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Does this YouTube video, Work Conference Call, show the audience on your conference call?
Or does My LM at His Best show your audience on your conference call?
If you think it does, then subscribe to this blog for tips on how to increase the effectiveness of your conference call for yourself and more importantly your guests.
As with so many things in life, it’s the little things with conference calls that can make a big impact.
When you host a conference call, make sure you call from a phone without call-waiting or have that feature deactivated before starting your conference call.
Everything you hear on your telephone is heard on a conference call unless your line is muted individually or by the host. But, as a host …your line can’t be muted.
So if you’re calling from a phone/line where the call-waiting function is active…make sure it’s inactive before the important conference call where you serve as host.
Don’t let this little thing ruin your next very big conference call.
Shawn Frey at The Broom Wizards has 6 Questions you should ask and answer before you begin any conference calling service:
1. Do you need to slash sales expenses?
2. Do you need help recruiting sales people?
3. Do you need product R & D?
4. Do you want to grow sales?
5. Do you need an increase in morale and motivation among your sales people?
6. Would you like to strengthen loyalty and build commitment within your organization?
Looking through those questions, I don’t see any that would not evoke a resounding yes from any organization’s leader.
But Shawn provides answers to those questions in his next post, titled 6 Answers
Disclaimer: Shawn’s a good friend, a customer of Conference Calls Unlimited with his company Harper Brush Works located here in Fairfield, IA.
3-Part Series, Part 1.
Author: Shawn Frey, Industrial Recruiter/Industrial Sales Trainer for Harper Brush Company.
I have actively facilitated and lead conference calls since November 17, 2003. During this time I have researched and perfected the use of this technology by discovering 12 key concepts. I’d like to share 4 of those concepts with you today.
These concepts will make your calls more effective, inspiring, and productive.
Mistake #1 – Failing to use a good toll-free reservation-less service.
Solution: Use a good toll-free reservation-less service. Why? Because you want to ensure maximum caller participation and you want to make it easy for your callers to participate. Why? Real simple, you want to make your callers feel good and nothing does this quite like using a good toll-free reservation-less service. I have used Conference Calls Unlimited since I began conference calling. Their service is awesome.
Think of it as you and I going to breakfast at your favorite local restaurant and me picking up the tab.
Mistake #2 – Not having an agenda and/or not letting your callers know the agenda in advance.
Solution: Plan your agenda in advance and let your callers know what it is. Why? Because you want your callers to be prepared to discuss the conference agenda. We aren’t flying by the seat of our pants here. We’ve all made a commitment to participate on the call and an agenda helps everyone stay on track. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes your callers will go off on a tangent… that’s ok, just think of it as the beagle chasing the rabbit. Just make sure the beagle comes home again.
Mistake #3 – Not giving each participant a personal reminder.
Solution: Pick up the phone and call your participants.I cannot stress this enough. You must remind each caller when your next call is going to be and what the agenda is. Ideally you want to remind them a day or two before the next conference call. Do not email them. Pick up the phone and call them.
Why? Because it shows that you care, that they are important to the conference call and that you value their time.
Mistake #4 – Failing to take notes and distribute after the call.
Solution: Pick up a good digital recorder or old school tape recorder and record your conference call! When the call is finished have your scribe (more about scribes in my next article) type and distribute the call notes. You want the call notes to recap and highlight the call and to remind participants of when the next call will be and what the agenda will be. This is very important, especially for training calls.
Now, let’s recap these four solutions:
1) Use a good toll-free, reservation-less service.
2) Have an agenda and share it prior to the call.
3) Give each participant a personal reminder.
4) Take notes and distribute after the call.
Next time we will discuss:
1) Conference call participants;
2) Facilitators & scribes;
3) Call testimonials;
4) Creating conference call decrees.
Until then if you have questions, advice or just want to say hello you can email me here: shawnsue@iowatelecom.net.
You can listen to Shawn’s audio presentation of Pt. 1 of this series. Here’s the ink; You can stream it live or download it for later listening.
Disclaimer: Shawn is Industrial Recruiter/Industrial Sales Trainer for Harper Brush Company, a customer of ours located here in Fairfield, IA.
With the ease of creating, modifying and sharing audio files we see a steady rise in 2 key metrics: 1) requests for audio conference call recordings and 2) grassroots radio show hosts using our podcast services.
Here are some tips that will help any and all customers create the highest quality conference call for any audience, regardless of their comfort with audio technology or their plans to distribute their recordings.
GARBAGE IN = GARBAGE OUT. A quality conference call and recording starts with the live call. If the volume and sound quality on the live call is poor, the volume and sound quality in both the original recording and the output file will be poor as well.
Example: A customer of ours once used our service to record an interview with a prominent blogger. After he listened to the recording, he complained about the
quality of his guest’s portion of the call.
We agreed: it was lousy.
But after listening to it several times we discovered the problem. The guest used his cellphone while driving down the interstate with his windows down…in morning traffic…in a major city.
We were able to remove the traffic noise using editing software. But…it’s much more soothing to ask your speakers, including yourself, to call from a quiet location.
Solution: Dave Evans at HearThis recommends calling from inside your car with the windows rolled up tight while it’s in your garage and not running. Dave should know. His whole business is creating professional and powerful podcasts.
TIP #1: USE THE BEST EQUIPMENT
Landlines. We recommend land-lines. That’s your everyday phone line connected to the wall outlet.
No speaker phones. Speaker phones pick up all ambient background sounds and there is usually an echo from various sources. As a host we encourage you to avoid them. Encourage your guests to avoid using them to join your call.
No VOIP. VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) clips the high and low end of the voice signal. Also, you are extremely susceptible to clicks and pops when the digital signal is converted to analog.
Also, with VOIP, you’ll be unable to use DTMF (tone signals) from your telephone’s touchpad to mute your line or the lines of your callers. Why? VOIP doesn’t transmit DTMF tones as your land-line or cellphone does.
No cell phones. The tiny microphone picks up higher frequency background noises. While you may not hear the noises during the live call, the recording picks up and records every sound coming in. (An example of this is the microphone picking up wind sounds while standing outside or driving in a car with the window open.)
Headsets. We have experimented with some headsets and found them to be acceptable if you keep the microphone away from being directly in front of your mouth. This helps to cut down on the microphone picking up your breath, as well as the hard t’s and p’s in your speech.
TIP #2: CONTROL YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
Don’t put the conference call on hold. Everyone on the call will be forced to listen to your phone system’s hold music/messages. Remind your callers to mute their individual lines or use the host feature to MUTE ALL. Unless you’ve muted your individual line or the host has muted the lines for all callers, you’ll force the other callers to hear your hold music/messages when you put the conference call on hold…just for a minute.
Barking dogs, baby’s crying, check-out line chatter. That’s all heard on a conference call. Mute your line or find a quiet, private place from where you can join the call. The better the sound quality on the live call, the better the sound quality will be in the end product of the call recording.
Mute all lines to start. For a call recording created live from a conference call attended by more than you and a guest speaker (If that’s different), we recommend muting the guests’ lines to start. You can unmute them at the end of the recording if you desire. You want their input. But you want it at the right time.
Deactivate audible tones on entry and exit. Tones are often heard when callers arrive and depart a conference call. Customer Service can change this feature for you. Contact our Customer Service office at 877-227-0611, ext. 3 or email them at customerservice@conferencecallsunlimited.com before the call.
Deactivate this feature before your conference call where you plan to record your presentation live. You can’t control when they arrive; Inevitably people arrive late to a conference call.
You can lock the conference call prior to the start of your presentation. That’s a very effective manner to prevent interruptions from late arrivals. But…you also risk alienating them for suffering under elements not in their control.
Use the operator. Use them in the event a caller’s line remains a distraction or a function isn’t performing as it should. Follow the instructions included with your confirmation note we sent at the initiation of your service. Or call Customer Service at 877-227-0611, ext. 3 or email them at customerservice@conferencecallsunlimited.com.
TIP #3: WHAT YOU, THE HOST, SHOULD DO.
Speak clearly and slowly. When presenting, speak a bit slower than you normally would to ensure that your attendees can hear and understand you and that the call recording is consistently clear and crisp.
Be still when you speak. Your 2nd grade teacher’s maxim remains true: Be still when you’re speaking. Your attendees will hear most every noise you make. That means that noise will be recorded! Rustling papers, opening/shutting drawers, yawning (belching!), swearing…they’ll all be heard. That means they’ll also be recorded.
Wrap up at the end of the call. At the end of the call, make sure you summarize the content of the call, when the recording will be available, how your audience can access it, and when your next conference call is scheduled. Some do this as part of their recording; Some don’t. It’s a personal choice. But regardless, help your audience by reminding them. And remind them on the follow-up email you’ll send them.
Let us know what else we can do. We have the skills and personnel create your recording using the media that allows for the greatest and easiest access and distribution for your audience.
Next month, we’ll share some tips on how to create the highest quality recording with our web conference services.
It’s easy to inspire attendance and participation for a one-time conference call event. But how do you
sustain that initial excitement when it’s an ongoing, regularly-scheduled event…like your bi-monthly sales team conference call.
Shawn Frey, Industrial Recruiter/Industrial Sales Trainer, of Harper Brush Company offered this solution. Each participant shares a 1 tip, either for cutting costs and increasing sales. Then the entire department votes to decide which tip was the best. The winner receives a $25.00 fuel card on the next call. Oh, they must be present on the next conference call to win.
I love the elegance of this idea. It nudges each participant to participate actively. They know they’re expected to contribute constructively on each call, for each other. And then there’s an inducement to attend the next call as well. Oh, and a little competition never hurts.
Thanks, Shawn. For your tip, you’ll receive a $25.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.
Submit your tips for making your conference calls more effective. If we vote it the best, then we’ll share it with our customers and you’ll receive a $25.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.
BE PROMPT. Start on time; End on time.
I love a meeting that starts right on time. Whether it’s to review last week’s meeting or jump right into the focus of this meeting, I love a meeting that starts on time.
Conference calls are nothing but meetings…over the phone.
Start on time.
Nothing gets everyone’s attention like a conference call that starts on time. Everyone will appreciate how focused (and productive) they become with a call that starts promptly.
Things happen, sure. But, your audience will take your conference call as seriously as you do.
Starting on time shows you think this call is important AND so is their time. It also shows you respect their time and yours.
End on time.
If you promised a one-hour call, then end it after one-hour.
If the conversation remains productive afteran hour, offer your audience the option to leave ("I promised we’d end the call now, but if people want to remain…") or to remain and continue. This provides an easy, comfortable moment for people to excuse themselves for their next meeting if they need to leave.
These 2 steps let your audience leave with a smile on their face. And that makes them look forward to your next call knowing you’ll:
BE PROMPT. Start on time; End on time.
PREPARE AND SHARE AN AGENDA…before the call.
YOU know what it is you want to discuss. YOU likely know the desired outcome you want to achieve. At the very least YOU know what next steps need be achieved with your next conference call.
Share that knowledge:
Tell the purpose of the call. Start with the end in mind. Tell your audience what you hope to achieve with the conference call.
Tell them their purpose for attending. Tell your audience what they should expect to accomplish with their attendance on our conference call.
Tell your audience what material you’ll discuss, present, display, share. That will help your audience be prepared.
Tell your audience what’s expected of them. You want them prepared to contribute to the success of the call. If they don’t know, then they can’t contribute. If it’s nothing more than prompt and timely arrival…tell them. If they’re expected to participate from polling responses to participating with a formal presentation for portions of the conference call…tell them.
Tell them the schedule. 5 minutes of welcome comments, 10 minutes to review last week’s discussion, 30 minutes to discuss this week’s topic, 10 minutes for questions, 5 minutes to wrap up.
Notify your audience of guest speakers. Even if you want to keep it as a surprise, at least tell them you have a surprise.
Everyone’s busy. As we discussed in last week’s A Better-Conference-Call-Tip# 1, everyone’s busy and over-worked and needing sleep. (It’s not that anyone needs reminding of this reality, either.) Be of assistance with a gentle, informative, reminder of the call’s agenda.
It’s a sign of respect. You respect your callers’ time enough to help them prepare for the call. They arrive focused, prepared and ready to participate.
It’s a helpful reminder. Reminding your audience of the purpose of the call is incredibly helpful. Sure it’s obvious to you. It’s YOUR conference call. And it will be fresh the memory of your audience with a reminder in the form of an agenda.
It’s a pragmatic, time-saving step. Help your audience participate in a meaningful manner; help them accomplish their goals for attending. They’ll likely look forward to their next conference call with you.
It generates positive Word-of-Mouth. There’s nothing more powerful than positive word-of-mouth advertising. It applies to your conference calls. Enthusiasm builds with the chatter on
the grape vine after each call. Or it doesn’t.
PREPARE AND SHARE AN AGENDA…before the call.
Tell us your story. Tell us how you used this tip to improve your next conference call. If we share it we’ll send you a $50.00 gift certificate from Amazon.
Here’s the one tip to insure your next conference call, and all the ones that follow, is better than your previous one:
REMIND YOUR AUDIENCE.
There’s nothing to minimize the effectiveness of a conference call like…no one showing up. Simple. Obvious. But everyone is overbooked, wearing so-o-o many hats, overworked, needing sleep, over prioritized. Help them and by doing so help yourself.
REMIND YOUR AUDIENCE.
An hour before.
Send them an email an hour before the call if there’s less than 1 week from your last conference call or the day you scheduled this call.he day before
Send your audience an email reminder the day before your conference call if it was scheduled more than a week in advance. Yes, send the 1-hour reminder as well.
EMAIL TIP: Put the date and time of the call in the Subject line:
REMINDER: Monday, April 17 at 10:00 AM.
Then in the body of the email remind them of the call’s purpose and include an agenda for the call.
This accomplishes three important feats:
1) It will improve the attendance rate for your conference call.
2) It will reduce the number of late arrivals.
3) Attendees will arrive ready to focus. Your meetings will be more effective. That will start a vicious cycle of higher attendance, more prompt attendance and more focused participants with each subsequent call.
We’d love to hear your stories. Tell us how this simple step impacted your conference calls. If your story is chosen we’ll send you a $50 gift certificate from Amazon.com. Email them to me at tony.sauer@conferencecallsunlimited.com
I had the pleasure this morning to sit in attendance with a conference call hosted by Shawn Frey, Industrial Recruiter/Industrial Sales Trainer at Harper Brush Company located here in Fairfield, Iowa. Harper Brush is a leading company here in Fairfield. They’ve continued to grow both in their products, the quality of the service, # of employees and as a community partner.
Shawn hosts a bi-monthly conference call (at 6 AM Central…!) with his distributors from around the country.
I’m always on the lookout for stories about our customers and their use of our services. It’s fascinating to me to see the many ways our services are used. And, I always find tips I can share with our customers that might help them make better use of their conference calls.
Shawn’s conference call this morning was a pleasure to attend. Here’s why: It was organized, coherent, clear, and all that combined to make it very productive. Here’s the simple, but very effective, techniques Shawn uses to get the most out of this conference call.
SHAWN’S TECHNIQUES FOR MAXIMUM PRODUCTION
* Start on time, every time.
I could tell from everyone’s prompt and prepared arrival that Shawn had instilled in them the idea, from repetitive practice, that the call would start on time and they would be asked to participate. Every caller arrived on time (ok a couple arrived a minute or two late) and ready to participate.* Welcome them by name.
Shawn greeted every caller by name. Now, that’s easy as there were only 6-7 of us. But greeting them by name and with a personal anecdote helps reinforce the warm and open setting for the call.* Start with a Brief Review
After a quick, brief, round of chit-chat Shawn began the meeting with a call to review the notes from the previous call. Again, it’s an effective and easy way to set the tone and bring everyone’s focus to the call. Kinda like a warm-up before an athletic event. Just get the brain warmed up and moving towards the topic.* Actively Seek Everyone’s Input.
Again, Shawn’s group is small. But it’s a great technique to make sure your conference calls stay interactive, engaging, interesting, expansive and moving forward when you ask each person their opinion and then ask them follow-up questions.(Go back to the first point: Everyone’s prepared. But then allow, seek, prod, query the guests for more input. For 2 reasons: 1) it adds depth and focus to their content; 2) most people don’t know they know as much as they do. So, help bring it out of them. Makes them feel good also by sharing all they know with their peers.)
* Finish on time.
Whew, how many times have I quietly dropped off a call when the host lets it ramble on? Be like Shawn, finish on time. Respect your callers’ time and when it’s time to stop, stop.* Take Notes and Share.
Shawn takes notes from every call and then distributes them by email to his group. WOW! That’s a powerful step to make the most out of your conference call. It so clearly shows the callers that the call is important and the host is willing to go the extra step to insure you get the most from your attendance.
Shawn asked me to share some thoughts or tips of my own at the end of his call. Some are ones we discussed together.
TIPS
1) Add Name-Announcement – On-Entry.
That feature asks/insists each caller say their name before they’re allowed on the call. The announcement can be either private, to Shawn as the host, or public for everyone to hear. And you’ll hear the same announcement as people leave.2) Record the Call.
You can record your conference call with all of our services. Our latest bridge allows you to record the call in a .wav format and download it at your convenience. One caller asked if it would allow you to fast-forward through the slow parts. Yes. It will. And we can convert that .wav file to a mp3 format with a link for you to post on a website….or…we can create a podcast for your listening audience.3) Blog.
Shawn can post his call notes and call recordings at a blog. Then his callers can post their comments and follow-up for everyone to share in the benefit. It would be a one-stop shop for their tips and advice and questions. They could access it anytime, from any computer with an online connection.
Shawn, thanks very much for inviting me.
