Conference calls

Regardless of you occupation more than like you participate in conference calls. In this day of global commerce they are a must so that many people can have a conversation regardless of their location. I work for a very large company and conference calls are a daily occurrence for me. Today I was part of a call that reminded me why conference call etiquette is very important. The call included over two hundred people from all over the country. There were less than 10 speakers so everyone else should have been muted. Call etiquette rule number one...make sure you are muted if you are just listening to a call. Whoever this joker was today wasn't muted and took a call on their cell phone and proceeded to talk bad about the call we were on. It took over a minute for this person to realize what they were doing. It was painful to listen to and I can only imagine what that person feels like now. So embarrassed I hope. The other rules are easy and pertain to any phone call. Don't eat and talk during a conference call. It just sounds gross. The last one is avoid long awkward pauses. They can turn a good call into a train wreck. If a long pause is brewing please nip in the bud and say something. Your audience will appreciate it.

Until tomorrow,
Dave