Have you ever attended a conference call or webinar that was impressively smooth sailing? Planning a conference call or webinar takes a lot of hard work and attention to detail. Not only do you have to pull off the actual presentation and handling of the call, you've got to make sure every offer you mention is ready and works as you said it would. Here are seven conference call tips you can quickly implement on your next conference call or webinar.

Get your assistant on the call.
You don't have to do everything yourself. Hosting a call or presenting on the call is enough work as it is. It's easy to lose your place in the presentation when you're distracted with call details and typed in questions coming through. The point is to minimize your distraction by getting help. Have your assistant collect and organize incoming questions for you, moderate the text chat, attendee technical troubles such as not being able to call in or log into the web interface, handle slides or even recording. This leaves you totally free to concentrate on delivering a great presentation.

Plan B everything.
Things happen that's just a fact of life. If you're offering downloads, have an alternative link ready just in case the response was overwhelming and maxes out your bandwidth. Have ready an 'uh-oh' email to send immediately if things go wrong to the telephone bridge line or the webinar room. Sometimes Internet access fails and it's stressful if you or the presenter's Internet access goes down. Figure out ahead of time what you should do if that happens. This leads me into the next point.

Call in options.
Sometimes, a call with both telephone dial in and webinar access can be very helpful. If one fails, you'll still have the other to continue the call. Not only that, I've found when you offer both options, you get more people to attend. Some people just don't like paying long distance or they prefer one format over the other.

Send reminder emails.
If you have a lot of lead time, consider sending them a post card reminder in the mail. If your budget permits or the potential profits are good, try calling them on the phone. This could help cut through email clutter.

Make it easy.
Help people add your event to their calendar. Telling them to print and stick the call details next to their computers or to pencil in the event 'right now' is one thing but why not take it a step further and help them do it. Many people use electronic calendars such as Outlook, iCal or Google Calendar. Use simple technology. A quick 'Add this event to your Outlook' button is easy because people don't have to type in the information all over again and no copying and pasting. Plus, it motivates them to do it right now.

For callers only.
Trying to increase attendance or stay on the call? Consider a freebie or special offer only for those who attend and announce it at the end of the call. This way, everyone attending wins plus you give people a little motivation.

Use a co-host.
Calls and presentations become much livelier if you have someone else with you. It also helps calm your nerves if you're new at teleseminar and webinar presentations. Also, if you're holding a marketing or lead generation call, the co-host assumes the role of your audience and becomes someone they can relate to. This can be advantageous if you're coming up against a skeptical group and in this day and age, it's rare to find people who aren't skeptical.

And there you go. Seven quick and easy conference call tips for a better webinar or conference call. Do not underestimate their simplicity because they can make a huge difference between a great call and one your attendees would rather forget.