Teleconference Services
You spend weeks planning an upcoming teleconference. After sending three-hundred invitations you receive a 30% response. You’re a little disappointed, but you’re still excited about the big day. When the conference call begins only 25 people show up. Even worse, the guest speaker arrived late and you forgot to email the hand-outs. You overhear someone say “What a mess!” and you think to yourself “If only I had a whitepaper to help me plan this teleconference”.
This whitepaper covers two important aspects of conference calling:
- How to Conduct an Effective Teleconference
- How to Increase Conference Call Attendance
How to Conduct an Effective Teleconference
Imagine you are about to professionally speak to 30 people on a teleconference call where the interaction is audio only. Reading the reactions of your audience is very difficult because there are no visual clues. All you have to guide you are your ears, imagination, and intuitive senses. Facilitating a teleconference is an art that many business professionals need to learn in order to be effective.
Structuring a conference call methodically not only saves your valuable time (as well as the participants’), but also proves to be an effective and efficient way to get all parties on the “same page.” Begin by deciding the focus for your conference – do you want a “learning-focused” or a “lecture-based” teleconference call? The number one mistake people make is thinking that all confrerence calls are the same. Knowing the difference between these types of calls helps you plan and implement your call effectively.
Here are some tips in organizing a successful teleconferencing session:
Organization & Planning
- Develop an agenda that includes:
- Goals
- Participant expectations
- Timeline of deliverables
- Plan accordingly:
- Ask participants to review the agenda prior to the call
- Consider the impact of participant comment volume on time available when determining the number of agenda items
- Scheduling and Preparation:
- Make sure all the participants have all the required information (the access phone number, the conference code, etc.)
- Distribute supporting documents/files before the call start
- Starting the call:
- As the facilitator, dial-in 5-10 minutes early and be the first to arrive
- If appropriate, ask early arrivals to greet subsequent arrivals as a team-building activity
- Find out if there are any individual time constraints and adjust accordingly
- Stay on topic:
- Sticking to the published agenda reduces costs and makes the teleconference more profitable
- Provide your participants contact information in order to contribute possible topics for future conferences
- Share leadership duties:
- Help less engaged people become more involved in the call
- Ask individuals to “lead” sections of the agenda
- During the call, pause occasionally and ask for feedback
- Wrap things up:
- Provide a brief recap of all items discussed
- Re-iterate the contact information for those participants that need further clarification or would like to contribute future topics
Teleconferencing can take some practice to be effective but in the long term, it will save your organization a tremendous amount of time and money.
How to Increase Conference Call Attendance
Have you ever had a significant amount of people register for a conference, and then only half of them show up? You’re not alone. This sort of thing is common for large volume conference calls (100+ people). It depends on the type of call, but our data shows an average turnout of 40-50%.
Do you want more than the “average” turnout? Here are some tips to boost conference call attendance:
Remind Your Participants – Remind your participants by sending an email or making a quick phone call. Sometimes people want to attend, but they forget.
Use a Guest Speaker – Invite a high-profile speaker. This can be an industry professional or a prominent member of your company. Inform participants that you will be hosting a live Q & A session with your guest speaker.
Take Attendance – Participants will be less likely to skip when they know that their name will be called out. A little accountability can go a long way.
Out-Dial – Instead of having participants call you, you should call them. Our blast-dial feature enables everyone on your list to be called at the same time. You can also have one of our operators assist you with the out-dial process.
Incorporate Media – Keep your attendees engaged and they’ll come back for more. Use Video, PowerPoint, Live Polls and Text-Based Chat to enhance your conferencing experience.
Keep it Entertaining – Incorporate humor throughout your meeting and find ways to keep it interesting. You can create a funny and interactive poll, show a comic strip or share a joke.
Consistency – Plan your calls for the same time and same day so that your participants are less likely to forget. In addition, your participants will begin to anticipate your meetings and plan accordingly.
Toll-free – Flat rate conferencing does not get the same response as toll-free. If people need to pay for the call, then they are less likely to attend.
Last-Minute Reminder – Nothing works better then a last-minute reminder. Send a short email about an hour before the conference call begins.
