Phoning It In?
Last Thursday I presented a training to a large non-profit in Chicago entitled ”Your Communication Portfolio” which looks something like this:
More on that later!
The training went well. The participants were engaged and eager to learn.
But one question seemed to confound both me and the people in the room. How t0 stay engaged, both as a listener and speaker, during phone conferences, web-exes, and phone interviews?
Like many organizations, this non-profit is decentralized. The team I was working with had come together for one of their twice-a-year team meetings. Otherwise, they were scattered across the 48 states and kept in touch via email and phone.
In both sessions, as a part of the training, I ended up facilitating discussions around the issue of phone attentiveness. Almost all of them lamented that phone business was too long, too boring and completely uninspired. One man admitted that most of the time, his only goal during a web-ex is “to get through the slides” which doesn’t bode well for making things interesting or engaging the audience. There’s a reason the phrase “phoning it in” exists.
This is not an issue that is unique to this organization. Information must be explained, disseminated and shared so it’s not that these phone calls are optional or unnecessary. There’s just a lot of business to be done. And it must be done by phone.
So, I’ll turn to you, my loyal readers – how do you stay attentive and engaged as a listener during business conversations. As a Web-ex presenter, how do you keep your listeners engaged and attentive? Please comment below and leave your thoughts, tips and suggestions!
I rely on webex and conference calls for my CE requirements. They are usually not followed by a test so the motivation to stay engaged is often hard to find. I am hoping to find a beter technique than mine; hot coffee.
Great topic and complex, too! What a fun job you have Two suggestions:
1) As the person on the phone, I believe that without eye contact, it is every more CRUCIAL that the person delivering info/responding to a query/reporting, etc. structure their language in a “roadmap” style so that listeners cannot get lost. That means that you start off my saying: “I have 3 responses to that. The first one is…blah…blah blah…The second response is blah…blah..and finally, my third point is blah…blah…” or “My main recommendation is….And this is because…so that is why my suggestion is that we…(repeat your main recommendation). Keep it SHORT and SUCCINCT. Pause and ask if people need more info, rather than drone on. Force yourself to check for understanding from your listeners.
2) As the listener–man, this is toughie. What I try to do is take very specific notes as I am listening to someone so that I recreate in my own words what I am hearing in an outline form. Forces me to pay attention AND I get great notes, which is often not my forte in face to face meetings.
I look forward to hearing your ideas on this, Kate, and others, too!
So glad you asked! I help groups deal with this challenge frequently. Virtual communication is here to stay! Here are 5 tips that can help to focus the listener/attendee and support the presenter/leader.
1. Know your technology. Nothing’s worse than having a meeting start 10 minutes later, or worse, due to “user error”. Test the connections ahead of time and work with remote users to ensure they will be successful dialing into the call or logging onto the webinar.
2. Have an agenda and communicate it before the call. As often as possible, give attendees a role, something to report on so they’ll have better motivation for being prepared, attending and listening.
3. Have some good questions. Need to get attendees focused on your content? Ask them great questions prior to the call or at the beginning of each agenda item. Encourage some discussion about how the content being presented will benefit them, or find out what they want to know about that item and give them THAT content.
4. Get rid of distractions. If you’re in a cube that is noisy, find a conference room or borrow a cube from a colleague in a less noisy/distracting space.
5. Encourage attendees to take notes, to ask questions and then give time at the end to entertain those questions, allow attendees to share their insights and ideas. They’re more likely to be engaged if they know at the end they need to be able to communicate about the call/webinar’s key messages.
Set yourself and your attendees up for success and engagement is much easier to achieve!