To kick off is a phrasal verb, which comes from football. It means to start doing something seriously and with a lot of your attention. The next ferasal verb was to get down to something - i hope you're rested and ready for some work on the podcast.
More phrasal verbs for you today. These ones are all particularly useful in business English when you have meetings. For a complete transcript for this episode, click here to visit Luke's English Blog. http://teacherluke.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/46/