Last week, people started asking me for five-finger tips they could use to improve their virtual meetings. This is a tough one.

On the one hand, people want the same things from you in a virtual meeting that they want in a face-to-face meeting. On the other hand, they want some different stuff, too. That’s why I wrote “The Coach’s Short List.”

But, there are plenty of things beyond The Short List that you can do to make your virtual meetings and web conferencing more useful  – and you more popular.

Here are five-fingers worth:

1. Make your meeting guests the rock stars. Besides hearing what you have to say, your VM guests want and need to hear each others’ ideas, too. Make sure you do everything possible to “pass the microphone” and “pass the chalk” around during your meetings so your guests get to show off their chops, too.

2. Give your guests a real voice. Using polls and leaving time at the end of meetings for questions is good basic online meeting practice. But, if you really want people to remember your meetings – and keep coming back for more – be sure you give them other ways to make their wishes known and their voices heard. Ask them to help you generate the agenda at the start of the meeting. Keep checking in with them during the meeting to see if they’re getting what they came for. And, before you close, whenever it’s appropriate, ask them to tell you anything they might have wished you had covered or done that would have made the meeting even better for them.

3. Make it easy. Make everything easy. Desite the fact that more and more people are having virtual meetings every day, they’re still a very new way for people to meet. Most people still need help getting comfortable with web conferencing. Make it easy to sign in and join the meeting. Make it easy for people to introduce themselves. Make it easy for participants to add their two-cents’-worth. Make it easy for them to follow up with you – and each other – after the meeting. Make everything you can think of as easy as possible. If you can’t do this yourself, get someone like me to be your producer and get them to do it for you.

4. Make it easy to refer new participants. Once someone has located you and decided you’re a useful, credible source of expertise, they are going to want to share you with their friends. It makes them look good to have found you! Be sure you make it easy for them to tell other people about you and add them to your meetings – this one or the next one.

5. Merge online and offline communities. The best thing about virtual meetings is that you don’t have to be face-to-face to have one. The best thing about face-to-face meetings is that you don’t have to use a computer or any other electronic device to have one. Some people are more comfortable meeting one way – or the other. But, especially in this economy, all of us needto grow our social networks and build new opportunities every way we can

When you’re hosting virtual meetings, do everything you can to help your guests link their online and offline resources. When you can, record your meetings so guests can share the content with offline partners and friends. Post your presentation at an online slide sharing site like slideshare.net. And, whenever possible, help port face-to-face conversations online, too. You can Tweet Live to connect people who aren’t able to be with you at live meetings. You can scan and post your handwritten meeting notes or photos to your blog so you can share them with people who weren’t able to attend.  There are dozens of ways you can help people merge their online and offline resources. Do it. They’ll thank and remember you

What are some of the easy ways you like to help people connect their online and offline resources? Post them here as a comment and let’s share the wealth!

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photo credit: krishnamohan01

By now,  I think just about everyone in the world has heard about the “Butterfly Effect.”

But if you haven’t heard of it – or you can’t remember – the phrase refers to the enormous potential for change that can be triggered by very small acts. Like the possibility of the flapping of a butterfly’s wings triggering a tornado on the other side of the world. (Mouse over the photo above and you’ll see the photographer’s sense of humor about this.)

The concept is part of Chaos Theory and the whole idea of “sensitive dependence on initial conditions.” Since there’s a lot of chaos showing up in economic markets across the whole globe, I’ve been thinking alot about the Butterfly Effect lately. And wondering what actually triggered the whole mess we’re in…

It’s not like I believe there’s a definitive answer to the question. But that doesn’t keep me from wondering.

The funny thing is that my musings led me to a short video that makes an important point about making small changes in a sweet and funny way. Take a look:

So, what’s the point? Well, as soon as I quit chuckling, it occurred to me that what’s going on between this man and woman is the same thing that happens between me and other people who are watching me enjoy virtual meetings… and wanting some of that sweetness for themselves.

I’m always telling clients – and potential clients -  that they can have a bite for FREE, any time they like. I pass out links to different kinds of sites where they can try all kinds of virtual meeting tools – for FREE.

But a surprising number of people are still having a hard time getting the sweetness from these new possibilities without some help from me. Just like the lady needs to borrow the man’s chompers to take advantage of the Butterfinger. That’s why I started this blog in the first place.

So, for what it’s worth, it seemed useful to share the video. Not because I want to brand myself as a pair of false teeth (although that’s a pretty funny idea).

The point is that if you’re not already having your clients and your coworkers jump all over the idea of having virtual meetings with you (instead of spending their precious time and money driving and flying all over the place), then maybe they need a little more help from you so they can get some of the sweetness for themselves.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Does that make sense?

If so, what small change could you make in the way you’re pitching virtual meetings to your clients that would allow you to trigger an avalanche of savings for you – and for them – in 2009?

My change-of-the-week: making an analogy, using this nutty video, that you can pass along to YOUR clients and coworkers. The analogy is a little out-of-the-box, but if you enjoy it, you could use it to open the conversation with clients and coworkers about how you could help

I invite you to share this post with every client you’d like to share a $5K to $50K savings with next year. Or pass it on to coworkers, so you can start saving your time this year for what’s most important…

What might happen if you actually did this? It can’t hurt …and you just might just trigger an avalanche of well-being.

At the very least, if you got one person to start meeting with you virtually, you would be walking your talk about reducing the carbon footprint you’re leaving with your business travel.  And that would be a valuable contribution to the whole planet!

Want to play? Tag, you’re it…