Engage. Just a few short years ago, the only people who used the word were likely Star Trek: The Next Generation fans. Now it’s a business buzz word on everyone’s lips. But we usually use it in reference to customers and prospects. But one tool, internal webcasting, allows company executives to engage their most powerful resource: people. Use webcasting events, like town halls, to give employees access to the CEO and other top execs. Check out our tips for delivering an effective and yawn-free internal executive webcast:
- Take questions using social media and other tools. One option is to ask employees to submit questions in advance. One big advantage to this is that you’ll get a sense for what the team, in general, has questions or concerns about. Another option is to take live questions. You can use the questions features within the webcasting platform. But social media tools, like Twitter, are also a great way to solicit questions from on-the-move or remote employees. It might be helpful to have an assistant able to sort through the questions as they come in.
- Use multimedia. One way to avoid the dreaded drones is to use media-rich tools, like slideshows or video. Incorporating well-thought-out multimedia presentations into an internal town hall webcast keeps people interested.
- Be yourself—but keep the audience in mind. Leadership doesn’t always talk like an MBA grad. Before the webcast, consider the audience carefully. You may need to avoid jargon or business school catch phrases and simplify (without dumbing-down) your language.
- Be brief. Employees may love you—but if they need to listen to you for two straight hours, not so much. Consider what you want to accomplish and then plan for the shortest possible webcast to accomplish that goal. If the subject requires a longer presentation, consider breaking it up into more than one session.
- Be about more than just business. Chances are good your business supports one or more charitable organizations. Use webcasting events to launch internal initiatives you sponsor, like cancer prevention fundraisers.
- Go smaller, when necessary. Want to connect on a more personal level? Try CEO roundtable webcasts with particular departments. This is an ideal way for employees to engage in productive and informative dialogue with top decision makers.
Do you have tips to share with execs who want to connect with employees via webcasting?
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For sales pros, face-to-face meetings have been the traditional way to connect with prospects. They provide an in-living-color way to create the relationships that, ideally, yield sales. But sometimes face-to-face just isn’t possible. Whether you’re trying to slash travel costs or it’s simply not practical to make the trek, you may find yourself using a conference call to meet with the prospect. Here are tips for mastering the sales call, conference call style: