How did it go? If you’re like most business professionals I talk to, it probably didn’t go very well. Whether you’re using WebEx, Live Meeting or Adobe Connect, the tools are great. We are discovering that it’s not the software that determines the success or failure of these meetings; it’s the communicator. In fact, when it comes to conducting or participating in a virtual meeting, you may end up feeling out of control, confused, isolated or just completely bored.
Hosting web-based meetings poses a whole new set of challenges and requires you to adopt a new way of communicating. Those of you who thought you could take your face-to-face meetings and simply use the same format in an online forum are probably beginning to realize it doesn’t work very well. There are simple strategies that you can implement to make the most of your web meetings. Here are the top four tips you can use today:
1. Time is of the essence: The days of two-hour meetings are over. It is simply too long to expect people to pay attention while sitting at a computer. Your web meetings should run no longer than 45 minutes. If necessary, schedule shorter meetings that occur more frequently. Believe me; it is more productive to have four 30-minute sessions than one two-hour session. People will be interrupted by colleagues, check e-mails, surf the web or just zone out past 45 minutes.
2. Eyes on the prize: Within the first two minutes of your meeting be sure to state your audience’s goal and the value the information you are presenting brings to them. This will help everyone stay focused and leaves no doubt about what’s in it for them. Within those first two minutes you should also state the agenda including timeframes, who will be speaking, when they will be speaking, and on what topics. Create an agenda and stick to it! If you’re known for sticking to your agenda, your audience will login to your meetings anticipating an informative and productive session.
3. Keep them guessing: Virtual audiences need some form of interaction every 90 seconds. While this may sound like a lot, it is not difficult to accomplish. The point is to have something change on the screen visually or to have your audience touch their computer every 90 seconds. This means that you will have to include more slides with less information and more animation. It means you may have bullet points coming in one at a time, or you may choose to use annotation tools such as an arrow, highlighter or circle. It means you’ll have to build in slides for interaction, include a poll, ask for feedback using emoticons or request a response via chat. All of this makes the “show” more interesting and interactive for your audience. It keeps them guessing as to what might happen next and requires them to pay attention because they never know when you might ask them for information.
4. Prepare for success: It is true that by meeting online you save time and money on travel. However, you’ll need to allocate a portion of that time to preparing for your online meeting. As mentioned above, you need to plan for interaction. You need to have more slides and more animation in your presentation. You need to spend more time thinking about your attendees, what they need to accomplish, and how you can make the process easy for them. When you develop your agenda and presentation, be sure to think of your audience first. Never before has an audience-focused agenda been so important.
