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Our young teenage girls never laughed so hard as when they found out we were sending them to Etiquette School.  Whatever they learned didn't seem to have very much of an impact, but in today's business world, etiquette can spell the difference between success and failure.  Conference call etiquette, like anything else, is based on simple common sense, but you might want to remember a few important tips to insure a productive conference call that will leave participants feeling good and that their time spent was worthwhile.

Just because your conference colleagues can't see you, doesn't mean you can get away with anything.  In fact, you need to be ever mindful of intrusions that you don't normally notice.  First and foremost, do NOT use a speakerphone to participate in a conference call.  (If you are just listening, a speakerphone is fine as long as you have it on mute.)  Second, a cell phone with a poor connection can wreak havoc on a conference call and turn into an invitation for folks to just hang up and not dial back in.  Third, be sure to always introduce yourself before speaking so people know who they are listening to.  Fourth, don't multitask and distract the conference call by creating needless commotion with papers, or typing, or heaven forbid -- clipping your nails!  And fifth, if you are presenting, be sure to speak slowly and clearly and repeat numbers so everyone can keep up.

Those are just a few tips that will help make your phone conference call successful.