Why You Should Run Your Online Meeting Like a Stand-up

May 23, 2012 by Leave a comment

Ever get bored at an improv show? Ever think that the stand up routine was too long? Did you ever see the guy on the mic get shut down because he over-ran? Probably.

Now transfer the above questions to a meeting environment, specifically to an online meeting.  I’m sure many times you wished there was a magic button you could click on to shut down someone’s extremely boring online meeting. With the increasing use of presentation slides, webcams, timers and great apps popping up into the virtual meeting environment (think countdown and the “tortoise and hare” icons in Adobe Connect) you can easily apply some simple rules used in standup comedy to your virtual meetings to prevent them from becoming boring and un-engaging. It may be reassuring to note that renowned public speaking groups such as Toastmasters apply similar standup comedy techniques in their own group sessions.  I’ve never attended a Toastmasters meeting (although a few of my colleagues have) but I’ve been to a lot of stand up comedy shows and watched a ton more on VHS, DVD and social media sites (showing my age here) and so I’ve come up with 6 simple guidelines for running online meetings - 3 of which are hard rules for when you are “in the zone”:

Keep it Professional

This is work and your meeting has a purpose. The delivery of your subject can be enhanced with humor and your message successfully conveyed but maintaining a business tone is essential. Including humor in your meetings does not mean behaving like a clown or goofing around. Be known for running humorous meetings not frat house ensembles.
Enjoy Yourself – If you are having fun with your subject and openly enthusiastic with your presentation then chances are your audience will not only be engaged but they will be enjoying themselves too. Use online tools such as webcams smartly – You could use a picture of yourself smiling instead of using a live webcam if you suffer from bobbly head syndrome. A  genuine smile paints a picture of sincerity and enjoyment, use it.

Use Positive Humor

Make your jokes positive and inclusive if you use any. Avoid prejudices and stereotypes, as they may isolate members of your audience and unlike a good stand up routine we are not enticing hecklers. The purpose here is to bond with your audience and build positivity – not to isolate anyone.

Mind Your Anecdotal Relevance

If you opt for storytelling then keep the stories on subject and related to the online meeting topic, the audience, and yourself. Nobody wants to hear a second-hand tale that’s inaccurate and off-topic for the sake of a joke.
Understand your audience – I have mentioned this in every blog I have ever written. Same applies here. Know who’s in your audience – their backgrounds, roles, interests, concerns, temperaments, etc. and connect with THEM.
So after preparing your content, practicing in front of the mirror and formatting and re-formatting  your deck (not too much Arial BOLD) you’re ready to go. The audience is hungry, the clock is ticking and the virtual stage lights are on. 

And When You’re ‘In The Zone’…

Be Aware of Time not Timing 

So I’m not talking about “comic timing” Ricky Gervais (Oscars or not?) I’m talking watch the clock - if you have assembled a group of engineers for a 20 minute web conference then ensure that the meeting runs for 19 minutes and 50 seconds. If you sense the meeting is running over then be respectful of your audience, acknowledge your time is up and re-schedule or come back tomorrow night.

Set Expectations

If you have a panel of speakers or a guest speaker, ensure they know what is expected ahead of time; 6 slides, 2 minutes and talk only about Q1. Have a signal – it could be an alert on the web platform you are using. In stand up it’s a flashlight from the side of the stage.

Be in Control

Be prepared to take back control, cut off your speakers (politely) when their time is up, keep the agenda moving along and be respectful of everyone’s time. This will ensure for a positive meeting environment and make your job as facilitator a lost easier

So that’s it, relevant humor, professional and timed to perfection. This is not a radical overhaul of your meeting style and it may or may not work but I find that more and more in meetings the mental agility of the standup mind is akin to what I am striving to achieve.

Filed under Business Communications, Meeting Productivity, Public Speaking Tagged with , , ,

Create an Awesome Product Demo in 3 Easy Steps

May 15, 2012 by 1 Comment

creating awesome product demosYou love what you’re selling.  (Hopefully).  You spend most of your waking hours selling something that you think is awesome.  If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be selling it!  However, as honest as your face may be, it’s doubtful that people are going to buy your product on just your word – they want to see it!  So how do you quickly create a demo that showcases everything great there is to know about your product that gets your audience as excited about it as you are?  This is where it gets tricky.  You want to display every aspect of the product, but still keep it simple.  Keep in mind that you want the demo to be exciting and eye-catching, yet not too busy or obnoxious.  And you want the audience to stay engaged for a long time, but you also respect their time and don’t want to overstay your welcome.  Creating a demo that checks all of these boxes (and more) can sound daunting, and time consuming.  But alas, – it doesn’t have to be!

In fact, you’re only 3 steps away from having that awesome product demo ready to put in front of your next customer!

Create content

You know your product inside and out.  Any question that is thrown your way, you’ve got the answer.  However, all of that information isn’t always absolutely necessary, especially if this is the first time your audience is seeing this product.  In order to ensure that your demo lasts an appropriate amount of time and that your audience doesn’t get totally confused, it’s a good idea to limit the amount of information in your demo to only the most important info.  Something that I find useful is to write every feature or fact about my product on a separate notecard.  Having each idea on its own notecard gives me the freedom to move the ideas around, prioritizing and creating stories within my big picture pitch.  I can then remove the ideas that are the lowest priority and be confident in knowing that all pertinent information has made it into my demo.

Choose your platform

These days there are SO many ways to communicate and collaborate with anybody, anywhere.  Many times, it’s not practical or possible to meet everybody face-to-face.  Sometimes you want to reach a large audience that is spread out geographically.  Maybe your audience is global, making it inconvenient for everyone to be on a conference call at once.  All of these reasons make taking your demo online and presenting it virtually the right choice.  Web and video conferencing have come a long way and are still quickly evolving.  Choices range from extremely simple, intuitive platforms that give you the ability to share a PowerPoint presentation or document, all the way up to feature rich webcasting platforms that allow sharing of any sort of content, audio or video, and that feature social media, CRM and RPM integration, registration and robust reporting capabilities.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone that works with these tools frequently or, even better, someone that sells them, for some assistance.  Most likely when you say “In a perfect world, I would like X,Y & Z to happen during my demo” there will be a platform out there than can deliver. 

Put it all together

Now take those great points, maybe some fancy graphs and pictures and put it all together!  Make the most out of the platform you’re using, but also keep in mind your audience.  If they’re not technically savvy or maybe more interested in content than pictures, make sure that you keep your bright colors and crazy animations to a minimum.  Practice your pitch to ensure that you smoothly move through your presentation and don’t get too high level, or too deep, on any of your ideas.  The key here is to capture your audiences’ attention and give them just enough that it makes them wanting more.  You will know that you don’t just have a demo, but an awesome demo, when everybody comes back asking for a follow-up meeting.

Filed under Sales Demos, Solution Selling Tagged with , , , ,

Which Virtual Platform Does Your Business Need?

May 9, 2012 by 1 Comment

which virtual platformYou know me.

I’m that lady in the toothpaste aisle that stares for about 20 minutes at the vast array of available choices. Do we really need so many varieties?  I mean, they all do the same thing right?

Wrong. 

One kind specializes in whitening while the other is specifically designed to fight cavities. And still another kind is aimed to disinfect, build enamel, and freshen breath.Wow….so which one do I need?

Well, this isn’t a blog about toothpaste or hygiene, so I’m not going to be making any toothpaste recommendations (although I prefer the ones that build enamel). See, the thing is, just like brushing our teeth every day is a must, business meetings are also a daily necessity. And many people around the corporate globe feel the same bewilderment when it comes to choosing a web conferencing platform for their online meetings or virtual events.  And the inevitable pending deadline seemingly never leaves our horizon.

Face it.  We need online collaboration to keep up with this accelerated business world and we know it. Whether internal, external, or both, remote online meetings are a part of our daily duties. Are you one of those people experiencing a haunting realization that you need to make a choice? Do you have a pile of options and little time to really look at all the labels? It’s time to get moving onto another aisle.  You can start breaking down the choices by simply asking, “What top 3 features are my “must haves” to host my general online meetings”?

Depending on your objectives and the responsibilities/job functions you have, your must-haves will vary. Here are a few guidelines to help you narrow down your selection of the virtual platform options on the shelf: 

Project Management, Design and Manufacturing 

Streamlined application sharing is important for you, real-time collaboration for building, and online approvals to accelerate deadlines.

Recommendation:   A web conferencing platform with a whiteboard,  streamlined live application sharing and file transfer would be your best choice. 

Education and Training

Online classroom “must haves” would include test taking with immediate grading, breakout sessions, and the ability to schedule easily accessible classes in a series.

Recommendation:  Seek a web solution, like webcasting platforms or webinar services, that allows for pre-registration, and comes fully loaded with polling that tracks back to the individual participant. 

Product and Service Rollouts

Marketers generally scrutinize aesthetics, so a platform offering full-screen presentation is a must, along with lead capture and quick reporting for speedy follow up.

Recommendation:  Look for a feature-rich web conferencing platform that has slide sharing, and instant attendance reporting. 

Legal Firms and Recruiters

Webcams are necessary for face to face client meetings so you need to look for a virtual platform that supports video conferencing. Client matter data capture and the ability to contact honorary guests at a specific time are also important so make sure your platform allows for operator dial-out and a billing code capture.

Recommendation:  Progressive firms  should choose a conferencing service provider that integrates the audio, web and video conferencing together, and ensures streamlined scheduling when operator assistance is needed. 

Financial Advice and Wealth Management

For you, FINRA and SEC compliance is primary, along with secure document transfer, and the ability to track meeting content.

Recommendation:  Choose an unlimited use license in which you pre-pay for service.  This will allow you to accommodate both large and one-on-one audiences without worrying about the cost of minutes.  Make sure the web conferencing platform allows fo file transfer, attendance “time stamps”, and a notes section for tracking.

Still feeling overwhelmed?  Are you wondering if anyone out there can really help you understand all the choices?  Where is a store clerk when you need one?

Don’t be afraid to cry out and say “Assistance needed in Aisle 12, help needed please”. Online collaboration specialists are experts in finding solutions that are a perfect fit for your unique environment.

In fact, they are helping other people in the aisle right next to you.

Filed under Business Communications, Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars Tagged with , ,

5 Steps to a Winning Sales Presentation

May 4, 2012 by 1 Comment

effective sales presentations

It’s difficult to say what the “most important” part of the sales process is, but often times the most memorable part from a customer’s perspective is the initial sales presentation.  And as a salesperson, you’ve already put in a ton of leg work to get you to the point where you’re able to present your potential customers, so make it count.  Here are the 5 steps I use to help me deliver a great sales presentation:

Step 1: Have a plan:

I’m sure it wasn’t easy to get to the point where you’re at now with your prospect so let off the gas.  Let’s start with the basics.

Know how much time do you have – if it’s limited make sure you only include the most important points in your presentation (always confirm before you begin to make sure there were no last minute changes).
Know who will be attending – while this can always change last minute it is important to know who will be joining this meeting so you can make sure your presentation is relevant (see step 2)
Know if you will need backup – based on the topics that will be covered and the audience that will be attending, are you capable of doing this alone, or do you need a colleague or specialist from your team?

Step 2: Make sure your presentation is relevant to your audience

You must keep your audience in mind when putting your presentation together.  The information you cover needs to be relevant to them in order to keep their attention and interest.  Make sure that the examples you may use to drive your point home are ones they can relate to. 

Step 3: Put some personality into it

There’s a good chance you’re not the only company presenting to this potential customer so your presentation skills are a great way to stand out and be memorable.  You can add bits of personality and creativity to even the most formal presentations.  Avoid being monotone and standing frozen up there while speaking.  Engage your audience, make eye contact, have a varying tone in your voice and have some energy while you’re up there. If you’re presenting online, make sure your tone of voice doesn’t communicate an ‘I don’t wanna be here’ attitude. If you’re not on a video conference and can’t see your prospects, make sure the energy you’d normally exude during an in-person meeting is now apparent in your voice and slides.

Step 4: Don’t use your visuals as a crutch

Visuals are a great way for your audience to understand and comprehend what you are speaking about.  I strongly encourage you to use them, but don’t solely rely on them to get you through your presentation.  Keep them for highlighting major points.  If you are giving your presentation remotely, using a web conferencing platform is a must. Talking about features or results without showing examples is fruitless.  I also strongly encourage you to incorporate a web cam to make it more personal.

Step 5: Document questions or reactions and incorporate them into your follow-up

I recommend taking detailed notes as soon as your presentation is over while everything is still fresh.  Pay special attention to your audience’s reactions to various topics you covered and the questions they asked because this will be important to incorporate in your follow up.  If you are giving your presentation remotely via a conference call or web conference, I would recommend using the recording feature to have something to refer back to.  By doing this you will be able to put extra detail in your follow up for items they seemed concerned about and really emphasize the points they saw the most value in.

Filed under Sales Demos, Sales Leadership, Solution Selling, Web Conferencing Tagged with , ,

To Meet or Not to Meet Online, That is the Question

April 26, 2012 by Leave a comment

efficient online meetingsThe times, they are a changing. Cell phones are now mini computers, information is immediately accessible online to anyone, anywhere, and social networking has gone from a fad to a communication requirement.  I am not an old man, however five years in the technology industry makes me feel like one.   One part of our culture that I have noticed changing significantly is the requirement for in-person meetings.  Over the last year, my colleagues’ and my perspectives have changed  significantly in terms of when we should meet face to face vs. online.  

Five years ago my co-workers and I would only meet our customers in person.  I was responsible for Quebec and Montreal and was flying out to meetings a couple of times a month in addition to driving out to multiple local meetings.  If I could go back I wouldn’t change a thing because it was what was expected by my clients and it was my personal preference for building relationships. 

Today however, our cultural landscape has changed dramatically. Traditional in person meetings are now being effectively transitioned into online meetings, webinars or video conferences.  It’s true that in person meetings will never be replaced completely and will always have a place in business, but the technology behind online meetings is nonetheless improving accessibility and the quality of relationships. 

My personal dilemma (as I’m sure is shared by many of you) is figuring out when and which meetings should be done in person and which should be done online.  Here are the questions I usually ask myself and the factors that I consider:

Relationship

Is it a first time meeting?

Meetings (especially first time meetings) should be done in person as often as possible. It’s easier to have casual conversations, read body language, and get to know someone that way. I feel that after an initial in-person meeting, most people are more comfortable doing follow-up meetings online.

How heated/emotional will the meeting be?

If you anticipate your meeting to involve a lot of emotions and personal topics, it should be conducted in person if possible so that you can read people properly. Sometimes body language can be missed in an online meeting which can cause miscommunication.

Do you have an efficient online meeting solution?

You must make sure you are using a web conferencing or online meeting platform that is efficient and that works well for you and for your attendees.  It must be robust, reliable and secure. You want your participants to be able to join the online meeting easily and be able to see and hear clearly.

Location

How far is the meeting?

If it’s close (within walking distance or just a cab ride away) then I’d recommend having an in person meeting. However if it’s in another city, state or country, it may be more productive and less expensive to host a virtual meeting online.

How many people are attending the meeting and how long will it last?

3 people travelling 20 minutes to a meeting that is only one hour long may translate into one hour of lost productivity. It may make more sense to meet online if there are many people travelling together. Unless of course it’s a crucial first time meeting or an emotionally heated one.

Where will the physical meeting be held?

I often find that more can get accomplished when everyone looking at the same content from their own computer screens compared to everyone squiting in a boardroom monitor or projector in a conference room. Do you have a location that makes it easy to collaborate in person or would an online meeting be more effective? 

Audience

Who is in your audience?

You need to make a decision about whether or not to host an online meeting based on the personal preferences and comfort levels of your participants.  People have different comfort levels with technology, especially sitting behind a computer screen during a presentation or having a webcam focused on them during a video conference. Still, others would actually be more comfortable behind a computer screen so it’s up to you to consider who your audience is and what they would prefer.

How will your guests take it?

If you don’t meet with your audience in person, will they take it personally that you’re not travelling to see them or would they respect that you’re trying to use their time efficiently? Take into consideration the perspectives and needs of the people you are meeting with and always remember that they are your guests whether you meet them online or in person.

When was the last time that you’ve seen the people you’re meeting with?

If you just recently had an in person meeting with your audience, you may want to hold the next meetings virtually, for instance you could alternate quarterly meetings between in person and online.

At the end of the day this will be a personal decision and one that you make on a case by case basis.  I personally still like to meet people in person as much as possible.  However, with increasing travel congestion, better video capabilities in web conference platforms, and online and video conferencing becoming easier and easier to access, the argument against meeting online is becoming weaker and weaker.  The biggest change from my perspective is that meeting online has become significantly more culturally accepted and even expected.   To meet or not to meet online is still the question, however meeting in person is no longer always the answer.

Filed under Business Communications, Communication Processes, Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars Tagged with , , , ,

Have No Fear, Online Tools Are Here!

April 17, 2012 by Leave a comment

Spring is not a time for pumpkins.  Spring is a time that is bursting with new life, new energy, new business.

As a strategic professional, you probably envisioned budding growth last year, and may have started investigating using vehicles such as web conferencing to accelerate your tasks and increase productivity. You may also have heard that progressive firms were already using online meeting tools to make appointments more productive, adding value and solidifying client relationships that were yielding positive results.

Thus, you made a 2012 resolution to sign up for and effectively use a web conferencing service that should now be paying off with new leads, very happy clients, and a growing bottom line.

But wait.  Midnight has struck, and your dreams for a prosperous new year have somehow become stale. The gleaming carriage that you were investigating to expand your business has turned into a pumpkin, and the new revenue you were hoping to create never came to fruition. What happened?

You find yourself haunted by the truth that your web conferencing investigation was too daunting.   The urgency of the immediate took priority over your New Year’s resolution to explore online meeting tools.

Your quest to serve your clients online drowned in the “TO DO” pile, and is still there.

But have no fear!  It’s not too late!  You still CAN grow your business in 2012 (and beyond) with online meeting tools. Getting started is easy when you consider these simple steps…

Be Selective.

Like crystal carriages and golden chariots, web conferencing platforms come in all shapes and sizes.  Each includes dozens of features that perhaps you will never use.  Consider the tools that you need, and then narrow down your selection to a platform or two that offers those features.  Do you want to meet clients face-to-face?  Then select a platform that allows for webcams and video conferencing.  Do you need to collect signatures?  Then a file transfer feature will be important to you.  Will you be presenting data intensive material?  Then be sure you like the feel of the annotation tools.  While providers may drag you through every single feature, you’ll get to the ball quicker by keeping them focused only on the features that are important to YOU.

Rely on the Professionals.

Expect your conferencing consultants to do their job in training you to confidently drive your new online meeting carriage.  Conducting an online client meeting should be as easy and comfortable as using your email.  As with any learning curve, once you know the few buttons to push that are critical to getting the job done, you should be able to smoothly conduct an online meeting and leave learning the rest of the glitzy features at the bottom of your “TO DO” pile without worry.  If scheduling and conducting your meeting is not clear to you within the first 10 minutes of training, perhaps you need to find a new provider. 

Expect results.

After meeting clients once or twice online, celebrate with them the thrill of convenience knowing there is no turning back.  They will be loyal to your business knowing that fighting traffic, schedules and weather to visit your office is a thing of the past.  You will propel measurable results by transacting  business on the spot, from your desk, airport terminal or royal ball private chamber.

So what are you waiting for?  You still have time before the clock really strikes midnight!  If you delay, your competitors are surely waiting for you to turn into a pumpkin and attend the ball for you! Plenty of rivals are already meeting with their clients online, and their clients are talking to your clients.

Why not resolve now to choose a web conference service provider, get your online account today, and schedule your training? You could conduct your first online meeting and enjoy the results the same day!

Spring is here – it’s just beginning. 

So have no fear…and get it done today.

Filed under Business Communications, Web Conferencing Tagged with , ,

3 Ways to Get Sales Teams Excited About Product Trainings

April 10, 2012 by Leave a comment

product trainingsHere’s a not-so-secretive, secret: product knowledge equals more sales. Without knowing the ins and outs of what you’re selling, there’s absolutely no way to relate your services to a client’s business needs. Add to that the fact that today’s sales teams are spread all over the world, remote product launches are usually still met with the same enthusiasm equal to that of being invited to a tax audit.

So, here’s the 64 thousand dollar question – How does a sales or product manager effectively impart the knowledge necessary to close deals to a geographically dispersed audience that would benefit from said knowledge, yet may have reservations about sitting through another virtual meeting?

If you’re in IT, product management or even marketing and are trying to figure out how you can get sales teams more excited about your product trainings, here are 3 ways (from a sales perspective) that can guarantee you have my full attention during a product training:

Make presentations interactive.

I like to push buttons, pull levers,  guess numbers, and I’m not alone. Salespeople love to be involved in the action. The more interaction the better. This can include answering questions, “test driving” a feature that was just presented or being asked to come up with a brief elevator pitch on the new product to my team.  Many web and video conferencing solutions include some awesome tools to add visual communication, polls and remote desktop control to bring this interactivity to your audience.

Make it competitive.

Adding competition to any presentation is a sure way to elicit attention. Quizzes, trivia games or any general forum where I can display my superior knowledge works for me. Again, remote collaboration tools make it easy for individuals or teams to compete against eachother.  Is this the best way to foster an environment of camaraderie and teamwork? Probably not. But does it work? Oh yeah! Salespeople are extremely competitive by nature so this approach works really well in these situations.

Believe in the product.

If you’re excited about the product, I’m excited about the product. Whether you’ve developed software from the ground up or were involved in bringing in an OEM deal, you know exactly what the benefits are and why our company is bringing it to market. I’d love hear what your motivation was and why you believe in a product that will benefit our customers. And there’s nothing like motion to create emotion. In-person presentations are great because we can see the body language and gestures that enhance a conversation. Video conferencing technology has gotten so good (in terms of quality, stability an ease of use) that you can include these subtleties whether you’re in the same room or not.

The key to any successful product launch is early adoption, not only from the customers but from your sales teams as well. Product trainings lead by an enthusiastic orator in an engaging and interactive experience will guarantee I leave armed with the knowledge to drive more sales and propel our company forward.

Filed under Product Trainings, Solution Selling Tagged with , ,

Webinar Success: It’s All in the Timing

April 5, 2012 by 1 Comment

Whether hosting your first webinar or your 500th, you’re always striving to make your virtual event a successful one. There are many elements that go into ensuring that your webinars produce results - most of which you may already be familiar with. There is however, one key factor that if ignored, may unknowingly hinder your performance. That factor is timing.

General key elements of a successful webinar include:webinar success timing

  • Having an interesting topic
  • Targeting the right audience
  • Creating an invitation with just enough information to attract the reader’s attention
  • Giving recipients the ability to test the compatibility of their computer system
  • Having a registration page to capture crucial demographic information, so that you can track your attendees and ‘no-shows’
  • Creating compelling content
  • Being a dynamic speaker
  • Interacting with the audience
  • Recording the webinar and facilitating a Q&A session for enduring interactivity

Other key elements which are often overlooked are:

  • Sending the invites at the right day and time
  • Choosing the best day and time to host your webinar or webcast
  • Social media integration

Let’s focus on these last three points.

Timing for sending out your invite is just as important as all of the other key webinar success elements and much like sending out a press release, you want to make sure that your recipients receive it at a time when they’re not inundated with other emails. If your audience is mainly in Eastern Time for example, you should try sending out the invite/press release around 8:30 ET am on a Tuesday, before they may leave their office for meetings. This will give them the opportunity to read about your event and be encouraged to pre-register.

Or if you’re targeting a nationwide audience, first figure out where your main target audience is. How? Let’s say that your speaker is a doctor who is based out of Philadelphia. If that’s the case, you’re going to want to heavily target the east coast because your audience may already be familiar with the doctor and if they’re not, they may become more interested in attending the webcast because of the proximity.

You should also make the event (registration) process even easier by allowing at least 3 weeks to pre-register, having confirmation emails auto-generated, and reminder emails sent out within 24-48 business hours before your presentation. This will ensure the highest turnout for your webinar or webcast.

Regarding the actual timing of your live virtual event, let’s first discuss which times you should AVOID. Stay away from Mondays and Fridays. Why? Think about how your week tends to run…on Mondays you might be getting caught up on weekend emails, and on Fridays – let’s face it – people are wrapping up their “to-do” list and getting ready for the weekend. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons at 2pm ET would all be good choices for hosting your webinar – people have enough notice to plan their day, get some lunch and be settled in and ready for a great, potentially interactive discussion.

You may wonder what social media networks have to do with the timing and success of your virtual event. But assuming that your material is public-facing and non-confidential you should consider utilizing a webcast platform that facilitates social media widgets for social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.  These social media widgets make it easy for your attendees to share content from your webcast with their network, and engaging their own communities with your brand. You can even have a tweetstream (Twitter feed) embedded right into your webcast player!

As you run your webinar, consider adding polling questions every 6 slides. This will help ensure that your audience isn’t multi-tasking, and can keep the presentation more fun, game-like and engaging. At the completion of your presentation (and after the Q&A) consider adding a survey that includes questions about timing and flow. For example: “Did you have any technical issues joining this webinar?” and “For future programs, please let us know if another day or time works better for your schedule”.

As your webinar comes to an end, make sure that you post a link for your participants to click through. The link can be to a campaign, your website, or even an evaluation. This way you can be assured that you have your audience’s full attention by the end of the presentation and long afterwards. And as long as you’ve done your job right, your audience will be eager to learn more!

Filed under Business Communications, Webinars Tagged with , , ,

Webinars 101

April 2, 2012 by Leave a comment

webinarsYou’ve hosted tons of meetings before, so why should hosting a webinar be any different?  You’ve probably been a participant on enough webinars to know what goes into them too, so it can’t be that hard either, right? Well, before going into any detail, let’s clarify that I will be speaking about a traditional webinar in this post, which for our purposes is an online meeting that has participants dialing in over the phone and logging into a web conference on their computer.  For a more detailed overview of the different types of web meetings, including webcasts, I suggest you check out Leah’s post, ‘Web Conferencing 101’.  The good news then is no, it’s not hard to host a webinar. And not only is it easier than a traditional meeting for you, but it’s also more convenient and many times more powerful since your attendees will be joining your webinar from all around the world from the comfort of their own desks (at the office or at home). 

Here are a few 101-type key tips to help you host the best webinar possible:

Pick the right platform (if you still have the choice) and know how to use it (always)
If you’re still shopping around for the right webinar platform to use, clarify for yourself first what exactly it is you want to achieve in this online meeting. If you’re hosting a webinar for a client presentation, sales demo, or any other type of presentation where you may expect no more than 100 or so attendees, then you want to make sure that you use a web conferencing platform that: 

1. Is easy for your participants to join from anywhere in the world
2. Allows you to share and collaborate documents in real time
3. Gives you the ability to record and playback your webinar for those who couldn’t make it
4. Has reporting capabilities so that you can track who did and did not show up for your meeting

An audio and web solution would be a perfect fit in this case as it will allow you to have your local as well as international clients join (via local access numbers specific to their location), show them your PowerPoint presentation and your website, record the meeting for those who couldn’t make it and be able to track everyone’s attendance from the moment you sent out the invite through the end of your meeting.  Many remote collaboration providers offer complimentary training sessions on their webinar products so that you can take advantage of all the bells and whistles their tools offer while hosting your meeting.

If you’re hosting a type of training – product, HR, educational, etc. then you might want to look for a webinar platform that offers you a few more options like:

1. Live polling and Q&A
2. Social media integration
3. Registration process
4. Audio and video streaming
5. Operator attendance

Hosting bigger audiences doesn’t mean that a webinar has to be less personal or interactive – based on the nature and size of your meeting you could use video to recreate more of a face-to-face feel to your meeting so that it can be more intimate.  Many webinar platforms give you access to a number of features that can help you control even the largest of audiences and make sure group discussions stay organized and on track.  

Once you know which platform you will be using, make sure that you MASTER using it. Read all user guides, watch how-to videos, ask your vendor for one-on-one trainings. Host your own webinars with a group of colleagues as a dress rehearsal. And if you don’t want to bother with any of that or don’t have the time to – then make sure you get a provider who can take care of the production of your online event including giving your live operator assistance.

Be prepared
Of course part of your preparation includes knowing how to use your webinar platform. I also recommend arriving at least 5 minutes early to make sure you’re set up properly.  Get yourself logged in, upload whatever documents you might need to present, test any videos you will be streaming, and have all of your materials ready.  Be in a position to greet you participants as they arrive.

Know your audience and connect with them
Even though you are not in the same room as your audience doesn’t mean your meeting can’t have that personal feel to it.  If you will be addressing an internal audience, welcome them, smile you’re your words, introduce the topic before you begin your presentation, and let them know that they matter. If your audience is external or unfamiliar to you, make sure that they are all at ease in the webinar before you start, that no one has experienced technical difficulties, and that you will do your best to accommodate each of them.  Create polling questions throughout your meeting to keep your audience involved.  Nobody know yours audience better than you and you’ll have the right tools at your finger tips to make it a productive, engaging, and fun throughout the webinar.

Follow up
This is one of the (many) big advantages webinar hosting has to offer.  Webinar services today have  amazing reporting capabilities that capture the names and information of those registered, who actually attended and for how long, who didn’t attend, who asked questions, who left half way through, who listened to the recorded webinar, and much more.  This type of detailed information is great for lead generation or even for keeping track of participants for training type webinars that require mandatory attendance. 

These are just a few of the high-level tips you can incorporate into your next webinar experience. Follow these steps and you’ll be more at ease hosting your webinars. There’s a lot more you can do and more guidance you can use to help you become a pro which we will be talking about soon in future posts. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, you’ll find that when you host your own webinars you can reach more people, from more locations, and much more efficiently without losing out on the productiveness of your meetings.

Filed under Business Communications, Web Conferencing, Webinars Tagged with , ,

5 Effective Things You Can Say in Your Online Meetings Without Uttering a Word

March 26, 2012 by Leave a comment

effective online communicationBack in the 1960’s psychological research showed us that amazingly, only 7% of what we communicate is through what we say (words). The other 93% comes from non-verbal communication – 55% of which is attributed to facial expressions and body language, and 38% from our manner of speaking. Whoa! 93%! Non-Verbal. Unspoken. That’s a lot to say (pun intended) for a world that pretty much thrives on communicating via remote collaboration. Think about it. Much of the workforce in today’s global economy communicates remotely and conducts the majority of its business meetings through conference calls and the occasional web conference. In both circumstances, communicators are communicating behind a virtual wall. All we get from the communication is the 7% of what we say. Ok, and maybe a little of the 38% from the way in which we say things. But what happens to the remaining 55% that never gets transmitted?

How can we communicate facial expressions and body language through a web and/or audio conference to ensure optimal, effective communication if the people we’re communicating to can’t see us?

Listen. 

Just as you would allow other people in a conference room to speak up and make comments or ask questions during a business meeting, you should also do the same on an audio and web conference. Assuming you’re not webcasting a presentation while muting the lines of your participants, consider keeping quiet and truly listening to what someone is saying to you if they happen to pop a question. Of course if it were face-to-face, you would look your ‘talker’ in the eye while listening, lean forward, keep your arms uncrossed, etc.  But since you can’t see who’s talking on a conference call, your silence and occasional ‘mhmm’, ‘ok’, ‘I see’, can be thought of as your ‘eye contact’. Be attentive. When you take the time listen, you’re saying “I respect you…you matter”.

Pause. 

When you’re presenting to a bunch of people you can’t see, it’s tempting to keep rambling on during your meeting.  After all, you can’t see them, they can’t see you and you might as well be talking to yourself.  But remember, you’re still communicating non-verbally with your audience during a virtual meeting. One thing you can do is pause every once in a while when you’re speaking. These pauses allow your participants to digest what you’ve just said and feel safe, almost invited to perhaps make a comment or ask a question.  It gives them time to think. Pausing every now and then during your presentation says “I’m comfortable with what I’m saying, and I want you to be too”.

Engage. 

Talk ‘with’ your people, not just ‘to’ them. Imagine how boring and disconnected you would feel if you’re in a room with someone who just keeps talking and talking and talking. Take the time to ask questions, address your audience, say something funny, anything to illicit a response and make sure they are fully engaged. When you interact with your participants in an online meeting, even though they can’t see you, you are saying “I care about what you think and how you feel“.

Be prepared. 

This is almost a no-brainer. When you come prepared to any function, any meeting, any presentation, you are communicating to every person there that a)you’re responsible and b)they are important enough for you to be doing good work. Be 100% prepared with your slides. Know what you’re going to talk about. Have your key points jotted down. When you’re prepared, you’re saying “I got this! And you will too”

Relax. 

Stay calm, breathe, and release any tension from your body.  Even though your audience may not see you on a phone conference, they will definitely sense any rigidity in your voice and in the delivery of your presentation.  If you’re rushed in your words, if you switch slides quickly on your Powerpoint presentation, if you’re panicking because you accidentally shared your desktop, then you’re sending the message that you’re not confident.  Do a dress rehearsal of your presentation with a few of your colleagues or even to yourself, stay grounded, believe in yourself and go for it. When you’re relaxed and ready, you’re saying “I’m comfortable. Welcome, come in”.

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Filed under Business Communications, Non-Verbal Communication, Web Conferencing Tagged with , , ,

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