2010年ESL之商务英语 18 Introducing a Speaker

18 Introducing a Speaker

GLOSSARY 1

may I have your attention – a formal phrase used when speaking to a large,noisy audience, asking them to be quiet and listen to what one has to say

* May I have your attention, please? It’s time for the best man to make a toast tothe bride and groom 2.

honor – something that is a pleasure and makes one feel proud and respected

* It is a great honor to accept this award. Thank you so much.

to introduce – to present; to tell someone or a group of people about anotherperson whom they are meeting for the first time

* Let me introduce you to my wife.

guest speaker – a person who is invited specifically to speak at an event orconference

* How were you able to get such a famous celebrity 3 to be a guest speaker at yourconference?

to need no introduction – to be very well known by other people, so thateveryone already knows one’s profession, background, interests, and more

* Madonna’s music is familiar to millions of people, so the performer needs nointroduction.

innovator 4 – an inventor; someone who is very creative and willing to take risks,and becomes the first person to find new ways of doing things

* Google is an innovator that has changed the way things are done on theInternet.

revolutionary thinker – a person who has many new ideas that are shocking atfirst, but change the way other people think and the way things are done

* Galileo was a revolutionary thinker who taught others that the Earth was not thecenter of the universe.

to strive – to try to do something that is very difficult and/or uncommon 5

* Their organization strives to reduce poverty and eliminate hunger worldwide.

to bring attention to – to raise awareness 6 of; to make many people think aboutsomething that they would normally ignore or be unaware 7 of

* Researchers are bringing attention to the education benefits of filling a child’shome with books.

advanced degree – a master’s or doctorate 8 degree; any academic degreehigher than a bachelor’s degree, such as an MS, MA, MFA, MBA, Ph.D., MD, or JD

* Henry is preparing to take the entrance test because he wants to earn anadvanced degree in law.

honorary doctorate – a doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree that a universitygives to an individual to recognize his or her outstanding contributions in aparticular field, even if he or she has never studied at that university

* Even though he never went to college, he has had so much success inbusiness that he holds three honorary doctorates 9 from some of the bestuniversities in the country.

much-anticipated – something that people have been waiting for and lookingforward to for a long time

* The president is expected to make a much-anticipated announcement aboutforeign policy today.

speech – a period of time when one person speaks on a particular topic, usuallyin front of a large group of people

* Lucille is going to give a speech about the new particle accelerator in herphysics laboratory.

to address – to speak about or discuss a particular topic

* This proposal addresses three different ways we could try to cut costs by 10%in the next year.

without further ado – a formal phrase meaning that one is going to dosomething right away, without delaying or hesitating any longer

* I’ve been talking for too long already, so without further ado, let me give youwhat you’ve been waiting for – the names of our award winners.

to join (someone) in welcoming (someone) – to begin clapping along with the

speaker so that another person can come to the stage or take the microphoneand begin speaking

* Please join me in welcoming our newest board member, Kathy Willis.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why does the speaker say that Edwina Litton needs no introduction?

a) Because everyone is already friends with her.

b) Because everyone is familiar with her work.

c) Because she isn’t important enough.

2. Why has Edwina Litton been called a revolutionary thinker?

a) Because she believes in revolution and rebellion.

b) Because she comes up with many new ideas.

c) Because she changed the way we understand the way people think.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

honor

The word “honor,” in this podcast, means something that is a pleasure andmakes one feel proud and respected: “It would be an honor to be your date at thedance.” The word “honor” also means the respect that one feels from otherpeople and that makes one feel very proud: “He would do anything to defend hisfamily’s honor.” The phrase “to graduate with honors” means to earn very goodgrades as a student and to get special recognition because of them: “Sybilstudied very hard and graduated with honors.” The phrase “your honor” is usedwhen speaking to judge: “Your honor, my client is running late, but he should behere soon.” Finally, the phrase “on (one’s) honor” is used when talking about avery serious promise: “On my honor, I’ll never tell anyone your secret.”

to address

In this podcast, the verb “to address” means to speak about or discuss aparticular topic: “This book is fascinating, because it addresses many of life’smost important questions.” The verb “to address” also means to speak to aparticular group of people: “Have you decided 10 what you’re going to talk aboutwhen you address the veterans’ association next month?” The verb “to address”

sometimes means to tackle an issue or solve a problem: “According to mostscientists, what is the best way to address global warming?” Finally, the phrase“to address an envelope” means to write an address on an envelope, letting thepost office know where it should be delivered: “Your cards will be delivered morequickly if you address them with the correct zip code.”

CULTURE NOTE

Good “public speakers” (people who give speeches) know not only what they’retalking about and how to present it clearly, but also how to “capture” (get; catch)their audience’s attention and keep the listeners interested throughout thespeech, no matter how long it is. Public speakers use many different“techniques” (ways of doing something) to “liven up” (make more interesting)their speeches, depending on the audience and the “setting” (where somethinghappens, under what conditions, and in what environment).

Many public speakers try to liven up their speeches by telling “anecdotes” (short,funny stories) or “inspirational stories” (stories about people who did very difficultthings, making other people admire them). For example, a speech aboutalcoholism might include an inspirational story about someone who “overcame”

(won; beat) alcoholism “against all odds” (in a very difficult, seemingly impossiblesituation). Other public speakers tell “jokes” (funny stories), especially at thebeginning of their speech, to try to get the audience members to laugh.

Other public speakers try to keep the audience “engaged” (involved) by“encouraging” (helping something to happen) audience participation 11. They mightencourage the audience members to “speak up” (say something aloud) whenthey have a question, or they might ask the audience questions and wait foraudience members to shout the answers.

Using “visual aids” (things for people to look at that support one’s message) isanother way to liven up a speech. Sometimes speakers bring “props” (physicalobjects) or “posters” (large pieces of paper) related to their main ideas. Moreand more often, speakers are making “multimedia presentations” that use manytools, including slide presentations, photographs, usic, video, and more.

Most audiences “appreciate” (like and are thankful for) speakers’ efforts to livenup their speeches, as long as the techniques don’t “detract” (reduce the value)from the main message.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – b

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 12

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 612: Introducing aSpeaker.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 612. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. You can download a Learning Guide for this episodeon our website by becoming an ESL Podcast member. In addition to being ableto download the Learning Guides for all of our current episodes, you’ll feel betterabout yourself because you’re supporting ESL Podcast. Yes, it’s good for yourEnglish, and good for your mental health!

This episode is called “Introducing a Speaker.” It is going to use vocabulary youwould hear when someone was going to introduce a presenter 13, for example at aconference or at a presentation, usually a formal presentation. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?

It is my great honor to introduce our guest speaker today. Our speaker isactually a person who needs no introduction, since she is well known in our fieldas one of its great innovators. Edwina Litton has been called a revolutionarythinker by those in our field. That’s because she has strived to bring attention tothose issues that we believe are so important.

Dr. Litton holds four advanced degrees and has an honorary doctorate fromHarward University. In her much-anticipated speech today, she will addresswhat she sees as the future of our field.

Without further ado, please join me in welcoming Dr. Edwina Litton.

[end of dialogue]

I begin introducing the speaker by saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen.” This is avery formal expression we use for formal events. If you are trying to get people’sattention, if you are trying to get people to stop talking and listen to you in aformal situation, say a business meeting, usually a large meeting where there are many people would say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention,please?” Your “attention” is what you are focusing on. You want them to focuson you. I continue by saying, once again using some formal phrases, “It is mygreat honor to introduce our guest speaker today.” An “honor” (honor) issomething that makes you feel proud, makes you feel respected; it’s a goodthing, a pleasurable thing even. The word “honor” has a couple of meanings inEnglish; take a look at the Learning Guide for some additional explanations. So Isay, “It is my great honor,” a very high honor, if you will, “to introduce our guestspeaker.” “To introduce (someone)” in this case means to tell someone or to tella group of people about another person whom they are probably meeting for thefirst time. So, you bring a friend of yours to a party, and you meet someone thatyou know but that your friend does not, you would introduce your friend to theother person there at the party. In this case, I’m introducing the speaker; I amsaying this person, who you may not know is...and then I give a description. The“guest speaker” is a person who is invited specifically to talk at an event: ameeting, a conference perhaps.

I say, “Our speaker is actually a person who needs no introduction.” Thisexpression, “to need no introduction,” means that he or she is very well known byother people, that everyone in the audience listening would already know thisperson. It’s sort of a way of saying to the person you are very famous; it’s kind ofa compliment to that person. So I say, “Our speaker is actually a person whoneeds no introduction, since she is well known in our field as one of its greatinnovators.” “Our field” here means whatever area we are working in or studyingin. My field when I was professor was applied 14 linguistics 15; that was the area thatthat I studied and did research in. The presenter here, the guest speaker, is wellknown in the field of the people at this meeting as one of the great innovators.

An “innovator” (innovator) is someone who is very creative, someone who willtake risks, someone who invents something new. An innovator is often the firstperson to find new ways of doing things or to do things for the first time.

“Edwina Litton,” that’s the name of the guest speaker, “has been called arevolutionary thinker by those in our field.” A “revolutionary thinker” means, inthis case, someone who has many new ideas. These ideas may be surprisingwhen you first hear them. They have new ideas about the way things should bedone in the world, in particular whatever field we’re talking about here. So, arevolutionary thinker is someone who has very bold, perhaps controversial newideas about something.

I say that Edwina is a revolutionary thinker, “That’s because she has strived tobring attention to those issues that we believe are so important.” “To strive”

(strive) means to try to do something that is very difficult, to do something that isnot easy: “I’m going to strive to help all of the people in the world learn Englishwho want to learn English.” It’s not easy; I’m going to strive to do it, I’m going toput a lot of effort into it, I’m going to work very hard in order to accomplish thisthing. So, Edwina has strived to bring attention to certain issues. “To bringattention to (something)” means to make many people think about something thatperhaps they didn’t know before or that they would normally not think about, theywould normally ignore. This can be used in many different ways. You could sayto your boss, “I’d like to bring to your attention (or ‘bring your attention to’)something that was in the newspaper this morning.” You are telling him aboutsomething that he or she probably doesn’t know, because they’re workinginstead of reading their newspaper at their desk. So, maybe you should beworking too! But, the idea is that you are telling someone something they didn’tknow before. Well, Edwina has strived to bring attention to certain issues –certain topics that this group believes are important. I should point out it’s alsopossible to say “striven” here: she has “striven” (en) instead of “strived” (ed).

They both are acceptable in American English.

“Dr. Litton,” I say, “holds four advanced degrees.” An “advanced degree” wouldbe something like a master’s degree or a doctoral level degree (a doctorate), anyacademic degree – any academic level of achievement that is higher than yourbachelor’s degree. So you go to college, you study four years, you get anundergraduate degree: your bachelor’s of arts or bachelor’s of science. After thatif you get an additional degree, that would be an advanced degree, one that ishigher than the undergraduate degree. A master’s of science, a master’s of art,a master’s of fine arts, a master’s of business administration, a doctor ofphilosophy, a medical doctor, a doctor of law (a juris doctor), all of these areadvanced degrees. Well, Dr. Litton has four, and one of them is obviously aPh.D., an MD, or some other doctorate. She also has an honorary doctoratefrom Harward University. Harward University is kind of like Harvard University;the biggest difference is the “w” in the middle of the word. “Honorary” is whenyou go to a university, typically at the end of the year ceremony called thecommencement ceremony, when everyone who is graduating from the universitywill receive their degree – their piece of paper that says that they havegraduated, they have completed their work. When you go to thesecommencement exercises, as they’re called, these commencement ceremonies,they often have someone who is famous or who has done something great andthey want to honor that person. They want that person to receive somerecognition and so they give them an honorary doctorate, universities do this. Sothat person technically 16 is now a doctor, although that’s not really true, but it is away of honoring that person.

“In her much-anticipated speech today,” I continue, “she will address what shesees as the future of our field.” Something that is “much anticipated” – “muchanticipated”

in this case – is something that people have been waiting for andlooking forward to a long time. In this speech – this time where she is going tostand up and tell you what she thinks, she will address what she sees as thefuture of our field. “To address” here means to speak about a particular topic, todiscuss a particular issue. There are other meanings of this word; you can findthose in our Learning Guide.

Finally I say, “Without further ado.” “Without further (or additional) ado.” This is aformal phrase meaning that you are going to do something right away; you’re notgoing to continue, in this case, your introduction; you are ending yourintroduction. “Without further ado (ado), please join me in welcoming Dr. EdwinaLitton.” “To join (someone) in welcoming (someone else)” means that typicallyyou begin to clap your hands so the person feels welcome as the person comesup from their chair to talk to you. “Join me in welcoming our guest today,” andevery one will clap, and the person will feel welcome; they will feel like peoplewant him or her to be there. That’s the idea.

And so without further ado, let’s listen to the dialogue at a normal rate of speech.

[start of dialogue]

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?

It is my great honor to introduce our guest speaker today. Our speaker isactually a person who needs no introduction, since she is well known in our fieldas one of its great innovators. Edwina Litton has been called a revolutionarythinker by those in our field. That’s because she has strived to bring attention tothose issues that we believe are so important.

Dr. Litton holds four advanced degrees and has an honorary doctorate fromHarward University. In her much-anticipated speech today, she will addresswhat she sees as the future of our field.

Without further ado, please join me in welcoming Dr. Edwina Litton.

[end of dialogue]

Our script was written by someone who needs no introduction, Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. I definitely need anintroduction! Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us next time onESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2010 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.