The Meeting Coach
InterCall's Monthly Newsletter

Hosting Effective Conference Calls
Make your remote meetings more effective with these helpful tips.

As you host and join more and more conference calls, it is important that you keep them professional and productive at the same time. When you hang up from your conference call, you want to feel that you accomplished your objectives and didn’t just waste 30 minutes of your time. Read these useful suggestions to help make your conference calls a success.

Before Your Conference Call
Stay organized and be prepared for your conference call.

• Notify your participants of the date and time of the call.
• Communicate any items that need to be prepared prior to the meeting.
• Send the agenda to your participants.
• Be sure you are in a quiet location where you will not be disturbed and try to minimize background noise.
• Turn off call waiting, pagers and cell phones.

Starting Your Conference Call
Begin your conference in a timely manner with introductions and a review of the agenda.

• Be on time or early to your call.
• Introduce yourself when you speak and encourage others to do the same.
• Conduct a roll call so you know who is there.
• Briefly state the agenda.
• Do not put your phone on hold as this may play music into the conference and prevent others from continuing the meeting.

During Your Conference Call
Keep your conference on track by engaging your participants and keeping them informed of upcoming tasks and meetings.

• Ask for feedback from specific participants instead of the entire group.
• Table any discussions that are not relevant to the agenda for a later time and place.
• Try to involve all of the participants in the discussion.
• Promptly deal with any noise or distractions by pressing *0 to request an operator.
• Summarize the issues discussed and recap any action items resulting from the call.
• Establish the day and time for the next conference.

By following these helpful hints, you’ll make more efficient use of your time and keep your participants engaged. At the end of your meeting, everyone can leave feeling as though you’ve stayed on task and can complete your business goals.

Visit our web site to learn more about InterCall’s suite of conference call services, including web conferencing solutions that can help you get even more from your meetings and events.