3. You have to start somewhere getting going is the most important thing. Encourage honest sharing of opinions. (Tom Sawyer Abroad) Some people worry about how to start the ball rolling in a conference. (Original manuscript in the Mark Twain Papers as reprinted in Quotable Mark Twain by R. A conference call is a unique venue where the ability to listen and respond, and build on ideas expressed previously, can result in incredible success for a team. (Mark Twain s Speeches) Communication experts all agree that timing is everything. The key is to be able to inspire different members of a group involved in the call to collaborate in the conversation. In the end, you and your team will achieve more and enjoy the conference call considerably more. It is very difficult to achieve open dialogue in a conference call environment that doesnt encourage participants to express their thoughts. Brainstorming is a practice that requires a high degree of comfort so that participants in the conference call feel that they can afford to take risks in openly communicating with each other. Dont. (Autobiography of Mark Twain) Brainstorming is an immensely successful method in any business setting where creative thinking is needed.Lots of folks commented on the first two chapters in our series on Mark Twain and conference calling. 4. Developing a style of speaking that encourages other people to add their own comments is a great way to increase your effectiveness.
When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not. No word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause. Pause every now and then; doing so will enable other participants to have a chance to add their own ideas, and unique coloring to the ideas you introduce. A concise statement of your objectives is a great way to get the call started. If you talk so quickly that other people only have time to listen you might as well be talking to yourself. Pause to allow for others to speak up. . Fostering free and open communication creates that extra room where team members can relax and feel comfortable in thinking out loud. Just start the conference in a simple way, one that reassures the participants that they are allowed to relax and express themselves. Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscoveredeither by themselves or by others. Brainstorm to tap break through ideas. This approach allows the team to explore multiple angles of a particular scenario quickly and easily; and when applied correctly in a team setting, such as with conference calling, brainstorming can be incredibly effective.
Indeed, developing the ideal conditions for successful conference calling requires a solid understanding of the art of communication and excellent teamwork skills. A flea is just a comet, b iled down small. The most unique ideas, the ideas that have the power to launch your team to higher achievement, are frequently the ideas that most stretch the boundaries of the imagination. Kent Rasmussen) A vivid imagination can be a TPE Yoga mat Suppliersvery helpful tool when developing business strategies. 1. It may take some time and some effort to persuade the team to embrace this approach, but the dividends will frequently justify the effort. What we heard was: We like hearing about Mark Twains insights but how do these actually apply to the call itself? So once again, we will be looking at some perceptive comments from Mark Twain and exploring more deeply how these ideas translate to the conference call itself.