Q. I want to hold a teleconference and have started planning but I don’t want to miss any important steps. Do you have any tips?

A. Teleconferencing, sometimes referred to as teleseminars are a fantastic tool to educate, inform and connect with your customers and prospects. The key to a great teleconference is good planning.

Before you hold your teleconference, here are some things to consider:

1. Always have an agenda. What are you going to talk about? How long will the call be? Will there be a Q & A at the end? Will you have guest speakers? What are people to do at the end; sign up for a list, purchase a product?

2. Have your guest speakers review your agenda prior to the call.

3. Ensure all participants have the dial in number and pass-codes & any supporting documents prior to the call time.

4. Have a back up plan in case a guest speaker can’t make it at the last minute, technology fails, etc.

5. Be the first one online so you can welcome everyone. Try to announce everyone’s name before they speak so listeners can put a name with the voice.

6. Call from a quiet location to reduce annoying feedback or distracting sounds.

7. Encourage guest speakers to help keep the call engaging.

8. Track who speaks so that you can involve all members in the conversation.

9. If the group gets off topic take the steps necessary to refocus the conversation but promise to come back to the issue if there is time at the end.

10. If possible, try to offer a copy of the audio & possibly even a transcript of the call to all participants who attended, including your guests.
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