Sales Presentation Skills; Keeping the Focus on You and the Message During Conference Calls - Business

You're having a conversation on your cell phone and suddenly you realize your listener is no longer there. Your phone lost its signal and you have no idea how long you've been talking to yourself. Do you ever have a similar experience leading a conference call while interacting with handouts? Your listeners have a copy of your handouts and you have no idea if they're following you or are pages ahead in the handout.

We've fallen into the trap of reading to our listeners and treating them like 2-year-olds. We make the assumption our listeners can't read. I've asked my audiences thousands of times, "What drives you crazy when you're participating in a conference call?" The top two responses I consistently hear are:

* "When the facilitator is boring and doesn't know how to hold my interest." * "When the facilitator reads to me page by page from their handout." * Your handout will add impact and emphasis to your message. * You'll connect and engage your listeners. * You'll have more control over what your listener hears and what they remember.

o Acknowledge the handout immediately at the beginning of the conference call: "Does everyone have their handouts with them? Who has had the opportunity to review the handout?" You first MUST identify who is with you in the beginning. o Continue to set your standards for the success of the call. "You may be tempted to page through the handout rather than follow along as I explain the takeaway from each page. To give you a clear understanding of how we came up with these results I recommend you follow along as I move through the handout." I'm not saying this will guarantee EVERYONE stays with you 100%. Your goal is to facilitate and manage the information your listener walks away with. Therefore, you need to do whatever you can to keep the majority of your listeners with you. o If your listeners have the tendency to turn to the back of the handout because that's where the "good stuff" is located (results, benefits, action steps, etc.), consider placing these pages in the f ront of your handout. o Frequently throughout the call, check in with your listeners. Are they still with you? Do they need additional information based on the handout takeaway? o Provide an introduction prior to displaying a new page, concept or idea. This is a reminder to your listeners where you are within your handout. o Take your time as you move from page to page and point to point. Pause immediately after moving onto a new page, concept or idea. Pausing will give you time to think and give your listener time to see, absorb and understand. o Rather than reading from the handout, explain the takeaway from each page. Your listeners know how to read! When you pause after introducing a new page, your listeners have an opportunity to READ. If you're reading from the page while your listener is trying to read, they'll MISS your message! o If there are individuals joining you in the conference room during the call, avoid getting trapped in your handouts. Talk to your listen ers in the room rather than talking to the handout. o Ask your listeners to move their handout off to the side when you're getting ready to close the call. When you can capture everyone's attention on you and your closing action steps, they won't miss a beat and are more likely to take action. Your listeners can't act on what you have to say when they're busy reading your handout. o Your knowledge of the information presented within your handout is just as important as the knowledge you convey in relaying your message.

If you're guilty of participating in one of these acts, you've disconnected with your listeners, lost their attention, increased the risk that action wasn't taken and minimized the value of your message. The key is to create balance between you, your listener and the handout. As a result: How do you create balance? Follow these tips for your listeners to get the most out of your message and the handout.

Continuously try new methods when you're interacting with handouts during a conference call. Ask your listeners what methods work BEST for them to hold their attention and to get the MOST out of the call. If you've been facilitating your conference calls the same way for a loooong time, don't you think it's time to make a change?

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