The Death of Seminars
Since late 2007, the seminar business has been hurting big time. Filling seminars is getting harder and harder. In fact, at least one major seminar promoter filed for bankruptcy protection late last year.
Why?
Because businesses everywhere are cutting back on training and organization development. Seminars and conferences are becoming less of a priority as companies try to trim the fat from their budgets.
Furthermore, consumers are reluctant to travel because of the expense. The cost of airfare, hotel rooms, and meals can easily top $500 for just a short weekend trip.
And with more people losing jobs, losing income, and losing work hours, business travel is taking a beating.
Bottom line: Hosting and filling live seminars and conferences is hard work in the year 2009. But here’s what most people don’t realize…
People Are Still Seeking & Consuming Information
Faster Than Any Other Time in History!
In spite of the massive changes in the seminar business, learning hasn’t stopped. Far from it.
Businesses and consumers are still ravenous for information that can help them in the areas of personal development, business growth, productivity… almost any and every area of life you can imagine.
The big difference is only in how that information is being delivered.
Instead of attending seminars and workshops, people are finding more cost effective and efficient ways of getting the information they so desperately need. Among the more popular “information pipelines” are…
• Blogs • Ebooks • Subscriptions
• Home Study Courses
The last item on this list – teleconferences – is what we are going to focus on in this report.
Because now, for the first time, you can duplicate the experience of a live seminar in a teleconference.
This is distance learning at its best. As Mitch Feigenberg says,
“After 25 years in training rooms, I am seeing a revolutionary new learning environment: fully interactive teleconferences.
“This is not listening to tapes or interviews. The only difference between a fully interactive teleconference and a live workshop is that you can’t look into people’s eyes or give them a hug!”
All is to say… this new technology is a game-changer.
Better than Teleconferences?
Now, some may say, “I already host teleconferences and teleseminars. They work great, but it’s really like a one-way street: I talk, they listen.”
Exactly.
This is the way most teleconferences are run. You, the speaker, speak. They, the listeners, listen.
And maybe – just maybe – you get to do a Q&A at the end. (But only after crossing your fingers, un-muting the lines, and praying that there are no feedback echoes, barking dogs, or other weird noises.)
This is the modern teleconference. And while it’s been a good tool, we now have something far better.
Don’t Talk… Conduct!
Play a little game with me for a minute. Imagine that as you present your information to your audience that you are also able to:
• Poll your listeners on the fly
• Create breakout groups for intimate discussion
• And conduct orderly Q&A sessions any time during your call
All of this and more are now possible with MaestroConference, the breakthrough technology that turns solos into symphonies.
Let’s look at each of these features more in depth…
Poll Your Listeners on the Fly
With MaestroConference, you can ask your listeners to press #1-5 on their phone, and you will instantly see who has responded on your computer screen.
This is possible because you will be using the MaestroConference Control Panel to “conduct” your teleconference.
A great way to use the polling feature is to take the temperature of the room. Find out what experience level people are at before you begin.
Example: If you’re presenting strategies for making more money, you could ask: “If you’re making less than six figures a year, Press 1 on your phone. If you’re making more than six figures a year, Press 2.”
Instantly, you will know where the majority of your audience is at in terms of income.
Now, if you’re presenting strategies for creating the lifestyle you want, you might ask:
“If earning more money is the most important thing to you right now, Press 1 on your phone. If having more free time is the most important thing, Press 2.”
Again, this gives you incredible insight into your listeners.
What if you had been planning to talk about new earning strategies – but
discovered the bulk of your audience really wants more free time? You could then tweak your presentation on the fly to adapt to what your audience is interested in.
Get Your Listeners on the “Yes” Train
Another excellent way to use the polling feature is to get your listeners in agreement with you.This is a priceless strategy if you’re planning to sell something on your call. Here’s how it works…
Throughout your presentation, ask questions that you know your listeners will respond positively to.
Ask them to Press 1 for “yes,” and 2 for “no.” Try to get as many people responding positively as possible.
This works like magic because when you’re finally ready to present your offer, your listeners are already in agreement with you. And because they’ve answered “yes” so many times in a row, they are likely to answer “yes” when you ask them to buy now.
This is called “The Yes Train.”
And the polling feature is a great way to get your audience all aboard.
Create Breakout Groups for
Intimate Discussion
In a virtual world where social media is the new “community,” people are hungry for real connection with real people.
And that’s where breakout groups come in.
Most teleconferences are big and impersonal. With MaestroConference, that changes. Because now you can create breakout groups of 2-20 people in seconds… and then you can let them introduce themselves and interact.
You can help this process along by asking key questions during your presentation and giving your folks 5-10 minutes to discuss in private breakouts.
During the recent MaestroMonth event in July 2009, participants reported that one of their favorite parts of the MaestroConference calls was the breakout groups.
They enjoyed them so much, in fact, that they practically begged us to create a forum where they could reconnect and exchange information!
If your subscribers haven’t yet had the opportunity to connect on a deeper level – to create that sense of genuine community – then MaestroConference provides you with just what you need.
Walk the Room While Breakout Groups
Are “In Session”
Just as you can walk around a room in a live workshop or seminar, so too can you “walk the room” during a MaestroConference.
instantly “transported” into that room where you can listen in – or even help move the conversation along.
Speakers who’ve experienced this for themselves say it is amazing. All of a sudden, you’re hearing people interact. You’re hearing their answers to the question you’ve posed. You’re hearing their thoughts about your presentation so far.
In some cases, you might hear an objection or a sticking point a person has. This gives you the ability to talk about this issue once you’re all back in the main room. Now you can deal with those hidden objections right when they happen!
Conduct Orderly Q&A Sessions
Any Time During Your Call
Have you ever tried to conduct a Q&A session on a regular teleconference line? Or have you been on a teleconference where they tried to do one?
Chances are, it was probably hard to hear.
You heard pots and pans. You heard barking dogs. You heard feedback echoes, random voices, strange noises.
Because ALL the lines were un-muted during the Q&A.
If you’ve ever experienced this, then you know how frustrating (and irritating) this is.
MaestroConference solves this problem with selective muting and un-muting. Basically, when you’re ready to take questions, simply ask anybody who has a question to Press 1 on their phone. You’ll see the hands go up.
Now, click a person who has raised her hand and un-mute her line (and only her line!) by “passing the mic” to her.
When she is done, and you’ve answered her question, put her hand down and mute her line again before taking the next question.
Simple.
The whole time YOU remain in control. And there is very little noise pollution, if any at all. (In some cases, the person you call on may have background noise. If that’s the case, mute her line as soon as she finishes asking her question. You’ll have total silence.)
See How Many Questions You Have Left
& Keep Your Audience Updated
Another great aspect of the polling feature is that when you open up the call for questions, you can see how many questions you have. There’s no guessing. You can then gauge how many questions you want to take given the amount of time you’ve allotted for Q&A.
If it’s the end of the call, and you plan to stay on until all questions are answered, you’ll always know where you stand. As hands go down, you’ll be able to update your listeners by saying, “Only 2 questions left. Okay, Jan? Are you there?” By updating your audience and letting them know how many more questions remain, you’ll get more of them sticking with you through the entire call than you would otherwise.
Call on People by Name
In a traditional teleconference, people who ask questions are always having to introduce themselves.
“Hi, this is Jack from Chicago. My question is…”
If Jack has another question later in the call, he’s likely to say:
“Hi, this is Jack from Chicago again. I have another question…”
But because of MaestroConference’s unique registration process, you’re able to see everybody’s names on your Conductor’s Panel.
This is a godsend because it empowers you to call on everybody by name. When you pass the mic, say, “Sally, what’s your question?”
Of course, Sally loves to hear her name. It makes her feel important and that you really care about her.
As an added bonus, the other listeners on the call will stay more alert… because you might call on them by name!
And, in fact, this is a step up from a live seminar. In most live seminars, you’re too far away to read name tags. It’s hard to call on people by name.
But not with MaestroConference. The ability to call on people by name is just one more way to add familiarity and intimacy to your teleconference calls.
Record Everything for Free
MaestroConference also lets you record every call for free.Keep in mind that breakout groups are NOT recorded, so there will be silence on the recording any time you’re doing breakout groups.
Not to worry though. MaestroConference gives you two recordings: one with the silences, and one with the silences automatically removed.
This means you can conduct a MaestroConference and still walk away with a tight recording of your presentation to distribute however you see fit. You can even sell it if you want!
The Perfect Alternative…
While MaestroConference doesn’t make live seminars obsolete (there will always be live events happening) – it certainly provides business owners, coaches, and entrepreneurs with a robust yet cost effective alternative.
• You can poll the room – just like a live event.
• You can create breakout groups – just like a live event.
• You can walk the room, jumping in and out of breakout groups – just like a live event.
• You can conduct orderly Q&A sessions – just like a live event.
• You can see how many questions are in queue – just like a live event. • You can record your presentation and sell it later – just like a live event. • And, you can call on people by name – even better than a live event. So while the seminar business is getting steamrolled by the slow economy, you will have the resource you need to organize, host, and conduct high-value virtual meetings – all with just a phone, a computer, and MaestroConference.