Easily prepare for your next conference call by following these helpful suggestions.

Before The Conference Call

• Inform your attendees of the date and time of your conference in advance.
• Make sure you are in a quiet setting where you will not be interrupted.
• Prepare any materials needed for the conference before the call.
• Create an agenda for the conference call.
• If possible, send an agenda to all meeting participants.
• Send out a reminder message to participants for calls planned far in advance.

Begin The Conference Call

• Be punctual! The moderator should dial into the conference a few minutes before the scheduled conference call time. This avoids confusion if participants dial-in early.
• Perform a roll call to find out who has joined your conference call.
• Instruct everyone to state their names when speaking to avoid any misunderstanding. For example, "This is Monica, and I'd like to see instructions on how to..."
• Advise attendees to refrain from putting the call on hold, as some companies have hold music that would interrupt the conference.

During The Conference Call

• Promptly deal with any noise or distractions
• Request feedback from individual participants, instead of from the entire group.
• Reschedule any discussions that are not applicable to the conference for another date and time.
• Summarise the issues discussed and review any action items resulting from the call.
• Clearly declare when you are concluding the conference call. Sometimes a participant can be left on the line not realising that the conference has finished.