TIMESYou Ruinedan Audio Conference

10

Horror Story #1: Using Loud or Offensive Hold Music

When setting up an audio conference, presenters sometimes forget to consider hold music — the music that plays while the caller waits for the conference to start. Loud hold music can turn people o� before they even talk to a company representative.4 Equally problematic is music that contains o�ensive language.

Best Practices for Hold Music:

Whether you’re setting up a customer service line or an informational webinar for investors, it is important to ensure the hold music is su�ciently soft.

It is important to avoid music that contains o�ensive language or controversial messages. Make sure the hold music used by your provider is appropriate.

It may be best to choose a provider that o�ers classical, jazz or other instrumental music.

Horror Story #2: Low Call Volume

Because the brain is not good at multi-tasking, hearing is the most di�cult of the senses for it to handle.2 Despite this, presenters often have the volume set too low on their phone.4 Imagine how frustrating it is for the person on the other end if they can’t hear what you’re saying, especially if it’s a prospect call.

Bottom line? When people strain just to make out what others are saying, they can’t focus on the message, leading to an ine�ective meeting.3

Best Practices for Ensuring People Can Hear You:

It is important to run sound checks and resolve volume control problems prior to a broadcast. Test it with a colleague or call in yourself to make sure you are loud enough.

Horror Story #3: Treating an Audio Conference Like an In-Person Interaction

Audio conferences are a reality of our everyday lives, especially for remote workers or large teams. Learning how to electively interact on these calls is important. You can’t read body language, you can’t see when someone is getting ready to speak and you can’t gauge a person’s immediate reaction. Nonetheless, a common problem with audio conferences is when people assume that they’re on the right track, while they’re actually boring the prospect or invitee to tears.

Best Practices for Audio Conference Meetings:

Don’t assume you’re on the right track. Cover some of the items, pause, and then ask participants if you’re on the same page.

Pause in between thoughts to o�er the opportunity for people to respond.

Feel free to ask, “What are your thoughts?” or “Are we on the same page?” to gauge where they’re at.

Horror Story #4: No Audience Engagement

It’s the worst feeling in the world when you have a call or are conducting a webinar and you have NO audience engagement. You’re embarrassed, you get nervous and you inevitably continue to ramble throughout the call making it even worse. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s no fun.

Best Practices for Increasing Engagement:

As the presenter, it’s your job to keep the audience entertained. Don’t be so serious; throw in a joke every once in a while and show your personality.

Say something that will get the audience’s attention if you’ve lost it. Figure out some good statements before your presentation that can get you back on track.

During the meeting, call on remote participants to ensure they remain engaged.

Horror Story #5: No Structure

In today’s day and age, coming to a meeting without an agenda will automatically result in an ine�ective meeting. Another common occurrence that can quickly derail a call is asking open-ended questions to a large group, resulting in multiple people answering and trying to get the last word in. Either way, a lack of structure can easily contribute to an unproductive meeting, wasting your time, money and resources.

Have a clearly defined objective for the meeting and share it with the rest of the participants beforehand.

Come to your meeting with a prepared agenda. Pro tip: Create and send the agenda a few days in advance so your meeting participants will be prepared as well.

Feel free to call on specific people to answer open-ended questions, but give others the opportunity to talk as well. This will help you facilitate the meeting so multiple people aren’t trying to speak at once.

Best Practices for Meeting Structure:

Horror Story #6: Derailing the Conversation

It’s easier than you think to get o� topic and derail a conversation, but it can certainly annoy other people on the call who want to resolve the issue at hand instead of talking about other projects. Try to prevent tangents about other work-related items. Stay on topic to ensure the meeting’s success.

Best Practices for Staying on Course:

Remember that agenda you were supposed to create? Get it out and stick to it. Keep the niceties to a minimum.

If the person on the other end of the call is getting o� track, take it upon yourself to bring the conversation back to the topic at hand.

Horror Story #7: Annoying Call Features

Everyone knows that sound: the annoying beep that randomly sounds when other participants join the conference. The beep is often then accompanied by the recorded introductions that announce when someone new comes into the virtual conference room.1 Both are irritating and, frankly, unnecessary.

Best Practices for Call Features:

Most software systems have the ability to turn o� these features. Adjust these settings before calls, depending on the situation.

These features can be especially irritating when you’re conducting a large conference call. Find a good way to have people announce they are on the call, either by chat or by roll call. Share the procedure for doing so beforehand.

Horror Story #8: Forgetting to Mute/Unmute the Participants

Have you ever asked a question on an audio conference and all you get is radio silence? Have you ever been talking for two minutes and realize you’ve been muted the entire time? The mute button can be your friend, but it can also be your enemy.

Best Practices for the Mute Button:

Get in the habit of being aware of the mute button when you’re on audio calls. If it’s a habit, you’re more likely to use it appropriately. Own it, use it, love it.

Make sure other participants have the opportunity to mute their own line if needed. As the meeting leader, do not be afraid to mute their lines if there is feedback or background noise as well, but let them know so they can unmute if needed.

If you know people are using the mute function to avoid feedback and echoes, gently remind them to unmute when you’re done speaking.

Horror Story #9: Poor Audio Quality

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Background noise. Audio delays. Line noise and feedback. Hollow sound. Audio echoes. The list goes on and on. Audio quality can be a nightmare that impacts your productivity and business.4 If the people on the other line can’t hear you, then they can’t think about what you’re saying.

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Best Practices for Audio Quality:

Instead of using a landline or mobile phone, consider investing in a microphone that hooks up to your computer that will help with sound quality.

Make sure you’re in a quiet spot so you can limit background noise.5

Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about audio quality if you simply don’t have a quality audio conferencing solution. If this is a common occurrence, then it’s time to think about switching providers.

Horror Story #10: Constantly Being Disconnected

Imagine this: you’re on the phone with an important prospect. Everything is going so well, and you think they may sign. They ask you a question and as you’re getting ready to answer, BOOM. You’re disconnected. You quickly scramble to call back, but it’s taking so long that when you get back on the call, the prospect needs to go. A conversation that was going so well is now ending prematurely, leaving you in the dust and disappointed.

Now, imagine if this was a weekly occurrence, or even a daily one. How much money could you be losing because of it?

Best Practices for Staying Connected:

If you are constantly being disconnected from audio conferences, the bottom line is that you need to change providers. It is unacceptable, and it’s impacting your business. Look for providers who leverage Tier 1 carrier networks to ensure connectivity.

The Checklist for EffectiveAudio Conferences:

Find a quiet location and call in on time.

Speak forcefully only when you have something to o�er.

Run sound checks and resolve any volume control problems prior to the broadcast. Test with a colleague or call in yourself to make sure you are loud enough.

Pause in between thoughts during the audio conference to allow people to ask questions or respond.

Make sure to ask, “Do you have any questions?” or “Are we on the same page?” to ensure you’re on the right track.

Instead of using a landline or mobile phone, consider investing in a microphone that hooks up to your computer to help with sound quality.

Call on specific people to answer open-ended questions, but give everyone the opportunity to talk.

Create an agenda and stick to it.

If someone is getting o� track, take it upon yourself to bring the conversation back to the topic at hand.

Make sure other participants have the opportunity to mute their line if needed. As the meeting leader, do not be afraid to mute their lines if there is feedback or background noise as well, but let them know so they can unmute when they need to.

Own the mute button and understand how to use it e�ectively.

Turn o� annoying call features like recorded introductions or beeps.

Invest in a quality audio conferencing provider to support e�ective meetings.

ReadyTalk gives you all the confidence that’s been missing in online meetings and webinars. Our platform delivers serious collaboration technology, supported by expert service you didn’t think was possible. Our passion is perfect meetings and presentations, and we provide you with the tools to make sure your audio conference goes o� without a hitch.

Want to switch to a quality audio conferencing provider that will support your meetings instead of hindering them? Request a free trial today.

1. http://interactionassociates.com/insights/blog/conference-calls-work-part-i#.VVOWaWZMVjg2. https://www.readytalk.com/blog/scott-king/the-1-enemy-of-online-conferences-poor-audio-quality3. http://meet.readytalk.com/cost_weak_online_conferencing?DocID=24. http://meet.readytalk.com/8_audio_problems?DocID=15. http://www.nojitter.com/post/240168243/better-audio-conferences

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