Teleseminars: What Mother Never Told You about Them

There are some things in life our mothers never bothered to tell us, simply because we would neither have listened to nor believed in what they had to say. They just decided to let us find out in our own way.

Bearing this in mind let me tell you a few things I have learned about teleseminars.

1. Although your audience cannot actually see you sitting there with your bad hair day and inappropriate clothing, they do sense your cheerfulness and enthusiasm. So, even if you are the only one in the room, make sure you get animated and smile a lot allowing your audience to pick up on this.

2. You're talking to "dead air" when you mute the line. This is generally a shock to most people on their first teleseminar. And I've heard many of them unmute repeatedly just to be sure there is still someone listening. After all, it's lonely in there, in the muted area all by yourself. Never fear. Your audience is still there - you just can't hear their breathing.

3. Half the registrants won't show. They have good intentions when they sign up - especially for a "free" call. But things come up. Even when they have paid to be on the call, they get caught in traffic, company shows up unexpectedly, the dog has to go to the vet, the kids have soccer practice, the last episode of "24" is on. Things happen. It's incumbent on you, the organizer, to remind them about the call - repeatedly. Then cross your fingers and "go on with the show."

4. You need to do the follow-up work before the call. After the call you are stoked and pumped from the call - the last thing you want to do is take care of details! But the audio needs editing, the registration page has to change, email reminders have to go out, the transcript needs editing, you need to set up the product in the shopping system, etc. There is just a lot to do! And if you haven't done most of it ahead of time, you'll spend more time after the call than you did before. And that dilutes the excitement and leaves you less time to enjoy the moment.

5. It takes a lot of work to do a teleseminar. Along with following the call outline, you have to make sure the level of recording is correct, IM your guests, check emails for questions and keep an eye on the clock. How do you do all this? The answer to this question is to get help. Take someone on to record the teleseminar. Ask another person to deal with the question emails on yours and the audiences' behalf. It's not possible for you to do all of these things yourself, not unless you are extremely talented and have three pairs of hands.

Consider yourself forewarned and forearmed about these lessons in teleseminars. But remember, I will know for sure you were not listening to a word I have said when you keep unmuting the line and asking if there is anyone out there on your next teleseminar.

About the Author

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