Teleseminar Audio Quality: Cleaning it up

We all know what it’s like to listen to a teleseminar replay. If there’s just one speaker, then it’s not too bad. That person’s voice is probably coming through within a relatively narrow range of sound. But, when you have multiple people who are speaking, and who are using all different types of telephones, coming across lines of differing quality, then the audio begins to suffer a bit.

Some speakers come through louder than others. And, this can make for a very frustrating experience for a listener who may need to be constantly adjusting the volume on their computer or other listening device to hear what’s being said.

Fortunately, there are some tools out there that you can use to help fix this problem. One such tool is Levelator. A quick description of the product … Read more

Time: The Essence of a Well-Presented Teleseminar

Time is an important component in any teleseminar presentation. There’s a lot to write about when it comes to this topic, so I’ll explore it now and also in future postings. As a teleseminar presenter, we need to be cognizant of time. We need to start on time and end on time. We need to plan our content carefully so that we can get everything completed in the time allotted. We need to cue certain things to play into our teleseminar whether it is bumper music or pre-recorded segments. Time is of the essence. We only have so much and we must use it wisely. Read more

Teleseminars: Keep Yourself Organized

As a virtual assistant, keeping organized is at the top of your list. When you’re managing multiple clients and juggling multiple teleclasses or teleseminars, it helps to have one place where you can keep track of all the details.

I especially like using Basecamp for managing all of my projects. It allows me to do a number of things which are helpful when managing the logistics of teleseminars — whether for myself or my clients.

1. To Dos. I use the To Do list feature to list all the various tasks that need to be completed for each teleclass – from writing and sending emails, to tracking all the call-in numbers and other items. Now you can associate various To Do items with Milestones (calendar reminders) – which is very helpful. You can even make To Do list templates which allow you to create a re-usable template that you can automatically set up each month or each time you need to complete a series of tasks – no more retyping of entries every week or month. Read more

Teleseminar: What’s Your Agenda?

As a teleseminar leader, it’s important to lay out a structure for your teleseminar. While you can call it many things, it can be referred to as your agenda or outline. Human beings tend to be more productive and focused when presented with a structure. It provides them with boundaries, context, and other informational clues so that they can understand the operating environment. It also provides them with a sense of “safety” because they have been given more data for understanding.

If you want to make people feel comfortable around you, always give them plenty of information. The more data points, the easier it is for people to relax around you and be more receptive to what you have to offer. Read more

Teleseminar Connections: What’s in a Name?

Our name is an important component of defining who we are. It’s how we are differentiated from and recognized by others. I love my name and still consider it my most favorite gift from my father. Our names give us an identity and when people use them, we feel validated on some level. Using someone’s name in a conversation with them can create deep-level connections that touch them at the heart-level.

Think about it. Who calls you buy your first name – typically your loved ones. Your parents were the first to call you by your name – the two people who loved you most dearly. When others use your name, you respond to them differently. It opens you up. You’re more receptive. It warms your heart. Read more

Teleseminar Management: Keep a Rein on Runaway Participants

As a teleseminar leader, it’s important to maintain control over the call from beginning to end. How well you lead will greatly affect how your participants perceive you. And this can mean the difference between them becoming your client or steering clear of all future involvement with you.

It’s important to set the proper expectations when you first market the seminar, and then clearly communicate and demonstrate your plans throughout the actual event. You need to deliver on your objectives while meeting the expectations of your participants. Read more

Glance.net: Keep Things Easy

A couple weeks ago, I made a post about Glance.net. It’s such a wonderful tool — so easy to use. And why do I bring this product up again? Because you need to use tools that work and that are easy to use. Okay, Glance.net doesn’t include all the fancy bells and whistles that some of the other webinar technologies out there use. And, to be quite honest, many of those bells and whistles only serve to confuse, irritate and alienate audiences.

With Glance.net, you can be up and running in minutes. You don’t need to have a virtual assistant or other technologist on hand to manage the system while you’re trying to deliver your presentation. They can be doing other things like welcoming guests, managing Q & A, recording with Camtasia, audio editing and such – not pulling their hair out trying to get the webinar software to work. Read more

Teleseminar Emails: Test and Proof

Testing. It’s just not all that fun and it’s certainly not glamorous. Development is the fun part – ask any computer programmer. But if you want to turn out a quality product or just about anything else, you need to test or proof or do whatever it takes to make sure everything is functioning as promised. Why? Because when things don’t work, we can’t do what we do best and we violate the expectations of those who do business with us – whether they are new prospects or our already established clients or customers.

When you’re presenting teleseminars or teleclasses (pick whichever word works for you), you often send out a series of emails. You send early-bird announcements, regular announcements, week before, day before, and day of announcements. You might send other emails that include handouts or other things and you most certainly send a follow-up email with other details. In any case, we have a fair amount of emails to content with and many of them contain information and links to resources that need to be verified for accuracy. Read more

Teleseminar Tools: Use the Appropriate Tools for the Occasion

The other day I signed up for a one hour teleseminar. It was a free course about a business topic of interest. When I signed up, I was sent information that included a telephone number and PIN as well as access to the webinar – a link and some other information. In fact, they were even kind enough to send this information, again, as a reminder, the day of the presentation – a technique I encourage everyone to follow. When you’re given access to a webinar, typically you expect there to be some sort of information presented on your screen during the presentation.

When it was time to join the call, I dialed into the telephone number and got on the line (after several tries of getting an “all circuits are busy signal”). Then I joined the webinar through the link provided. Well, there was no webinar. There was just a static slide that stayed up during the entire presentation. Hardly a reason to use expensive webinar strategy – and I know this solution is expensive because I’m familiar with the system they used. Read more

Backup Recordings: Always be Prepared

As someone who presents teleseminars and who provides support to those who do, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of having a backup recording – especially when recording a class that others have paid for. Technology is a wonderful thing, but it’s not perfect. It’s expensive in terms of your time and other resources to go back and “re do” a class because you didn’t have a backup in place.

You might think you don’t need one if you’re recording something that is free or you don’t think is important. Everything you do is important. You don’t know how many different ways a recording might be used in the future – repurposed or repackaged in to something else of value. And what if the recording fails? You won’t be happy. And if the class is something others have paid for, you owe it to them to make sure that you’re doing all that you can to deliver the class as expected – including the original recording. Read more

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