Step 1
Define your meeting goal, agenda and audience
When preparing for a meeting, think about what is the purpose of this meeting and what you want to achieve with it. Draft an agenda that helps you accomplish your goals. And also select the participants carefully - try to answer such questions as why to include or exclude somebody? Why are their contributions important to the meeting?
Step 2
Prepare all the files and links you are going to use during the meeting
During the presentation, don't waste your time searching on the Web for the websites, the pictures, or the videos that you want to show others. Have everything ready within just a mouse click.
Step 3
Only have the necessary applications running
Keep your desktop clear of distractions such as irrelevant shortcuts and unnecessary applications. This would enable you and your participants to concentrate more on the meeting.
Step 4
State the policy for behavior of the presentation
Make it clear how the meeting proceeds. Can participants ask questions during the presentation? Or shall they wait until the end of the presentation? Reaching a consensus at the beginning of the meeting enables you to carry out the meeting smoothly.
Step 5
Interact with the participants
As people who are participating in a web conference cannot see each other, it is very important, and meanwhile difficult, to have everyone focus on the meeting during the whole time. Try to engage the audience as much as you can: switch the presenter or give out the mouse/keyboard control sometimes.
Step 6
Control your time properly
Start and end your meeting on time. Allocate your time carefully so that every issue listed on the agenda is fully discussed. Politely avoid long discussions and don't dwell on one single issue for too long.
Step 7
Conclude the session
It's always helpful to recap what has been discussed in a session and confirm the distribution of tasks among the participants. By doing so, you can also make sure that you've accomplished what you wanted from the meeting.
