5 Steps To Make Your Conference Calls More Fun

Posted by Stephanie Snyder on May 17th, 2021

Unlike conventional face-to-face methods, the online meeting's challenge is that conference calls can be easier for participants to disengage, whether zoning out of the call, texting, or checking emails. When members concentrate, virtual conferences are more fun. Here are five best practices to make your conference calls more fun.

Consider Utilizing Video

Even though video conferencing may not be perfect for all kinds of meetings, video meetings provide a wide range of advantages over other communication channels when it comes to engagement and fun. If you employ audio-only meetings, team members may feel 'invisible' and, as a result, take a passive responsibility. On the other hand, video meetings ensure participants are answerable and promote active participation hence more fun.

Besides, nonverbal prompts such as gestures and facial expressions help create rapport and improve communication, critical for remote partnership. Also, you need to encourage participants to ensure audio quality. You may enable them to use a wireless headset to enhance the quality of their sound. This will improve every member's participation and engagement, thus making the conference more fun.

Ask Direct Questions

To make the conference more fun and engaging, you need to ask individuals for their input. Try to avoid a yes or no question and ask them questions that require some thought. For instance: What has been your significant difficulty with this new project? How do you think this project could be made better? Do you have any different ideas concerning this project?

The aim of asking these questions is not to put individuals on the spot. Relatively, it's to make sure that every member feels like their idea and opinion are valued and get the dialogue going further. It also sets a standard for the session by allowing the team members to understand that you expect them to participate in the discussion and stay attentive.

Break up the Monotony and Warm up with a Small Talk

Speaking to your team members for a continuous hour is likely to bore them at a given time. Therefore, keep your team members actively participating by involving them at consistent checkpoints in the session, such as ten minutes question and answers polls or sessions. This makes your participant stay active and have fun as the meeting goes on. Remember, most persons are visual learners; so, retain and capture your team's attention using visuals like text, screen sharing, whiteboards, charts, graphs, and slides.

If your team members aren’t conversant, a small talk at the beginning of the conference call can establish the stage for friendly dialogue throughout the entire session. You can as well permeate humor throughout the conference using slides, funny images, and meeting emojis. This is a perfect technique to loosen up the environment, getting ready for the meeting, and making conference calls more fun.

Restrict the Number of Individuals on the Virtual Conference Call

Fewer individuals on a conference call mean less confusion and more chances for team members to play a role in the call, get more engaged, and have more fun. Limit your team members to critical participants and allow them to update their connections on the session content forward.

Probabilities are, every member doesn't need to be present for the whole call. Allow participants to understand that you expect them to be extant for the section of the session that applies to them – whether that means that they can drop out of the meeting early or getting on the call at the halfway point.

Allocate Duties to Members and Set Call Expectations

Keep your participants busy, and they’ll have little or no time to multitask or daydream. Responsibilities keep participants focused on the duty at hand and lead in a more fun and productive conference call. Example responsibilities include timekeeper, minute maker, moderator, and agenda planner. Consider choosing a tech support individual to assist your team members in troubleshooting any technical problem that comes up.

Before the conference call, ensure your participants have the materials required to get ready for the call. Be clear about the estimated duration as it will prevent members from being restless during the meeting.

If your team members aren’t having fun, then calls are a wasted effort. By employing these fun and engagement tips, you can get the most out of your virtual conference calls while making a more enjoyable experience for your participants.