CHEAP TELECONFERENCING
posted in Off-line Marketing |So you’ve {spin]scheduled|set up[/spin] a conference call, now what? Here are some tips to make the most out of the time you spend in the teleconference.
Keep it Together: It’s a good idea to hand out a schedule prior to a conference call, both so that everyone involved knows what will be covered and can be prepared and so that nothing is left out.
Try generating visual aides, graphics/diagrams and other handouts and distributing them to your participants before the call. These are great to explain what’s being talked about and are essential if you’re running a call where most of the participants are in the same room and only a few remote callers are on the line.
The remote attendees can feel very confused if they are not able to see the same visuals as the rest of the meeting.
Another trick for helping involve remote participants is to place their pictures, or even just a large sign with their names on it, in the main meeting room. Out of sight is out of mind and this way nobody will forget to include the remote callers in the meeting.
Assign a Leader: Whether in person or over the phone your meeting needs a leader. The leader does not necessarily need to be the boss, but instead a person who can moderate the meeting by controlling who is to speak next and keeping things running smoothly and according to schedule.
Identify Yourself: Although many of the participants on the call may know your voice distortion in the telephone connection or bridge may render voice identification difficult or impossible. Get used to identifying yourself before you speak, at leastuntil everyone is comfortable that they can recognize who is speaking.
Who’s Next? When meeting in person it’s easy to use your eyes or body language to tell who is expected to respond to a question or speak next. On the phone these tools are no longer available. When using telephone conferencing you will need to cue the person you wish to respond or speak next, such as… “Barry, what do you think of that plan?” or “Ramona, please tell us about last quarter.”
Cheap conferencing does not have to mean a cheap meeting. Do all the things you already know should be done for a great meeting, and add in a few of these tips to adapt to the teleconference style!