3.Then work with a coach for individualized instruction so you can perfect general knowledge you receive from standardized training.

4.Have your coach sit in on your first couple of teleconferences to give you feedback.

5.Sit in on some free teleclasses yourself to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s an excellent way to learn. Here is one source: www.teleclass.com .

6.Send a list of procedures to participants each time until you have worked with same group for a while. This should include such things as:

·Call from a landline and be on time. ·Announce yourself when you enter call, and each time you make a comment. ·Don’t hog airtime. Let others speak. ·Call from a quiet location – no dogs, machines, people talking, or children. Others need to be able to hear what’s going on. Put phone on mute if need be. ·Be courteous to instructor and to others on call. ·Keep your comments relevant to task at hand and things that would be helpful to others. ·Announce when you are leaving call.

Let your participants know how you want to handle questions. Are they welcome all along, or will there be a Q&A time at end?

Also inform them if this will be primarily lecture, or participatory. This will allow them to prepare their mindset.

Any information you can give ahead of time will be appreciated, and will optimize value of meeting or seminar, just as you would send a hardcopy agenda within your office.

7.During teleconference, check in with participants from time-to-time, using their names.

Say, “Mary what do you think about this?” or “John, would you like to make a comment?”

This assures people stay with you on call, and also allows you to get feedback you can’t get because you can’t see participants. You can’t tell if you’re boring them on telephone, or losing their interest, unless you ask.

8.End by going around virtual “room” asking each participant to tell you what they will take with them. This assures everyone stays on for duration of call, and stays invested. It also gives you feedback you need to see if you have made points you meant to, and how to correct on future teleconferences.

9.Ask participants for feedback at end of call, or to let you know by email. You want to know how to improve in future. 10.There are advantages to paying for a bridge line. Here are some:

·They may be more reliable, though I have never had trouble with a free bridge line. ·They may allow you to record call so you can sell recorded version later, or send it to those who missed meeting. Also for your own feedback. ·You can put guests on mute if need be. ·They may provide volume control. ·Some provide on-hold music ·Can allow for 100 or more participants

Extremely effective and efficient, many are turning to bridge lines for conferences, meetings and training. Give it a try.

©Susan Dunn, MA, Personal and Professional Development Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Transitions, career, emotional intelligence, relationships, leadership, communication. Coaching, Internet courses and eBooks, http://www.webstrategies.cc/ebooklibrary.html . Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezine. I train and certify EQ coaches. Email for info.

So, because obvious objective here is to correct those same untruths, inaccuracies, misconceptions and false assumptions, you now select specific perception to be altered, and that becomes your public relations goal.

But a PR goal without a strategy to show you how to get there, is like champagne without peaches. That’s why you must select one of three strategies especially designed to create perception or opinion where there may be none, or change existing perception, or reinforce it. The challenge here (albeit small) is to insure that goal and its strategy match each other. You wouldn’t want to select “change existing perception” when current perception is just right suggesting a “reinforce” strategy.

Your writers step forward here to create a compelling message carefully designed to alter your key target audience’s perception, as called for by your public relations goal.

Stay flexible as to message delivery because combining your corrective message with another presentation or newsworthy announcement of a new product, service or employee may lend more credibility by not overemphasizing need for such a correction.

The new message must be very clear about what perception needs clarification or correction, and why. Your facts must be truthful and your position must be logically explained and believable if it is to hold attention of members of that target audience, and actually move perception in your direction. It’s clear that your message must be compelling.

I call communications tactics you will use to move your message to attention of that key external audience “beasts of burden” because they must carry your persuasive new thoughts to eyes and ears of those important outside people.

You’re in luck here because list of tactics is a long one. It includes letters-to-the-editor, brochures, press releases and speeches. Or, you might select radio and newspaper interviews, personal contacts, facility tours or customer briefings. There are dozens in waiting and only selection requirement is that those tactics you choose have a record of reaching people just like members of your key target audience.

Your associates will soon want to know if any progress is being made. Of course you’ll already be hard at work remonitoring perceptions among your target audience members. Using questions similar to those used during your earlier monitoring session, you’ll now be on lookout for indications that audience perceptions are beginning to move way you want them to move.

Things can always be moved along at a faster clip by adding more communications tactics, AND by increasing their frequencies.

The only way to be certain you are buying full-bodied public relations results and not “Lite” version, is to undertake an aggressive public relations plan that targets kind of key stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving your department, division or subsidiary objectives.

end

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com