As you may have already guessed, I’m a big fan of alternate mediums of communication, remote meetings, and conferencing.  However, I came across a YouTube video today that only has applications for face-to-face meetings that I wanted to share with you.  Why?  Cause it’s just so cool!

See?!  Today it’s a self-adjusting meeting room, but tomorrow the Cylons attack!  (Probably because they’re tired of cleaning up after our meetings...)

Something just occurred to me though.  What if these robot tables were used by one person?  What if this video is the harbinger of the super office?  Think about it, you’ve got a big table that has your laptop set up on one quadrant, a desktop computer/media station on another, a layout table for plans and pictures, and a filing system on the fourth.  With that setup, well...

You arrive at work, sit down in the middle of the room, press a button, and the tables form a square of efficiency around your swivel chair!  When you need to leave temporarily, a button makes one of the tables open up for you.  Have a face-to-face meeting?  Three tables could line the wall behind you, with one set between you and the guest chair.  For a video conference, press a button and the table with the camera moves your chosen best backdrop into view while the others become handy but off-camera.

Now that I think about it, I want these awesome robot tables!  What would YOU do with them?  Tell me about it in a comment! 

If you’ve written a book and are out there marketing it, chances are that--hopefully--at some point you’ll find yourself being interviewed by a radio talk show host.  I recently read an article with good advice on things you can do or not do to be a good radio guest.  I realized though, that the same advice can help us be a great host when we’ve invited a guest speaker to a conference call.

Just so you know, here are the main tips for being a good radio show guest:

• The Host is the Boss
• Don’t Sell
• Don’t Use a Cell Phone
• Treat Your Interview Like Coffee With a Friend

These tips are excellent for a conference call with a guest speaker.  You, the moderators, and the guest speaker should always try to use a landline when calling into a conference call.  You never know when there’ll be a cell tower hiccup, and getting cutoff mid sentence never looks professional.  It’s good to encourage participants to use a landline as well, but it’s not as important as those on center stage.

A confident yet casual demeanor is the best stance to take in most all conference calls.  It puts the participants at ease, and encourages them to pay attention and join in.  Especially when introducing or talking with the guest speaker, a “coffee house” atmosphere subconsciously lends a calm attitude, which builds confidence, which leads to credibility.

When you host or sponsor a conference call that is not company or product specific, it’s never good to constantly point the spotlight away from the reasons the participants are there.  If they came to listen to the guest speaker, you want to give them what they want--especially if it’s a celebrity guest speaker.  Make a “Brought to you by” announcement at the beginning, make a product announcement at the end, and basically save the advertising for another conference call.

There is one thing that differs in being a radio guest and hosting a conference call: who’s the boss.  Always remember that YOU are in control and are running the show.  But having said that, it’s usually best to make the guest speaker look as good as possible.

In short: put out the word, set up the conference call, warm-up the audience, give them their guest speaker, then get out of the way!

Even the most practiced speaker gets the jitters before giving a presentation; no one wants to look foolish.  Pre-conference tricks and techniques help us relax, but it may take a round of applause, or a smile from someone in the audience for us to know we’re doing well.  Presenting using a conference call helps with stage fright because we don’t have all those eyes on us.  On the other hand, without seeing the audience, how do we know how we’re doing?

The post I read at SpeakingAboutPresenting.com is, on the surface, about recovering from face-to-face presentation disasters, but the main gist is discovering if you’re actually bombing or not.  And though it’s for face-to-face, most of the post’s info is very helpful on a conference call.

For example point #1 is, “You can’t tell how a presentation went just by looking at people.”  We’ve talked before about making assumptions on video conferences, but it’s not an issue with audio only.  Heh, advantage conference calls!  We can’t be mislead by apparent bored looks, or blank faces.

Audiences react differently because all audiences are different.  A lot depends on who they are, their confidence level, how well they know each other, how well they know you, time of day, size of meal, color of room... okay, maybe not the last one, but you get my point.

So how exactly can we tell how we did?  Feedback.  By asking questions, we will know their feelings, how much they learned, and how we did.  If we typically don’t get questions during the Q&A at the end, we try having mini-Q&As throughout the conference call.  We can also ask for input and opinions from people on things we know they know, and get a sense of things from what they say.  And afterwards, we can do follow-up emails, questionnaires, and/or polls.

And like the blog post said, it’s not the end of the world if we discover our presentation was boring.  We simply adjust our material, adapt our style, and do it better next time!

I really thought that I wasn’t old, but in my Junior year of college, I remember the first time I ever saw a student bring a laptop to class to take notes.  The teacher was hesitant to allow it but, “As long as you don’t play video games during the lecture, I guess it’s okay.”

Well check out this video of the modern college classroom, and one of the futures of learning:

How cool is that?  College students using Twitter to effectively outlearn the normal educational structure.  We can make similar strides in our audio, video and web conferences as well using short-message contribution systems.

Twitter is a great system for getting the thoughts, comments, and questions of a vast amount of people that wouldn’t normally be possible if gathered in the typical conference call Q&A style.  With a lot of participants for example, there just wouldn’t be enough time.  And what about shy people?  We might never hear from them verbally, but they’re typed contributions could be invaluable.

And it doesn’t have to be Twitter per se, there are private twitter-like programs out there.  Or, if you add a web conference to your conference call, you can use the chat feature.  There’s also instant messaging, and programs like Google wave, which allows emails, text, and IM to join a chat conversation.

The point is that by embracing and utilizing non-traditional communications mediums in our conference calls, we can look forward to much more effective collaborations.  And why not integrate Twitter and the like?  After all, it wasn’t too long ago that the simple conference call was itself a non-traditional communications medium.

Conference calls are a great tool, but like the double-edged sword, if used improperly they can do unwanted damage.  Let’s revisit some of the tips, tricks, and suggestions for having great and effective conference calls. 

If you don’t need it, don’t do it.  Seriously, a pointless meeting can be more than a waste of time, it can be a morale-sucker.  If it doesn’t need collaboration, feedback, or a human touch, just send an email.

Agendas rule!  They really do, if you want an effective meeting that is.  An agenda clearly states the purpose of the conference call, what is to be covered, how that will be accomplished, and what is to happen after the meeting.  A good agenda gives direction and keeps things on track, people focused, and productivity high.

If you didn’t just send an email, then your conference call needs two-way communication.  Get that input from your participants with group questions, speaking roles, elaboration assignments, pre-conference emailed questions, and solid, pointed Q&A.  If your conference is too large to easily get everyone’s verbal input, use post-conference call questionnaires and follow-up emails.

End on a call to action.  Direct your participants to do what needs to be done.  Make assignments such as individual work directives, study plans, research, or even a potential customer group-orders: “go to our website,” “buy our products,” and even “tell your friends.”  

Be the leader your conference call needs by keeping things on track.  Make sure to start on time and keep everyone on schedule.  Tackle conversational tangents, take important discussions “offline,” and schedule later conference calls for good, but off-topic subjects. 

And end on time too.  Respect people’s schedules and they’ll respect yours.  If you didn’t get it all done in the allotted time, end your conference call with the plan to meet again soon.

Having great conference calls isn’t an arcane secret or even rocket science.  These are some of the big tips; how do you have great conference calls?

A conference call Q&A with too many questions is about as bad as one with no questions.  Both suggest that the conference call wasn’t informative enough.  Either it was too incomplete and people need a lot of clarifying questions, or it was too obscure and they don’t even know what to ask.

“Frequently Asked Questions” or FAQ is a compiled list of all the questions--and their answers--that people have asked before.  And a FAQ distributed with an agenda before a conference call can be especially helpful.

The first use of a FAQ for a conference call is of course to answer the questions that normally occur during the Q&A session.  When participants first read an agenda, chances are there will be a question or two already; a FAQ distributed before the conference call can handle those.  You’ve saved some conferencing time and helped a few people out, and the conference hasn’t even started.     

An interesting use for a FAQ is preparing your participants minds before the conference call.  Reading the FAQ ahead of the conference call can inform about much that will be covered during the presentation.  You can use this.  Mix in guiding yet informative questions and answers with the, well, frequently asked ones.  Choose specific sub-topics that will tease, inform, and orient for the main points you will cover in the conference.

Distribute a FAQ with the agenda for your next conference call.  Leave a comment and report back on your results.

It’s tough enough to run a conference call, and even tougher with people that seem to love interruptions, naysaying, or just plain heckling.  I wrote a post not too long ago about handling hecklers and the like during a conference call, and I just read a post with more tips for dealing with disruptive participants.

The best defense is a good offense, with war and troublesome participants.  Odds are you know the probable heckler you’ll face in an upcoming conference call.  And whether it’s an employee, co-worker, or even a superior, your best offense is to speak with them before the conference starts.  But what do you say to them?

You tell them about a specific part of the conference that they know something about.  Then you ask them for their opinion, input, thoughts and ideas.  Then you tell them you’ll be handling the questions during the conference call, but would like to direct inquires and such to them afterwards.

The reason this will help you with your heckler during the conference is they are now part of the show.  And when you acknowledge their contribution--and their availability for questions later--they won’t want to interrupt.

Try this and my other heckler tips with your next disruptive participant.  Know any other that work?

In business, it’s important to be punctual, to keep to a schedule, and be reliable.  It’s no different when it comes to conference calls.  Sometimes though, it can seem impossible for a conference to follow the agenda or the schedule.  Here are some tips from SpeakingAboutPresenting.com for keeping conference calls on time.

You and the Schedule -  The best way to keep a conference call on time is while it is still in its planning stage.  First decide how long you will actually be speaking--leaving the rest of the time for greetings, introductions, questions, and miscellaneous.  Practice your speaking part aloud while timing it.  Then around that, build the rest of the schedule, including time for every other little thing; 1 minute for a quick update on a project for example.

Select Question Points - It’s natural to “save all questions for the end,” but occasionally this can eat up more time than expected.  If you know a particular stand-alone section generates a lot of questions, have a Q&A for it right then.  This way, the questions are focused on the one section, and not mixed with all the questions for the entire conference call.

Display the Clock -  Well, that’s about it.  Make sure you can see a clock or timer and make sure to start and stop when it says.  The moment you disrespect the time, your participants will too.

There’s a few more points in the link above, but I want to hear about yours.  How do you keep your conference calls on schedule?  Tell us about your methods.

I want to share two lessons I learned recently that will improve your future conference calls.  The night I learned them, it wasn’t a dark and stormy one.  Well, it was dark, being it was 9pm, but the sky was clear as I left my house and the stars shined down on my upcoming misfortune.

I had only driven a block when the car started steering funny, and at the stoplight I got out and saw my rear right tire was very low.  The air pumps at first gas station I went to were out of order.  So were the pumps at the second.  The third had working pumps, but somewhere between station two and three, the low tire blew out its walls.

Fortunately I had a full-sized spare.  With manly gusto I jacked up the car, removed the lug nuts, and tugged in vain on the flat tire for thirty minutes.  It was stuck on the axle or something, I don’t know.  At this time I was approached by a man with a shock-blonde mohawk-ish hairstyle, designer shirt and jeans, and retro-punk cowboy boots who asked if I needed help.  I didn’t even hesitate.  “Yes, please.”

We talked and our consensus was that there must be a locking mechanism somewhere.  Thirty greasy minutes later a distinguished looking gentleman--distinguished even in the shorts and “Margaritaville” t-shirt he was wearing--walked over and asked if we were having trouble.  Without a hint of sarcasm, I said, “Yes, sir.”

“Is that the 2001 model?” he asked.  I nodded--while wiping sweat off and grease on my brow.  “I had one of those,” he said.  “Only the lug nuts keep it on the axle, but I found my wheel had rusted onto the collar.  I just got underneath and hit the tire till it popped off.”  Satisfied with his contribution, he nodded and walked back to his car, confident we could take it from there.  My stylish friend and I exchanged glances, then quickly looked around for something to beat the tar out of my tire.

The distinguished man was right.  The tire popped off on my third frustration-venting hit from under the back of the car.  It went into the trunk, and the spare settled on nicely.  Our work done, my stylish friend shook my hand and abruptly left, off to go clubbing for the evening, or perhaps start a ska-punk band.  I wish I knew.

One of the two lessons here is that in any meeting of the minds, you can never predict where or from whom great ideas will come from.  The second lesson is that if you want to grab the attention of your conference call participants, start off with a good story illustrating your points.

Over time a picture will become unrecognizable if you make a copy of its copy, and copy that copy, and so on.  Or so they say.  But that saying does hold true for YouTube.com videos, if you were to upload, download, and upload it again one thousand times.  While it’s cool to see a video so carefully distorted by repeated byte compressions, imagine what horrors duplicating could do to our presentations.

Think about it, we all can tell when someone has given the same speech too many times, read the same lines seemingly ad infinitum.  They’re listless, unexcited, even bored and it shows.  They stick to their worn script and soldier on past any deviations or tangents.  They either rush the Q&A, or their answers are short and impatient.  They don’t want to be there, and we in turn agree with them.

And therein lies the danger; a “really great” presentation over time can become stale to the presenter, who will pass on those feelings to the participants, even first-time ones.  There is good news though.  We can prevent such a stagnation.

A simple way to keep it fresh is to switch the order of information covered.  A slightly more complex method is to add or take away supporting points for each of the main points.  A great idea is to start off a web conference using a poll or chat to ask the participants what they expect to learn, what they want to hear about.

The best solution, I believe, is to go zen and not have a presentation at all.  Oh sure, we still have the video conference or conference call, but instead of a speech or detailed sections, we simply have a short list of the main points in front of us.  Then we talk about them with our participants.

Because if we have actually given the presentation a thousand times... well, we know everything there is to know about it, right?