Hints & Tips

Conference Organization
It’s important to inform in time all the participants on: conference subject, date, start time and expected duration, mode of access, Moderator name. In order to improve the efficiency of your conference, you can create a list of topics to discuss (not more than three or four), setting in advance the amount of time needed to deal with each of them.

Audio Devices
If there are several participants in the same room it’s recommended to use landline phones, desk speakerphone or PC softphone with headphones. Avoid using wireless and mobile phones because they can cause interference.

Background Noise
Make sure to participate in the conference from a place with no background noise, which can interfere with audio of other participants. If you cannot avoid a noisy place, mute your microphone when you don’t speak.

Conference Opening
Before starting the conference, the organizer (moderator) should make sure that all the participants have already connected. When the conference starts, the moderator welcomes participants, presents him/herself, explains the purpose of the conference and provides main instructions to participants, who should:

- present themselves before taking the floor
- in case of background noises, mute their microphones when they don’t’ speak
- strive to make their comments brief and relevant to the topic

Conference Management
For proper and effective conference management, the moderator should:

- coordinate participation in discussion
- maintain compliance with time
- briefly summarize the main points of discussion
- repeat the conclusions made at the end of each discussion

End of the Conference
Before concluding the conference the moderator can ask for a round of final remarks and then thank participants. Afterwards, it’s recommended to send participants an e-mail summary with the list of topics discussed and decisions taken.