Teleclass protocol
Your shorthand guide to feeling less awkward and weird.
Because that sounds way better than “protocol”
If you’re wondering, “no, really, what’s a teleclass?” you can look at the no, really, what’s a teleclass page first.
Frequently asked questions (and a few that should be)
How do I join in?
You dial a phone number and enter a code. You get both by email when you sign up for the call or the program or whatever.
Why does the lady tell me to “record my name” when I call? What if I don’t want to?
Sigh. The Automated Robotic Greeting Lady is a bit like a bouncer… a bouncer with boundary issues who also sometimes gets confused.
We don’t like her either.
You absolutely don’t have to “record your name for announcement to the call organizer” — just wait until she’s done asking and hit the # sign again to enter the call.
Why do you mute everyone once the call gets started?
Once the call is ready to get rolling, we mute everyone so the line is clear (makes things more hear-able for everyone participating and improves the recording quality).
What do I do if I have a question?
There are several ways you can ask a question:
- Add a comment to the blog post where I announced the class and asked for questions.
- Unmute yourself and ask by pressing *6. You unmute, ask your question, and then *6 again to “re-mute” .
- You can ask using Twitter — use the #askhavi hashtag to make sure we see it (add #askhavi to the end of your tweet).
- Use the online chat (see below)
How to do the “teleclass participant” thing (some tips)
Let us know who you are!
If you unmute yourself to ask a question, say your name so we’ll know who’s speaking (and so I’ll know who I’m talking to).
Silence Quiet is golden (I mean, background noise is distracting)
Sometimes people umute themselves to ask a question and then forget to re-mute.
And even sounds that seem really quiet to you (chewing, typing, drinking a glass of water, whispering to your puppies) end up being really loud to everyone else on the call.
So you want to remember to re-mute, and — when you’re unmuted — to be somewhere with as little background noise as possible.
Technical mishaps and administrative whats-its: They happen.
You’re calling on Skype and can’t get unmuted.
People who call in on Skype have found that they sometimes have to hold the buttons a little longer than usual to get them to “take.”
For example, to unmute yourself, you might have to hold the * and the 6 down a little longer than usual to get it to work. (And if it doesn’t work the first time, just try again!)
You’ve got lots of static on your line.
Sometimes you call in and just get a less-than-great connection. Try hanging up and dialing in again. If it’s still not great, you might want to try dialing in from an alternate line (try a cell phone, a landline, or Skype — sometimes people find they get better quality sound from one than the other).
Note: There is very little — as in, pretty much nothing — that we can do on our end to help improve the connection on your line. Emailing about it probably won’t solve much. It’s not that we don’t love to hear from you, it’s just that in this instance, we can’t do much to help … :)
You have to call in late or leave early.
No problem. If you call in late, you’ll already be on mute when you call in, so just remember that if you want to ask a question, you’ll have to press *6. And if you leave early, you’ll be able to catch whatever you missed when we send out the recording.
Online Chat
The online chat page is the hang-out spot (good for asking questions too).
It’s very easy to use — just log in (using the instructions below) and you’re on.
To log in and participate in the online chat during the call:
- go to http://fluentself.com/chat
- username: first name or nickname
- password: you’ll get a password by email before the call
If you have problems with the chat software, these are things which will probably help:
- Make sure your web browser is the latest version
- Try using a different browser (if you’re using Internet Explorer, for example, try Firefox or Safari)
- Disable your internet firewall
- Disable virus-checking software
Talk to you on the call!
Love,
Havi (and Selma the duck)