Business English Listening Practice

Gillian: Hello, Christopher. I need to speak to you. You're going to the Boston Trade Show, aren't you?

Christopher: Am I? That's news to me.

Gillian: Oh, I thought you already knew. Steve can't go, his wife is expecting a baby, so it has to be you.

Christopher: My first trade show, I'm quite excited.

Gillian: There's a lot to plan and think about. Take some notes.

Christopher: Okay, let me get a pen….it's next Thursday, right?

Gillian: Yes, the trade show opens on Thursday 18th and will run for two days. It finishes at 6pm Friday. Now, have a look at this plan, there's the floor plan for the whole thing.

Christopher: Wow, it's big.

Gillian: Yes, it is. Our stand is number three hundred and twenty one.

Christopher: That's a good position on the corner.

Gillian: Yes, I think we should do very well in this trade show. A lot of the big companies, Google, Microsoft, Amazon will be in that half of the room, so I think we're going to get a lot of passing traffic.

Christopher: Where will our competition be?

Gillian: Good question. Console Solutions are in 322, almost opposite you, so you'll be able to keep an eye on them. DMZ are in 124 on the other side of the hall. I'm not sure about SysNet.

Christopher: They didn't go last year, did they?

Gillian: No, I know they're attending Tech Expo in San Diego the following week, so maybe they won't be at this trade show. I hope not! Right, Christopher, all your hotel and flight details have been arranged. I think you'll get an e-mail with all of that tonight. You'll be traveling with two others: Graham Nash and Liz Sorel.

Christopher: Alright.

Gillian: Here's what we need you to do before departure. Read the trade show manual, that will help you to understand everything about the show.

Christopher: Where can I find that?

Gillian: I have the PDF on my laptop, I'll e-mail it to you. You need to set targets for what you want to do at this trade show.

Christopher: You mean, how many software packages we can sell?

Gillian: Yes, but other things too. How many business cards you can give out, how many journalists you can speak to, how many phone numbers from educational institutions you can collect, that type of thing.

Christopher: Of course, these trade shows are about becoming better known.

Gillian: Exactly! Go and speak to Ray Jones. He's the guy who designed our stand for the trade show. He'll be in his office at three, he's expecting you. The stand is quite high tech with some awesome software demos, but you need to learn how to use it!

Christopher: [writing] Ray Jones…Okay, I'll go and see him. Anything else?

Gillian: Yes, we need to change our website. We need to put something about our participation at the Boston Trade Show, advertise our attendance, what do you think?

Christopher: I'll speak to the website group and ask them to put something on the top of every page.

Gillian: Yes, something like that. Tomorrow, I'll be calling all our big customers and telling them that we'll be in Boston next week.

Christopher: It's going to be great.

Gillian: You'll enjoy it, Chris. You'll be tired, but you'll enjoy it.