get a job in international business if he or she has a willingness to travel a lot. Chris has shown flexibility and willingness to adapt his product features to better meet the customers' needs. A " feature" is a characteristic. A " product feature" is something that a product has or does. For example, product features for a computer include its memory, screen size (if it's a laptop), and speed.

Next, Alex says that " last but not least" he'd like to introduce Shawn. " Last but not least" is a phrase used to talk about the last person or thing in a group, meaning that it is not less important, however, than the other people or things that were already mentioned. In this case, Alex has already introduced Hannah and Chris. By saying " last but not least, " he's telling people that even though Shawn is the third and last person to be introduced, he is not the least important. Alex says that Shawn has been " coordinating" the marketing efforts. The verb to " coordinate" means to organize and lead something. In other words, Shawn is in charge of the marketing efforts. You might be responsible for " coordinating" a party or a meeting. Finally, Alex says that Shawn's hard work during the past seven years is " culminating" in today's presentation. The verb to " culminate" (culminate) means to reach the highest point in the development of something, or to finish something with a specific result. Shawn's seven years of hard work have led up to this presentation, which is the final result of his work. One might say that years of a runner's training culminate in winning a race.

Alex ends the introductions by saying, " With that, I'll turn it over to Shawn." The phrase " with that" is used to show that one part of something has ended and now it is time to move to the next part. Alex is using the phrase to let people know that the introductions have finished and now it is Shawn's turn to speak. A student might say, " I've just finished two papers and with that, I'm ready for summer vacation! " This means that the student has finished the last two papers for the semester and now the semester has ended and the student can enjoy their vacation.

When Alex says that he'll " turn it over" to Shawn, he means he's going to put Shawn in control of something – in this case, Shawn is going to be in control of the next part of the presentation. If someone has too much work to do, he or she might turn a project over to a co-worker, so that someone else can do part of the work. Alex says that Shawn will " lead the proceedings today." To " lead (lead) the proceedings (proceedings)" means to run a meeting or guide a discussion.

Now that we have reviewed the new vocabulary, let's listen to the formal meeting again, this time at a normal rate of speech.

Alex: Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to introduce the

participants who have graciously agreed to share their time with us today. I believe that all of you already know me, Alex Aurora, the CEO of Vision Corporation.

On my immediate right is Ms. Hannah Graff, the account representative from our marketing consulting firm. She has been a visionary leader in coordinating the focus groups and helping us identify our target market.

On my far right, the gentleman in the gray suit is Mr. Chris Banda, who is the Senior Vice President of Product Development. Over the past few months, he has shown great flexibility and willingness to adapt his product features to better meet our customers' needs.

And last but not least, I'd like to introduce our Senior Vice President of Marketing, Mr. Shawn Edwards. He has been coordinating our marketing efforts for the past seven years, and his hard work is culminating in today's presentation.

With that, I'll turn it over to our Senior Vice President of Marketing, Shawn Edwards, who will lead the proceedings today. Thank you to all of you for being here, and welcome.

Now that we have a better understanding of the formal meeting, let's listen to the same introductions at an informal meeting. In the formal meeting, Alex introduced all the other participants. In the informal meeting, you'll see that everyone is much more relaxed as the participants introduce themselves, using each other's first names.

Alex: Before we dive into the presentation, I should probably start by saying that I'm Alex Aurora, the CEO of Vision Corporation, just in case there's anyone here who hasn't met me in person before today. Could I please get our key team members to introduce themselves? Hannah, why don't we start with you?

Hannah: Sure. I'm Hannah Graff, an account representative from the

marketing firm that has been doing the focus groups. Today I'll be talking about your target market. It's my pleasure to join all of you today.

Chris: I'm Christopher Hanson, the Senior V.P. of Product Development. I've been tweaking our product so that it's a better fit for what our customers are looking for.

Shawn: Hi, everybody. I'm Shawn Edwards, Senior V.P. of Marketing. I've spent the past few months trying to keep up with all the great work that Hannah and Chris have been doing.

Alex: Great, thanks. Now I'm going to turn it over to Shawn who will be running the show today.

Alex starts by saying, " Before we dive into the presentation, I should probably start by saying that I'm Alex Aurora." To " dive into something" means to begin something right away, so when Alex says " before we dive into the presentation, " he means " before we begin the presentation." If you are excited about a project, you probably want to dive into it right away. Alex introduces himself as " the CEO (or Chief Executive Officer) of Vision Corporation, just in case there's anyone here who hasn't met me in person before today." The phrase " just in case" means if something may happen, or if something is possible. Someone might decide to buy groceries for the entire week, just in case they don't have time to go shopping later in the week. Alex believes that most or all of the participants already know him, but just in case there is someone who hasn't met him in person, he wants to introduce himself. To " meet someone in person" means to be introduced to someone while being in the same room, so that the two people see each other. If you're introduced to someone over the phone or email, you haven't met in person. Alex then asks each of the team members to introduce themselves and he says, " Hannah, why don't we start with you? " The phrase " why don't we" is a polite phrase that means " let's – let us do this, " and is used to suggest doing something. For example, " Why don't we listen to that podcast again? " Or, " Why don't we go to the movies tonight? " You're not really asking why we are not going to the movies. Instead, you're suggesting that we go to the movies.

Hannah introduces herself as an " account representative, " which is an employee at a consulting company in charge of a project for a company using the consulting company's services. Hannah doesn't work for Vision Corporation. Vision Corporation hired a consulting company to help them with their market research, and Hannah is the " account representative, " or the person who works for the consulting company and is assigned to the Vision Corporation project. Hannah says that she has been working with the focus groups, the people who give their opinion about Vision Corporation's product, and that today she'll be talking about the target market, or the group of people that Vision Corporation is trying to sell its product to: the " target market."

Next, Chris introduces himself as the Senior V.P., or Vice President, of Product Development. " Product development" is the work of creating and improving the products that a company sells. In the computer industry, for example, " product development" is about making computers smaller and faster. In the clothing industry, " product development" is about making new styles with a lot of fashion.

Chris says that he has been " tweaking" the product so that it's a better fit for what the customers are looking for. To " tweak" (tweak) means to make small changes to something. We often " tweak" the wording in these courses to try to make the definitions more accurate and easier to understand.

Finally, Shawn introduces himself and says that he has " spent the last few months trying to keep up with all the great work that Hannah and Chris have been doing." To " keep up with" something means to be familiar with all the latest changes in something or to keep up to date with something. Shawn means that he has been trying to follow all of the work that Hannah and Chris are doing, so that he knows what's going on. You might try to keep up with the news, or to keep up with changes in technology.

At the end of the meeting, Alex says he's going to " turn it over to Shawn who'll be running the show today." To " run the show" means to be in charge of something or to lead a project or meeting. If you go to a disorganized event and you want to speak with the organizer, you might ask, " Who's running the show here? " to find out who's in charge.

We've reviewed all the vocabulary in the informal meeting, so now let's listen to it again, this time at a normal speed.

Alex: Before we dive into the presentation, I should probably start by saying that I'm Alex Aurora, the CEO of Vision Corporation, just in case there's anyone here who hasn't met me in person before today. Could I please get our key team members to introduce themselves? Hannah, why don't we start with you?

Hannah: Sure. I'm Hannah Graff, an account representative from the

marketing firm that has been doing the focus groups. Today I'll be talking about your target market. It's my pleasure to join all of you today.

Chris: I'm Christopher Hanson, the Senior V.P. of Product Development. I've been tweaking our product so that it's a better fit for what our customers are looking for.

Shawn: Hi, everybody. I'm Shawn Edwards, Senior V.P. of Marketing. I've spent the past few months trying to keep up with all the great work that Hannah and Chris have been doing.

Alex: Great, thanks. Now I'm going to turn it over to Shawn who will be running the show today.

I hope this has helped you become more familiar with the business vocabulary used to introduce participants at formal and informal business meetings. In our next lesson, we're going to look at how people begin meetings and how they let people know what's going to be discussed.

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