Better Conference Calls | Be At Your Best On Your Next Conference Call

From: Brandon Munro and Gihan Perera

If you are interested in organising, chairing or participating in conference calls … then this could be the most important message you will read.

Here’s why:

Teleconferencing has been available for years, but a few things have recently made it more compelling and engaging:

The technology is far better than ever before.
You don’t need sophisticated telephone systems, your own ISDN lines or special training.
It’s cheaper than ever before.
You don’t have to sign up for long-term contracts; the calls themselves aren’t expensive; you can choose different options based on your budget; and the people taking part have cheap long-distance telephone plans.
All non-essential business travel is being slashed.
The Global Financial Crisis means organisations are cutting expenses everywhere, so conference calls are an even more attractive option now.
Video conferencing still isn’t a convenient option.
Sure, it’s got better, but if you’ve ever been on a video conference, you’ve probably experienced how difficult it is. Telephone conference calls, on the other hand, are easy, fast and convenient.
The Internet makes it even easier and cheaper.
You can share documents and materials easily; you can see participants’ screens during the call; and you can conduct your calls from anywhere with Internet access.
Finally, sometimes it’s the only option available.
If you’re negotiating a deal in Johannesburg, dealing with head office in London, outsourcing work to Bangalore and contracting to consultants in Sydney, it’s simply not practical to bring all the participants together into one room. Even if you don’t think this applies to you right now, it will soon!

Gihan has been using, leveraging and teaching the technology for 15+ years; and Brandon has been using conference calls regularly as part of his business life for about the same time. Together, we have over 30 years of combined experience and logged thousands of hours with conference calls.

Now, we’ve distilled the lessons we’ve learned into a comprehensive e-book “Best Practice Conference Calls”.

This e-book is for you if:

You’re already using conference calling in your organisation.
You feel more comfortable in face-to-face meetings than on conference calls.
You want to present a more credible, professional and authoritative presence on the phone.
You deal with customers, clients, prospects or team members outside your local area.
You need to organise conference calls for your manager or team leader.

What will you learn?

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the questions that are answered in “Best Practice Conference Calls”:

What makes a conference call different from a face-to-face meeting?
Discover the nine key differences between conference calls and face-to-face meetings, and how each will have an impact on your key objectives for performing well.
How do you achieve your outcomes, even if you’re a junior participant?
Learn this and you’ll never worry about other people’s seniority and power again.
How do you look and act professional on a conference call?
The good news is it doesn’t take much to make a strong, positive impression. The bad news is it also doesn’t take much to damage your image!
How do you establish instant credibility on the call?
These three techniques will give you instant credibility from the other participants, so you can enjoy more respect during the call.
How do you say what you mean succinctly but without missing anything important?
Time is everybody’s most valuable commodity. If you can use your time wisely without wasting theirs, you’ll be seen as a valuable participant on the call.
How can you manage difficult or hostile calls skilfully and gracefully?
There’s a skill in managing difficult conversations, and a special skill in doing it on a conference call. We’ll show you how to take control without causing resentment, tackle difficult issues while keeping your cool, and facilitating the call to still meet your outcomes – even when emotions run high.
How do you conduct board and committee meetings by conference call?
These are different from other conference calls, and sometimes have important legal and regulatory consequences that you must get right.
How do you keep control when the Chair is weak?
Just because you’re not chairing the call doesn’t mean you can’t take a lead role in it – especially if the nominated Chair isn’t doing their job.
What is the best technology to use for conference calls?
There’s no “one size fits all” technology for everybody. We’ll give you ten criteria for evaluating a conference call service, so you can choose what’s right for you, and at the right price.
What do you do when the technology doesn’t work?
This is not a matter of “if”; it’s a matter of “when”. Proving that you can manage these situations will do more than almost anything else to demonstrate your professionalism and authority.

We know that’s a lot of value, but we promise you’ll get it all … and more.

And it’s not like any other product on conference calls.

If you’ve been looking for resources about conference calls, you probably know already that there’s other material out there. Most of it describes the technical aspects of conducting a conference call – what system to use, what numbers to call, how to do the recording, and so on.

This book is different. We do talk about conference call systems, but that’s not our main goal. Our main objective in this book is to teach you effective conference calling skills.

This means we’re different in three key ways:

It’s about business skills, not technical skills.We assume you’re confident, professional and competent in your business life. We’ll show you how to translate and transfer that confidence, professionalism and competence to conference calls as well.
It’s about the call as a business function.A conference call is just one of many business communication tools. We’ll show you where it fits in, when it’s most appropriate, when it should not be used, and how to make it support your real business objectives.
It’s about being comfortable with the technology.You can get by without knowing the technology well, but if you want to be truly world’s best practice, you need to be at least comfortable with it. We do talk about technology in this book, but not just to give you as much as a technical user manual. Instead, we show you how to choose and use the technology in a way that’s most appropriate for your business outcome.

You also tap into our years – decades! – of experience.

Brandon has a background in corporate law and private equity and is a specialist in the execution of complex financial transactions. He regularly deals with cross-border transactions, bringing together parties in different organisations, time zones and countries. He has been using conference calls for fifteen years and finds them to be an integral part of his daily business life.

Gihan is a business consultant who teaches clients how to leverage technology more effectively. Many of his clients are professional speakers, trainers and presenters, who not only have to participate in conference calls, but often have to make sales presentations and training presentations using this medium. He, too, has more than 15 years of experience with conference calls, both with larger corporates and smaller businesses.

This book gives you all the secrets we’ve learned over this 30+ years of experience.

What we’re saying is … We’ll share our real-life experience with you. You’ll learn to avoid the mistakes we made and to apply the principles that we know work.

Which means no fluff. Just the real answers you want to know.

So, how much better would you feel knowing all the answers to these questions and more? Wouldn’t you have a much better chance of making your conference calls more successful?

This really is a short-cut to being the best on your next conference call.

How much is a resource like this worth?

You’re getting the results of 30+ combined years of our experience doing selling, negotiating, closing deals, marketing, presenting and conducting formal and informal meetings by conference call.

Even one idea from this e-book could be worth many times what you pay for it.

That’s why “Best Practice Conference Calls” is a bargain at just $9.99.

As a simple example, ignore all the possible gains, and just consider one cost: The cost of everybody’s time. Suppose you have five people on a call and their average salary is $50,000 (being conservative). If they meet regularly by conference call for an hour, that hour alone costs $100. Even if you save yourself half an hour from any one of those conference calls, you’ve covered the cost of this book.

Of course, we can’t guarantee what your return on investment will be, because every organisation and every person is different. What we can say is that you’ll be better on your next conference call – and that might be worth thousands of dollars to you.

What do you get?

The e-book: “Best Practice Conference Calls”

First, of course you get the e-book, direct from Amazon.com, which you can download and start reading immediately on your Kindle, iPad, smart phone, PC or Mac. There’s no postage to pay, and no waiting. You can be using this in as little as five minutes from now!

When we say “e-book”, we’re not talking about a flimsy 20-page booklet. This is a detailed document – as comprehensive as a printed book (and more convenient, because you can search for key words in it, click links to go to the Web sites we recommend, and carry it around with you on).

Some of our colleagues who saw an early draft said we were giving too much away, and suggested we shrink it or increase the price. We decided to keep it at this size, because we really do want to share what we know, and we want to make it affordable to any business professional.

The On-Line Supplement

When you buy the e-book, you also get permanent access to our On-Line Supplement, which gives you on-going resources to help you continue to get value from your conference calls.

As things change – especially with conference call technology – we’ll keep updating this resource, so you’ll always have the latest information at your fingertips.

How do you get the e-book?

Easy.

Buy the book here at Amazon.com.

If you’d like to ask us any questions before you get the e-book, we’d be happy to answer them. Just e-mail brandon@brandonmunro.com or gihan@gihanperera.com.