It is also the Original and Future Black in any type of virtual meeting and presentation you are involved in. Special thanks to my friend and social media maven, Connie Reece or @conniereece on Twitter) for her Tweet:

conniereece Retweet @Armano: @KathySierra being a good presenter is overrated. Connecting with your audience is not. [Connie sez: amen, amen] 01:55 PM August 05, 2008 from TweetDeck

My response was simple: “connecting with your audience = good presenter. New paradigm for presenters in any medium.”

Regardless of what medium you are presenting it, virtual meeting, web meeting, conference call, teleclass, training room, keynote, team meeting, webinar, teleseminar, etc., your credibility, trustworthiness, and effectiveness will depend directly upon your ability to connect with your audience.

If you want to be a good presenter, here is your biggest secret: quit thinking about you and how you are doing.

Focus 100% of your attention on your participants and help them get the information they require to accomplish their current tasks.

As usual, what sounds simple is rarely easy to accomplish. And that is the case here. The good news (or bad news!) is that your audience will remind you over and over again that it is indeed not about you. It is about them – always has been, always will be. Take a close look at a trusted mentor or role model and you’ll find this trait present.

Oh, and for those using the “fake it until you make it” strategy, it gets harder and harder to let go of the strategy the longer you use it.

Looking for something to speed you along the path to being able to connect with any virtual or in person audience? Here are three effective options to grow your skills. Subscribe for, read, and make comments to the PowerConferenceCalls.com blog. Invest in any of the three Audio training CDs covering my 6 Principle model. For personalized service, contact me directly about working with you or your team.

You can follow me on Twitter by typing @headset in the Twitter.com home page. A little business, a little personal, always an adventure!

Posted by Byron Van Arsdale
Author – 6 Principles of Powerful Conference Calls
ConferenceCallTraining.com

In my post Collaboration Trumps Control, I made the point that participants want to play an active role in any type of presentation – face-to-face or via any of the distance communication modes. Presenters and trainers have, for years, discussed the behavior and likely locations where people who challenge your presentation will sit. Many years ago, as a novice, I heard this and believed it was true. Yet, over the past 18 years, I’ve come to realize this is only true for people who thrive on control. With rare exception (politics), participants do not want you to fail. Here’s how to succeed in any presentation give.

For over ten years now, participants to any type of face-to-face or distance communication presentation have taken a decidedly more active role in the process. In the past, speakers could, and to some degree, were expected to work their own agenda in the presentation while the participants quietly sat by and paid attention. The “rebels” who challenged the presentation were seen as just that, rude people who didn’t conform to the accepted etiquette of sit quietly, pay attention, and ask questions only when the presenter said it was OK. It is very strange to actually write this out yet this is generally how the process worked. All I can say is thank you to all the rebels who challenged this process! You were the precursors to our collaborative approach today.

Gen X and Gen Y grew up having active control over their daily activities. Now, they are in business and attending presentations today with this same thought process – I want active control. Interestingly, Baby Boomers always wanted the same thing yet were conditioned to keep this desire in check until they ran the business. No wonder they are so frustrated at Gen X and Gen Y!

Here is what your entire audience is thinking: I want to have answers to the questions and issues that are relevant to me right now.

Thanks to Gen X and Gen Y, “control” as a primary mode for delivering anything from town hall meetings to sales presentations is becoming extinct. THANK YOU!

For those that choose “control” over trust and collaboration, you will indeed believe that people in the audience want you to fail. There is nothing further from the truth, they just want you to release that death grip on your agenda and let others play an active role in the process. Admittedly, that first step in letting go of control will feel like a huge one. Don’t worry; you’ve got lots of resources and people around to help you along the path.

Posted by Byron Van Arsdale
Author – Executive Conference Call Leadership
ConferenceCallTraining.com

As the new president for the Greater Austin International Coach Federation Chapter, I’m making a point to get to know the ICF chapters in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth. I decided to attend the June 12th meeting of the San Antonio Chapter in part because the topic was Social Networking and the speaker was Jennifer Navarette. It is what happened before the meeting that has me buzzing.

As I read the bio, that one pesky word that grates on me popped up: guru. The local San Antonio paper dubbed Jennifer the “New Media Guru”. My first impression went from positive to immediately negative as soon as I read those words. Now, at this point, I know relatively nothing about Jennifer (who is very cool) and have a negative impression based ONLY on what I’m reading on one web entry and my own personal dislike for “guru”.

I emailed Connie, a trusted friend, to ask about the “guru”. After all, this was a 7:30am meeting which meant leaving Austin by 5:30am-ish. I definitely had skin in the game here. Would it be worth my time?

I also sent out a notice of the meeting to the local Austin coaches to see if anyone was interested in attending. Within hours, I had confirmation Jennifer was worth the trip: “good peeps” and she knows what she is talking about.

Here’s the path: interested in the presentation, read the flyer, immediately turned negative based on the “guru” quote, send digital query to a friend, got back glowing reviews. In the matter of a few hours, my first impression of Jennifer before I’d ever met her went from negative to positive. I walked into the meeting looking forward to hearing her presentation.

How does this apply to you and your business? People are connecting with others in online groups like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Naymz, etc. You and your reputation are being established by what you do and do not do in the online world. For the solopreneurs and small businesses that rely upon the web and distance communication modes to deliver your services, your reputation PRECEDES you! Being proactive in establishing your credibility and trust through a wide range of contacts is more than important – it is essential for your success.

Question:
What do you do on a consistent basis to establish and maintain your online presence?

Posted by Byron Van Arsdale
Author – 16 Secrets to a Great Conference Call
ConferenceCallTraining.com

In June, I got to see Josh Bernoff, co-author of Groundswell, speak at the National Instruments campus in Austin. There was a concurrent webinar being conducted with a speaker phone at the front to connect the remote audience. There was an open spot directly in front of where Josh would speak and I quickly grabbed it up. I had a front row view as the chaos ensured. Here is what happened.

First, Josh is great. He did a masterful job of staying focused despite many distractions. There were so many things that went wrong I stopped counting yet Josh still pulled it off. IF this is how most meeting go around the world, it is no wonder everyone has such a low opinion of distance meetings!

Got a late start–what else is new. The webinar host got cut off about 25 minutes into the call and everyone online was immediately disconnected. We were serenaded with “the host has hung up, this call is being terminated, good bye.” Who knows what the participants experienced. The in-room host had to go to the front of the room, redial into the webinar and rest it all. Then the online host had to explain (made it short – smart!). As people joined the webinar, we could hear one loud beep after another – the good news is that “name announcement” was turned off! Tremendous noise in the background coming from the webinar host including one or more impromptu speed dialing!

And yet, Josh remained professional and focused as he kept the presentation moving along. Bravo Josh, bravo!

Here is the bottom line: remove any and every form of distraction (from the audience’s perspective, not yours!) from your presentation.

For “all things” Groundswell, go to their blog. Very useful!
Posted by Byron Van Arsdale
Author – 21 Ways to Screw Up a Teleclass
ConferenceCallTraining.com

On Saturday, June 28th, Bernice and I flew to Italy for holiday with my two brothers and their families. We stayed near the town of Radda in the Tuscany/Chianti region. What an amazing trip!

Fortunately, this trip could not have come at a better time. If I’d had to wait out the days until Friday, July 11th (the day the 3G iPhone goes on sale) I might have gone insane! By tomorrow, I’ll just be coming out of jet lag!

If you want to read about my trip, you can see my updates via my Twitter account: @headset.

Photo Courtesy of Apple

Posted by Byron Van Arsdale
Author – 6 Principles of Learner Driven Teleclasses
ConferenceCallTraining.com