Giving office tours in English
You’ve got visitors coming over to your factory and you need to show them around. Maybe you’ve done that a thousand times, but never in English. Maybe you’ve never done it at all. When you’re planning the tour, think about what makes a tour really good. You’ll need to think about how you’re going to communicate with your visitors, what information you’ll need to give them, how to entertain them, and consider what questions they will have. But also, you’ll need to think about how you’re going to remember the facts, the history and any stories you choose. Here are some questions to consider and useful phrases to help you along the way.
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Key questions to answer
Your audience
- Who is coming?
- Why are they coming?
- What do they already know about your company/factory?
- How good is their English?
Housekeeping
- Where does your tour fit in their schedule?
- How long is the tour?
- What security issues are there?
- What health and safety measures do they have to be aware of?
The facts
- What do you need to know about the company/plant/department?
- How well do you know your way around?
- What are the top three things you must show them?
- What can you show them to bring what you do to life?
Questions
- What questions will the audience probably ask?
- What would you like them to ask?
Key language
Language wise there can be quite a lot to remember – so keep in mind that seeing things speaks 100 words! You can practice what you’re going to say, but a tour is not like a presentation. There should be interaction between you and the audience. The more you talk to them and ask them questions, the better the rapport will be. This puts everyone at ease and you’ll be able to remember what you need to tell them and answer their questions more easily.
Welcome
- Hello and welcome to XXX.
- I’m XXX and I’m going to be taking you on a tour of our plant/factory today.
Housekeeping
- The tour is going to take about an hour.
- Please understand that it is strictly forbidden to take photos on this plant /smoke / remove your safety helmet.
- Please stay on the path.
- Here’s a map so you can see where we are.
- The group is quite big, so please stay together.
- We’ll finish off the tour right by the canteen at 12:00 so we can go straight to lunch.
Questions
- Please just ask questions whenever you have one.
- There’s opportunity to ask questions at the end of the tour.
Outlining your plan
- This morning I want to show you…
- I’m going to take you on a tour of …
- I’d like to show you how we manufacture XXX
Starting your tour
- Our very first stop is the XXX. This is where….
- How about we begin by walking over to XXX…?
Pointing things out
- On the left / right you can see..
- The ……… is directly in front of / behind us.
- Over here is where we store the parts.
- Just around the corner is the quality assurance department.
Giving some background information
- The original building was knocked down in 1983. This building was constructed two years later.
- When the plant opened, there were only three buildings. Today we have 14.
- This building was added in 1999.
Moving people from one place to the next
- Please follow me and we’ll head to the…
- OK, let’s take the elevator up to the 10th floor.
- Has everyone had a chance to see everything here? Let’s cross over to the painting area.
- If we go over to the machine at the back, you can see how they measure the quantities.
Answering questions
- That’s a great question. Thanks.
- Thanks for bringing that up.
- Is there anything else you’d like to know?
Closing the tour
- Thanks for your time.
- I hope you got to know more about the way we work here.
- Here’s my card. If you have any more questions later, just get in touch.
