Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Homework from previous week
Revise what you have learnt in the previous lesson and conduct a spontaneous
phone conversation with your tutor.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Carefully Listen to the audio and answer the following questions.
Audio Link: http://www.acadsoc.com.cn/IES/Aplayer.aspx?code=62E243B0A8B0F8A5
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Questions
1. Was it a face-to-face meeting?
2. How many people were there in the meeting?
3. Did you notice the name of the speakers in the meeting? Where do you think they
were from?
4. What was the name of the host in the meeting?
5. There was an operator in the meeting, what do you think her duties in the meeting
were?
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
What is a Conference Call?
A Conference Call is a meeting via telephone that connects three or more parties on the same
call. A conference call is also referred to as telephone conferencing, audio conferencing and
teleconferencing.
A conference call allows the calling party to have more than one called party listen in to the
audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to
participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party merely listens into
the call and cannot speak.
Below, is the transcript of the sample conference call you have listened to in the beginning of
the class, read it and make notes of all the useful terms, phrases and sentences to be used in a
conference call.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Operator: Good morning. Welcome to the Softcell Incorporated first quarter 2008 quarterly results
conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode, but the floor will be open for your
questions following the introductory remarks. I’d now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Marie Tascon,
Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.
Marie Tascon: Good morning. Thanks for joining us. Speaking today is Softcell’s CFO Peter Goody, joined by
COO Jim W. Brook for the Q&A session with analysts. Please note that the information you’ll hear during our
discussion today may consist of forward-looking statements regarding revenue and margins. Actual results
could differ materially from our forecast. To view the supporting slides while listening, log on to
softcell.com/investor. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Peter Goody.
Peter Goody: Thank you, Marie. It’s good to be on this call to report our best quarter ever, with the highest
revenue and earnings in Softcell’s history. Revenue grew 35% year over year to $9.6 billion, an increase of
almost $2.5 billion over the previous December quarter’s record-breaking results.
Peter Goody: In closing, we believe these outstanding results reflect the excellence of our innovative
products. We are very enthusiastic about our announcements for 2008, including new SoftTalk software and
an updated SoftPro.
Marie Tascon: With that, I’d like to open the call to questions. Please limit yourselves to one question only.
Operator: Our first question will come from the line of Jane Bratworth with Morgan Stanley.
Jane Bratworth: On the SoftTalk expectations for 2008, are you guys providing any type of update today?
Jim W. Brook: We remain very sure about hitting the 10 million goal for 2008.
Operator: The next question comes from Ahmed Jamal with Merrill Lynch.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Ahmed Jamal – Merrill Lynch: Jim, in terms of the SoftTalk rollout internationally, there’s been a lot of talk
about China -- anything specific relative to the China market?
Jim W. Brook: We open our first stores in China this year. We’ll also be rolling out additional European
countries during 2008.
Operator: Next question from Kurt Abramsky with Deutsche Bank.
Kurt Abramsky – Deutsche Bank: Could you give us any, either quantitative or qualitative, commentary on
how European Softtalk uptake is faring versus your U.S. experience?
Jim W. Brook: Kurt, you know, we just launched in France in November and in the U.K. and Germany a bit
earlier so we have very limited experience but we are very happy with all the launches so far.
Operator: The next question comes from Jeanne Beauvoir with Credit Suisse.
Jeanne Beauvoir - Credit Suisse: Peter, is it too early to offer a little more colour on the SoftTalk seasonality
question. Your guidance obviously implies seasonality for the whole company,
Peter Goody: We’ve not yet been through a March quarter with SoftTalk so we don’t have any history to go
by as we do with other products. We can report in April.
Marie Tascon: Time for just one final question.
Operator: And that will come from Tim Lu with Goldman Sachs.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Tim Lu - Goldman Sachs: I’d like to ask you, Peter, about your overall market guidance. It’s good to hear you
are not seeing any weakness. I understand your products are unlikely to be in the most economically
exposed segment, but is there likely to be some exposure if we see, for example, a recession in Europe as
well as the U.S. In your 10% growth forecast have you assumed some kind of economic weakening within
Europe specifically?
Peter Goody: The 10% is based pretty much on a very concrete situation, how we see the trends. It’s
something that we feel is quite solid.
Marie Tascon: Thanks very much, Tim and thanks to everyone. A replay of today’s call will be available as a
webcast on softcell.com/investor and via telephone. The number for the telephone replay is 989-313-2111
and the passcode is 5237883. Replays will be available at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time today.
Operator: Ladies and gentle, this concludes today’s presentation. We thank everyone for your participation
and have a wonderful day.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
General Terms in a Conference Call
Chairperson/Moderator Host or leader of the meeting.
Conference Bridge A facility within a service provider that connects all participants of a
conference call together and supports the call whilst it is ongoing.
Dial-in Number / Call-in
Number
The number you dial to join the conference call. It differs from
country to country and will also be different depending on the
method you choose to join the call with, whether it’s a landline,
Skype or mobile.
Listen-only
Participants can hear a presentation, pre-recorded message or
meeting, but cannot speak or participate in the conference. This
function can be enabled with touch tone keypad commands or by an
operator.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
How to Chair a Conference Call?
Step 1- Schedule and Plan
Be mindful of other’s schedules when deciding on time.
If other attendees are in different areas, business, or time zones, make sure you are not
interfering with their plans.
Avoid lunch breaks, first thing in the morning calls, and calls that require an attendee to
work after normal business hours.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Step 2 – Send out a Meeting Request
Send out a meeting request as soon as you have scheduled a time.
The meeting request have to include everything the attendees and participants will require
to log into the conference call (call in number and password), and an agenda with topics that
need to be discussed.
The agenda should cover any questions or concerns you anticipate from other members.
Step 3 – Make a List
Make a list of attendees, participant, including where they are from and general information
you have about them.
You can use this to chat while you are waiting on additional attendees to join.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Step 4 – Send a Reminder
Send a reminder email the day of the day of the call if it is after lunch, or the day before if the
call is scheduled in the morning.
A reminder will help make sure everyone arrives on time.
Use this opportunity to send any reports or documents that will be needed on the call.
If someone else created those materials, give them credit (or to prevent blame from falling
on you) by forwarding the message they sent you containing the documents.
It is your responsibility to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that everyone has
completed their responsibility prior to the call.
Step 5 – Review any Information You will be Presenting
Step 6 – Start the call
Be on time.
Log on to the conference call at least 10 minutes early.
Some tools won’t let you log on until the time scheduled and some won’t let anyone
communicate until a leader with a special password logs in.
Be sure to test the conference bridge in advance if you are unfamiliar with the tool you will
be using.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Step 7 – Initiate Small Talk if Someone is Late
Usually, at least one person will be late, it is wise to have some notes handy to initiate small
talk and avoid a long silence at the beginning of the call.
Make sure all the attendees are introduced to anyone they are not familiar with.
Start the call 3-5 minutes after the scheduled start time when possible.
Step 8 – Follow the Agenda
Keep an eye on your clock as attendees may not be able to stay past the scheduled stop time.
Be aware of the time needed for your presentation, it is your job to make sure everything is
covered.
Step 9 – Stay Focused and Take Notes
Avoid using the mute button while others are speaking.
It is an opportunity to show how much you know about the topic you are discussing.
Don’t over promise and feel free to say you will get back to everyone with answers to
questions you were not expecting.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Step 10 – At the End of the Call
Ask if anyone has questions and make sure they are answered or will be answered after the
call.
If a follow up meeting is needed, schedule it before anyone hangs up.
Thanks everyone for their time and wish them a good day or weekend.
Step 11 – Create a Recap
Immediately after the call, create a recap and send it to all the participant.
A recap ensures everyone understands and has a list of their responsibilities and it
documents the conversation in writing in case there are any discrepancies later.
Step 12- Follow Through
Take action as discussed and answer any questions in a reasonable amount of time.
If any deadlines were set, meet them.
If work from other departments or employees was promised, be sure it is delivered.
Business English Conference Call
©2014 Acadsoc Limited
Homework
What do you think are the benefits of Conference Call?
Present.