10 Rules for Effective Conference Calls

BY FC Expert Blogger David LavendaSun May 23, 2010 This blog is written by a member of our expert blogging community and expresses that expert's views alone. In todays age of reduced travel, conference calls have become a daily ritual. Nobody likes conference calls. They are usually boring, energy-zapping time sucks. But they are a necessary part of business. So, here are 10 suggestions for making them more effective and efficient. 1. Keep statements short and ask for frequent feedback When many people participate in a call, it is easy for minds to wander. Keep your statements short. Ask for feedback frequently. Ask direct questions. Dont ask, Are there any questions? but rather, Dan, what do you think about this phase of the project plan; are we under-budgeted? 2. Dont use slides if you can avoid it JILL OK, now lets move to slide 5. Can everyone see this slide? (Slide with 12 rows of text appears. Jill proceeds to read all 12 lines of text.) (Dead silence everyone is on mute, reading mail, playing Solitaire or checking news, sports, and weather) Looking at slides laden with text is really, really boring. You can easily kill a discussion with slides. And worse, you cant even control what people are looking at most of them are skipping ahead to see how much pain they will have to endure. The smart ones will clock the amount of time spent on each slide, then extrapolate to calculate how long the torture will last. 3. If you must show slides, dont send them ahead of time. Dont send slides ahead of time. You blow all your ammo before you get your partners on the phone. They will probably have gone through the deck before they get on the line freeing them up to read email, news, or play Solitaire while you drone on and on. Even if you dont send slides ahead of time, try not to subject people to slides via WebEx or GoToMeeting either. Rather, use primary sources of data. For sales calls, show real product demos, for project meetings, show project graphs, highlevel financial information, etc. If you must show slides, limit them to just a few and make sure that these rock. Slides arent a crutch for not being prepared. Rather, they are an aid.

If participants want the slides, send a set that summarizes the call, after the call. This will serve as a meeting protocol. Even if they dont look at them right away, it represents a good summary for future reference. 4. Send out an agenda ahead of time and stick to it Whether a sales call, status meeting, product feedback meeting, support call, etc. make sure you have an agenda so everyone knows the purpose of the call, approximately how long it will last, and what they are expected to prepare before the call. This reduces anxiety for all. When people dial in to an audio call, they dont have the visual cues that are present with a face to face meeting the added clarity of the agenda makes the call go smoother. 5. Use video if possible DARA Frank, what do you think? (No answer.) DARA Is Frank still on the line. (More silence) FRANK (Fumbling to unmute his phone) Oh, sorry, did someone ask me something? I had the phone on mute. Since you dont have visual cues on audio calls, people mute their phones and tune out. Then they do really important things, like play video games, carry on parallel conversations, or just sleep. Providing visual cues through video keep participants engaged. Skype and other VOIP services offer video as a basic service there is no reason not to take advantage of it. 6. Let the participants know if you are recording the call Some companies record calls for a variety of reasons (to retain summaries, for training purposes, etc.) if you are on the call with people from other companies, make sure you let them know you are recording the calland make sure they are okay with this. Here are a few obvious ideas, but one that most companies cant seem to get right 7. Start on time

MIKE Is Bob on the line? (No answer.) MIKE Bob? (Very long silence.) MIKE Can someone call Bob on his mobile and see why he isnt dialing in? If you calculated the amount of time wasted waiting for people on conference call in your company, you would be amazed. 6 people waiting 10 minutes, is 1 hour of productivity in the toilet. On a related note 8. Make sure the moderator dials in early KATIE Hello? Anybody else there? HEATHER Anybody there? TOM Yoo hoo? (All three wait on the phone, listening to the Scorpions Still Loving You loop over and over, until the moderator joins.) 9. Dont dial in from a mobile phone MEGAN Whose line is buzzing? (No answer.) MEGAN Can whoever just joined, please hang up and dial in from a land line? 3

(Buzzing disappears..and reappears after 30 seconds.) Dont dial in from a mobile phone or from a land line in a noisy place. If you must call from a mobile phone, make sure you are in a quiet spot, that you have good cell coverage, and that you have a full battery (or a recharger). There is nothing more annoying than background noise on a call. Its hard enough to concentrate on a clear line, with many people on the line. 10. Set limits on call duration This is even more important than setting time limits for face-to-face meetings, since the amount of energy lost in a call exceeds that of meetings. The lack of feedback is a huge energy zapper. Limit calls to reasonable lengths so folks know what to expect.

Reduce Environmental Noise

1. Pick a quiet place to take your conference call. 2. Be mindful of nearby babies, animals, lawnmowers, and swimming pools (Yes, it really happened). 3. Close the office door or window before taking the call. 4. Dont join conference calls from public places. (This is a noise and privacy thing) 5. If you have to join a call from a car, use the mute feature.

Reduce Personal Noise.

6. Dont play with the microphone or shuffle papers near it. 7. Position the microphone correctly, close enough to pick up your voice but not your breathing. (Yes its nice to know you are still alive, but how do we know you are not asleep.) 8. Dont eat while on the phone! (it sounds gross, and look at your phone Ewww!) 9. Dont hold other conversations. (Multitasking doesnt really work.)

Equipment Matters
10. You must have a mute button and know how to use it quickly 11. Avoid wireless phones and cell phones. (You are not that important) 12. If you are alone, do not use a speakerphone. 13. Invest in a good wired headset with adjustable boom microphone. 14. Never put a conference call on hold. (No matter how nice the hold Muzak is.)

Mind Your Manners

15. Start on time This is a good rule for all meetings. 16. Introduce all call participants at the beginning of the call

17. State your name before talking. Dont assume people will recognize your voice. (This works in reverse too, dont assume people wont recognize your voice, so think before speaking.) 18. Avoid interrupting other speakers 19. Be concise 20. End the call properly Wrap up the meeting, sign off and hang up. (I was once in a meeting where everyone in the room simply got up and left without saying goodbye or hanging up the phone.)