Many business professionals do not know what to do or feel less than satisfied because they do not know how to structure their teleseminars. Once you know the structure to leading a teleconference call in an effective and engaging way, you will know how to create a consistent experience that will have participants wanting to come back for more.

Here is an acronym to help remember the structural pieces to move through any learning-based teleconference call, whether you call it a teleclass, teleworkshop, teleforum, teleseminar or teleprogram. The acronym is G.O.D.I.G. and stands for Greet, Overview, Debrief, Iteractive content and Gms.

Greeting occurs in the first 3 minutes and requires a delicate balance between interacting with incoming participants and engaging in a long conversation with one person. The teleleader has two priorities during the greet section; welcome participants and listen for technical issues that require attention.

Step two is the Overview section of the teleconference call, which includes formally welcoming people, creating context for the call, introducing the structure, and the focus or topic. This section sets the expectation for what will be covered and what participants can expect to take away from the call. For example, an overview I might say is, %u201CWelcome to our telecall series on how to Lead Highly Engaging Teleseminars. Today we%u2019ll be covering the 5-step fool-proof structure to leading a teleseminar, so you feel confident when leading your own learning-based conference calls.%u201D This section only takes a few minutes yet it sets a clear tone and intent for the session.

The third step is to Debrief any fieldwork (if it is an ongoing series of teleclasses) or address any Pre-work you%u2019ve sent participants before the call. Fieldwork gets people involved, and when people feel involved, they are more likely to gain from and enjoy the experience. You may have as little or as much fieldwork as you think your participants will engage with. You may include visuals; pdf files with photos, or Powerpoint files. Debriefing and pre-work gets people thinking and being prepared to participate.

Debriefing and pre-work can take 10 minutes or more in a one-hour teleclass. People are already engaged and you can seamlessly move into the largest section of a one-hour telecall which is the Interactive Content.

The worst thing that can happen is a call where the teleleader lectures at you for the full hour. There are many ways to have interactive participation take place; creating games, sharing experiences, doing real-time surveys, and discussing case studies that allow people to explore a subject. You may conduct realplays where people bring real-life situations and are coached on the call. And you may use metaphors and visual language to make the learning more interesting. In a one hour telecall, the interactive content takes between 30 and 40 minutes.

The last step of a learning-based telecall is where you find out from participants what they learned. The Gems that made an impact, and what actions they are committed to taking. Take 5 %u2013 10 minutes to hear what is important for people to do after the call. The teleleader can also assign fieldwork if it would be of benefit to participants.

Having a structure gives you confidence that you know what you are doing and where you are going next in the call. Having a structure to your calls, you will set yourself apart as a professional facilitator in the teleconference environment.