Image by: NNSANews
By Charles Lewis

You’ve been invited to participate on a conference call. But the last one didn’t go so well. Right in the middle of that poor VP’s presentation, your doorbell rang and the dog started barking loudly. The ENTIRE conference call endured this Lucy skit for about a minute and a half.

That’s not cool at all.

Apologies don’t make up for the possible lost business and stinging bad impression you just made on that big important conference call. Or maybe you’ve never actually been on a conference call before. Either way, there’s room for improvement, right?

Here’s a handy guide for smartening up your game:

1 – Use a land line if you can – computers and cell phones drop out and fail frequently.

2 – Let the person who arranged the meeting, run the call (set the rules, speaking order).

3 – Give the call 100% of your attention – do not multitask.

4 – Do not trust the mute button. Ever. It is one of the biggest conference call mistakes.

5 – If you can help it, do not schedule a call during the lunch hour.

6 – If the call is scheduled during lunch, that does not mean you can eat your lunch during the call. For the love of all that is sacred and holy, DO NOT EAT FOOD OR CRUNCH ICE DURING A CONFERENCE CALL.

7 – If your office or desk area is a bit on the noisy side, find a more secluded are such as a conference room or meeting space.

8 – Calling from a home office? Put the pets in another room, give the kids up for adoption – whatever you have to do to minimize noise and distractions on your end.