Daily English 796 - Setting Up Conference Calls and Videoconferences

Complete Lesson

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Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:13
Explanation begins at: 3:44
Normal Speed begins at: 16:46

Ewan: Who’s running the videoconference next week?

Petra: I am. Desmond put me in charge of it last week.

Ewan: Oh, somebody’s moving up in the world. It’s nice that he’s giving you more responsibility.

Petra: Yeah, but I’m not sure I’m ready.

Ewan: I’ve set up conference calls and videoconferences before. Maybe you can tell me what you’ve already done and I can see if you’ve missed anything.

Petra: That would be great. Okay, I’ve scheduled the meeting for 3:00...

Ewan: Stop right there. If the videoconference is at 3:00 here, it’s already 6:00 on the East Coast. That’s too late to start the meeting, don’t you think?

Petra: Oh, I didn’t factor in time zones! But I still have time to reschedule, I think, so it’s not a total catastrophe.

Ewan: Good. Be sure to initiate the call or the connection at least 10 minutes before the time of the meeting, and make sure you know how to reconnect someone if they get disconnected during the meeting.

Petra: I still need to figure that out.

Ewan: Are you facilitating the meeting, too?

Petra: I don’t know. I guess so.

Ewan: In that case, make sure you identify each person by greeting them by name.

Petra: I was hoping to lurk in the background in case something went wrong. I’d be ready to troubleshoot.

Ewan: If Desmond put you in charge of setting up the meeting, he’ll want you to take a more active part.

[Petra breathing heavily]

Ewan: What are you doing?

Petra: Hyperventilating. I don’t think I’m ready for this.

Category: Business