The 7 Steps February
1. CONTEXT
Mindmap
anything you
know about thetopic, including
vocabulary. Do
some research
online to help.

Zoom
Listening Questions 1
1. When was Zoom founded and where did the founder work previously?

2. QUESTIONS.
2. Why did the company change its name to Zoom?
.

Read the listening
questions tocheck yourunderstanding.
Look up any new
vocabulary.

3. What needs arose from the COVID-19 pandemic?
.
4. What was the increase in daily Zoom participants from December 2019 toDecember 2020?
.
5. What decision did Zoom make that led to further growth?
.
Listening Questions 2

3. LISTEN

1. What is one factor that contributes to Zoom’s business success?
.

Listen and answer
the questions
using fullsentences. Circle
the number oftimes and % you
understood.

2. What are two kinds of webinars offered by Zoom?
.
3. What activities does the annual Zoom conference include?
.
4. What is one example of a theme used at Zoomtopia?
.
5. Who is the unofficial mascot of the Zoom conference and what is it?

1

Listening 1
2 3 45%%%

1

Listening 2
2 3 45%%%%%%%.
Discussion Questions
1. What are your experiences using videoconferencing tools? Havethese had a positive impact on your life?
2. What companies have provided you with great customer support fortheir products in the past? How has this impacted you?

4. CHECK ANSWERS

TRANSCRIPT 1
Perhaps no company has seen its profile rise higher and faster during the Covid-19 pandemic
than the video conference application company Zoom. Started in 2011 by a former WebEx
executive Eric Yuan, the company was originally named Saasbee Inc. The name was changed
to Zoom in 2012 based on the children’s book Zoom City. One of the early supporters of Zoom,
Jim Scheiman, had read the book to his children and had been saving the name for a company
that he felt matched the values of creativity, exploration, happiness and trust.

Read through thetranscript andunderline theanswers. Checkthem against yourown answers.

5. CHECK VOCABULARY

Since its founding, Zoom continued to grow at a steady pace until the Covid-19 pandemic threw
the company into overdrive in 2020. The beginning of the pandemic created a huge need for
distance learning, remote work, and socializing online. Zoom had more new users in the first twomonths of 2020 than it did in all of 2019. The number of daily meeting participants rose fromaround 10 million a day in December 2019 to 350 million a day in December 2020.
Some of this explosive growth came from Zoom making their service free for schools in certain
countries to assist educators in the transition to online classes.

Read thetranscript andcircle any new
vocabulary you
find. Look themup and add themto your list.

Engagement

Explosive

Attribute

Respectively

Fictional

Fill-in the blanks with the appropriate word / phrase above:

1. The researchers are concerned about the __________ increase in invasive
species.
2. She __________ her interest in space to her father.
3. My company is focusing on developing stronger __________ with ourcustomers due to a recent drop in sales.
4. The man was on trial for making __________ claims about how he obtainedthe money.
5. My son and daughter are working in medicine and law, __________.

6. READ ALOUD

Read thetranscript aloudat least 5 times,focusing onintonation andpronunciation.

11223344557. SHADOWING
Say the transcript
aloud at the sametime as the audio
without reading
it. Circle how
many times
below.

1122334455TRANSCRIPT 2Besides the pandemic, another factor that has been attributed to Zoom’s breakout success is
its commitment to educating and empowering its user base through a variety of means. One ofthe key ways that it achieves this is through Zoom webinars. These free online classes aredesigned to help Zoom users learn a wide range of skills to help them better utilize Zoom. Thiscan range from the basics of the tool to more advanced topics. Some areas covered by Zoomwebinars include Zoom Basics, Zoom Phone 101, Zoom for the Conference Room, and many
more focused on executives and educators.
In addition to webinars, another way that Zoom boosts user engagement and empowerment is
the annual Zoom conference, Zoomtopia. Designed to be an annual celebration of users, theconference features sessions, panels, and guest speakers for Zoom users. Each year the event
has a theme with “Epic Environments” and “The Imaginarium” being the themes for 2020 and2021 respectively. The events also have an unofficial mascot called “Happy the Humpback,”
who is a fictional humpback whale. This mascot has been part of the Zoomtopia experiencesince 2018 and is often connected to the theme of that year’s conference in some way.