Atlantic Business Technologies, Inc.

Author: Atlantic BT

  • Let’s Get This Content Started

    12 Ways to Begin Long-Form Content

     

    You’ve got a brilliant idea. And it’s a detailed idea—it’s the kind of idea that merits a long-form blog post, not just a tweet or two. You dash to the keyboard and put together an outline. This only makes you more excited about writing your post. You’ve got an original idea, a relevant subject, and an organized structure. You are guaranteed to win at the Internet as soon as this content gets published.

    But first you have to actually write the opening sentence. And the more you love your idea, the harder this is—and if you can’t hook your readers with the opening, they’re unlikely to read the rest of your brilliant idea. How do you craft an interesting beginning to your long-form content that will not only guarantee people read it, but also comment on it, share it, and drive it up to the lofty heights of Google’s ranking system?

    Sad to say, there is no opening sentence that guarantees these results. However, there are proven strategies to write compelling openings for long-form content. Here are my 12 favorite ways to begin a content post, including classic strategies, less conventional openings, and hated practices that actually work.

      1. Classic Opening Strategies

    • Ask a Leading Question
      What is the biggest obstacle that digital marketing campaigns face today?

      The advantage of leading with a question is that it makes your post curious and conversational. Even though the reader cannot answer you outside the comments section, he will ponder possible answers to your question and then keep reading it to see if he answered correctly (or at least, in a way that agrees with you).
    • Use a Quotation from Those Who Know Such Things
      “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
      –Arthur C. Clarke

      This proven opening strategy works because you get to begin with the words of an expert. In addition to borrowing language by a reputed author, this technique also implies that those words support whatever you’re about to argue. The main downside is that you have to find a compelling and relevant quote from someone that the reader would recognize and respect.
    • Start with a Provocative, Short Statement
      Everyone hates ads.
      Shakespeare sucks.
      The information age is finished.

      Provocative statements have the potential to grab the reader’s attention by disrupting her expectations. She thought he was reading a nice, polite blog post and then BOOM—she finds a fundamental assumption questioned. Because surprise is key to making these work, it’s crucial these statements are short enough that the reader doesn’t see the disruption coming. You also need to actually prove whatever unexpected statement you make in the post itself.
    • Lead with Statistics or Numbers
      70% of people immediately close blog posts that don’t begin with numerical facts.

      This is arguably the most boring of the classic strategies, but leading with an interesting statistic immediately gives your post a foundation of analytic rigor. Statistics imply you’ve done your research, making the rest of the post more trustworthy. Of course, now you have to find a relevant stat from a reputable source to back up your argument. If this takes a long time, you might wish you’d tried another strategy.

      2. Less Conventional Openings

    • Let Me Tell You a Story…
      Two minutes into a presentation on gameification in marketing, the speaker used earning extra airline peanuts as an example of gaming rewards. “My God,” I thought, “he literally said customers are working for peanuts.”

      Everyone loves a good story well-told, and this strategy can get the reader leaning forward to find out what happens next. Once you have the reader’s attention, use an elegant transition to tie your story to the core subject of your content post. When the end of the story interweaves with your main point, your reader is hooked.
    • Offer a Seemingly Unrelated Comparison that Is Actually a Metaphor
      Despite some differences, premium face cream and hyperlocal digital advertising have a lot in common. For example, both use targeting on areas in need of an uplift.

      The key here is subverting the reader’s expectations by presenting insightful information in a new way. Challenge the reader’s thinking with an inventive or funny comparison, and you can pique his interest to read the rest of your post.
    • Begin at the Ending
      Not only did a major cruise line increase brand awareness by 28%, but it also booked more than 500 new passengers last quarter. How did this happen?
      Her mouse hovered over the Confirm Purchase button. We were about to find out if we’d reached the right customer at the right time, or the right one a little too late.

      Instead of building suspense like a typical post, skip to the most important part of the story. Beginning with the end is a nice way of telling a results-oriented reader that getting through this story will be worth it. Start at the climax, and you throw your reader right into the crux of the post, and entice her to find out how she got there.
    • Unexpected Humor
      “In the beginning the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” –Douglas Adams

      While this isn’t the easiest approach, beginning with a surprise joke is a great way to approach a topic in a more lateral, creative way. Using unexpected humor suggests to the reader that what you wrote isn’t the same old tired discussion of a familiar topic, and he’ll be more likely to read the entire post.

    3. Hated Practices that Actually Work

    • Make a General Statement about Life
      When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them…

      As much as your high school English teacher taught you not to begin with general statements to reach a universal reader, Thomas Jefferson used this approach in the Declaration of Independence. The lesson from this is that general statements CAN work, but they need to be gorgeously written and avoid clichĂŠ.
    • Beat Up the Straw Man
      After 45 minutes on hold with the cable company, I realized definitively that customer service meant nothing to them. Here are eight ways customers know a company doesn’t value them.

      Beating up a straw man is not a sophisticated way to win over a reader, but if you choose a universally scorned evil like cable companies, telemarketers, or the NSA, the reader will often so identify with your criticism that blinding hate will overshadow the reader’s reason. Before he sees through your ploy, he’s already reading your post. Sneaky, but effective.
    • Refer to a Recent Popular Post Written by Someone More Important.
      As Nate Silver pointed out in the latest fivethirtyeight post…

      Consider this the less-elegant version of beginning a post with a quote from someone famous. Here you ride the buzz of a public figure’s recent statements or arguments to introduce your own thoughts on the subject. It’s crucial that the statements you’re referring to are widely known and familiar to your audience.
    • Jump Right In (Because Artistry Is for Sissies and Nonprofits).Shoppers are buying something this summer, and the right digital solution can make sure you’re the one selling it to them. Here’s how it works.

      Let’s face it—sometimes your reader wants you to get to the point as fast as possible. This is when a direct opening is your best move. It also gives you more space in the post to discuss the subject at hand, since you’re not spending more than a sentence opening the post.

     

    A Clever Opening Is Just the Beginning

    So how do you choose the opening strategy that’s right for you? Know your subject matter cold. The better you’ve outlined your idea, the easier it will be to tailor one of these opening strategies to fit your post. More importantly, remember that your brilliant blog post is only one part of a larger content strategy.

    How will you boost your brand exposure and help your company lead the online conversation? What technology and best practices will you use to target the right content at the right audiences? We’d love to hear your answers to these questions in the comments section below—and if you need help, we’re ready to partner with you toward a smarter content strategy.

  • ConvergeSE Conference Spotlight: The Digital Transformation of NC.gov

    Converge SE is the conference for those who want to build a beautiful web.
    -ConvergeSE Homepage

    Created to promote the vision of a united and thriving creative web design community, the ConvergeSE Conference will take place in Columbia, SC on April 13-15. The speakers are leaders, adventurers, and storytellers who want every web designer and developer they work with to experience more and do better.

    One of those speakers is Atlantic BT’s Tera Simon. As our Director of Client Engagement, Tera led the largest digital transformation the State of North Carolina has ever undertaken—creating the new web presence for NC.gov and 12 different state government agencies. On Friday, April 15th, Tera will reveal how the ingredients of this dramatic change came together to create a unified portal for the citizens of North Carolina. Here’s a sneak preview of Tera’s “State of the State” presentation:

    The Meaning of a Digital Transformation and How It Differs from a Website Redesign

    The (current) wikipedia definition for digital transformation is: “changes associated with the application of digital technology in all aspects of human society.” That definition perfectly describes the unification of the NC.Gov’s 12 different agencies as part of the Digital Commons project. Some might mistakenly refer to this project as a website redesign, but a redesign typically focuses on only one brand and one website.

    What Atlantic BT’s team faced with the NC.Gov project was a landscape of multiple brands, multiple websites, and the views of multiple stakeholders for each agency. The NC.Gov website had become such a maze that the public was opting out of using any of its online resources at all. The state of North Carolina understood it needed a unified approach from perspectives of branding, governance, content, and navigation. They also needed help to determine the best platform to accommodate their multiple site administrators and contributors.

    This kind of Digital Transformation goes beyond a new website design. It goes to the heart of the connection between people and technology. It’s the story of a state government following its mandate to serve the needs of every citizen, non-profit, and business in North Carolina.

    The Team Behind the Execution of a Digital Transformation Project

    It’s not hard to imagine how NC.gov’s transformation could take a small army to accomplish. Atlantic BT’s lean team works in our Raleigh headquarters and delivers all their projects using an Agile methodology. Our work on the NC.Gov project focused on Marketing and UX, but it also brought together in-house teams of experts across over a half-dozen disciplines:

    • Web Architecture
    • Business Analysis
    • User Experience
    • Graphic Design
    • Quality Assurance
    • Front-End Development
    • Project Management

    Our team’s collaboration produced results far greater than the sum of their parts; for NC.Gov, this meant the organization of over 75,000 state agency websites into an intuitive user experience.

    Atlantic BT’s Most Important Contribution to the Digital Commons Initiative

    Beyond the daily advancements toward milestones and the innovative contributions of each individual on the project team, Atlantic BT coordinated the work of two other companies working on the project. NC’s state government brought on one company to complete the branding and the other to provide the development services. By setting up these vendors for success, Atlantic BT helped ensure that each deliverable in the overall project fit well together.

    Our vision for this joint project was that the work produced could be understood and be easily accessible by everyone who will have to utilize it. From ensuring that third-parties understand the functionality, to making designs accessible, to orchestrating content migration, to verifying  quality assurance and the integrity of the finished product, Tera and her team were there to pull it all together.

  • The Great Atlantic BT Egg Hurl

    If you want to soar to the heights, you’d better be able to survive the landing.

    Atlantic BT employees discovered this truth firsthand during our annual Egg Hurl competition on the afternoon of March 24. 10 teams of Atlantic BT programmers, designers, and other experts united to find the best way to catapult an egg into the sky and have it land without breaking.

    This was a daunting task, so we followed the traditional Atlantic BT system of testing a variety of solutions to see what worked. Each team constructed a protective chamber for their egg out of whatever materials seemed best to them. These chambers ranged from a duct-tape cocoon to a tiny safe packed with a towel.

    “I thought to myself: What’s the safest, most secure part of my desk?” asked Andrew Bartlett. “After a glance around, I had my answer. In all my years at Atlantic BT, no one had been able to crack my desk safe. That meant this little safe was guaranteed to prevent my egg from cracking.” Andrew’s device would go on to survive the first round.

    Employee holding up mini safe on string
    Only gravity could crack this safe.

    Using a homemade trebuchet built by Billy Bonar, each team launched their eggs and protective casings across the Atlantic BT parking lot. If a team’s egg survived a round, more weight would be added to the trebuchet to launch the egg higher and farther. The ultimate winner would be the egg casing that traveled the farthest without breaking.

    “It’s a simple machine driven by basic Newtonian physics,” Billy said, “While I originally built this trebuchet to defend my home against roaming bandits, I was glad to lend it to Atlantic BT in order to test our ability to protect chicken embryos from asphalt and gravity.”

    However, the winning egg casing relied on more than just science for its victory. Emily Davidson and Jennifer Herndon designed a protective netting of plastic straws for their egg, then coated it in glitter for maximum elegance.

    The winners of both the Overall Best and Most Creative.
    The winners of both the Overall Best and Most Creative

    “I didn’t just want to win the egg hurl. I wanted to look really sparkly while doing it,” Emily said. She then hurled a handful of glitter in the air while hoisting her trophy aloft with Jennifer.

    “I’m just glad no one got hurt when our egg device completely dominated,” Jennifer said. She serves as Atlantic BT’s Chief People Officer when she’s not using glitter to protect breakable objects.

    Besides the overall winner, the competition also recognized teams with the following accolades:

    • The Spirit Award—For the egg device that inspired us all; given to Bradford Foxworth-Hill for sending his egg aloft in a simple blue box with streamers.

      AtlanticBT employee posing for camera 1
      The Face of Best Spirit
    • The Always a Bridesmaid Award—For the egg device we all wanted to do better than it did; given to Matt Deal and Kendall King’s “Dank Tank,” which flew far, broke hard, and rhymed.

      Close up shot of Dank Tank entry
      Dank Tank never failed to inspire. Until it failed.
    • The Epic Fail Award—For the egg device that did not work at all; given to Rachel McKay, Jessica Harper, and Jennifer Reaves, whose egg casing was bound together with only drinking straws and shattered dreams.

      Close up shot of straw contraption
      This did not work.
    • The Most Creative Award—For the egg device with the most flair; given to Jennifer Herndon and Emily Davidson’s glitter-fueled vehicle of egg protection.

      Close up of vehicle for glitter entry
      A Vehicle for Glitter and the Imagination

    For a live action look at the Atlantic BT Egg Hurl, check out this video of the event created by our own Wes Jobes:

     

  • The Case of the Firefox and Magento eCommerce Enigma

    An Atlantic BT eCommerce Mystery

    It began with a typical upgrade. Then the data disappeared.

    My marketing team at Atlantic BT had just set up Google’s Enhanced eCommerce for a client who had just upgraded to the latest version of Magento Enterprise (1.14.2). This process involves setting up a Google Tag Manager (GTM) account and creating a container, then defining all the tags and triggers needed to properly run Google’s Enhanced eCommerce tracking in Magento’s platform. By measuring this critical eCommerce data, we’d have insight to guide our client’s online strategy for the long term.

    We’re experienced with Google Tag Manager and Magento, so it was easy to get Google Enhanced eCommerce up and running.  After testing on the staging site and when we confirmed that all eCommerce data was recording accurately, we copied the GTM container to the live site. For the curious, the setup and testing was done in Chrome and tested in IE. At this point, we should have had everything we needed to record eCommerce data from web users.

    But by the second day of live data recording, we noticed 30% lower revenue being reported in Google Analytics from the revenue reported in Magento. While a 1-2% difference could be explained by javascript or cookie blocks, 30% was a major issue. Without accurate revenue reporting, we wouldn’t be able to determine how well the eCommerce upgrade was performing—our ongoing eCommerce strategy for our client would be flying blind.

    Searching for An Explanation with Google Tag Manager

    To solve this mystery, we began looking for data anomalies that could explain the 30% difference. We found that eCommerce traffic from Firefox users converted to sales at 0.1% while the rest of the client’s site converted at almost 8%. At the same time, we learned there were sales orders in Magento that were completely missing from the sales orders in Google Analytics. Could all of these missing sales orders come from purchases in Firefox?

    To find out, we first used Google Tag Manager’s debugger to make sure all tags were working properly on our test site with no traffic filters. In all browsers, including Firefox, we verified the tags were firing and values in the data layer were populating for product impressions, product detail views, add-to-carts, purchases, and other eCommerce metrics.  However, while the tags were working properly, the test transactions from Firefox still weren’t appearing in Google Analytics. This was nothing short of bizarre—somehow our tags were gathering eCommerce data only to have the data from FireFox disappear before it could be recorded and analyzed.

    To find an explanation, I turned to Atlantic BT’s team of veteran developers. Using each browser’s debugger, our developers explored what was happening when the eCommerce events were supposed to trigger the tags. They found when the gtm.dom event was called— specifically in the purchase confirmation step of the checkout—the data layer was dropped. So while the session data (like page view numbers) remained, all enhanced eCommerce data (transaction, revenue, product, etc) was no longer there.

    Developing a Workaround

    At this point, the whole team was scratching their heads. There was no obvious explanation for why the gtm.dom dropped the data layer before the eCommerce data could be recorded. Somewhere between the Google code and the Firefox javascript, the data just got lost. After all the time spent on this issue, we now needed to choose between continuing to investigate or creating a workaround.

    We decided to put curiosity aside and focus on a workaround. While the gtm.dom is a standard event for Google Tag Manager, it was not the only event we could use to trigger the tag.  For that very specific event—the order submission click leading to the order success page, and only in Firefox—we fired the tag on the Purchase event (which is pre-built into Magento) instead of the gtm.dom event.

    It worked. Google Analytics now records all transactions and enhanced eCommerce data from all browsers, including Firefox. This gives us a variety of insight into how our client’s online store performs and how our marketing team can better support this eCommerce strategy.

    Focusing on Resolution over Explanation

    We have a solution, but no explanation for why the issue happened in the first place. Perhaps the best lesson from this experience is to be solution-oriented, not just explanation-oriented. While we’d still love to know exactly what caused Firefox to drop our eCommerce data, the time needed to find this explanation could take us away from more valuable tasks that could benefit our client (such as analyzing the data we could now collect from Firefox).

    As digital problem solvers, we at Atlantic BT love a good data mystery. But ultimately, our primary goal is to resolve our client’s challenges, not just research the causes of them. By focusing on a fix with the help of our expert developers, we rerouted the client’s essential data to better inform our eCommerce strategy.

  • Why Social Media Matters to Small Businesses

    Most small businesses don’t have the time and money to try every new online trend. While corporate giants can burn millions testing out the possibilities of a certain type of new advertising, or pour cash into a marketing campaign that may or may not get off the ground, entrepreneurs and small business owners can’t afford to risk resources like that. If they want to compete and succeed, they have to be ruthless in deciding what kinds of investments to make with their hard-earned time and money.

    It’s no wonder that many of them haven’t decided whether try to find new customers through social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

    These online destinations don’t do a great job of allowing for direct marketing opportunities (although Facebook does offer its own advertising service), and they often seem dominated by Fortune 500 competitors, celebrity self-promoters, and a small army of men and women who spend their days immersed in online marketing. So, does social media really matter to small businesses?

    Our answer would be that social media especially matters to small businesses.

    The reason is simple: from marketing perspective, the advantage of using social networking sites is that you get a chance to cut through the clutter – that is, the normal course of “corporate speak” that so many people have gotten to be so tired of. People don’t go to social networking sites to read ads or press releases; they want to stay in touch with friends, make contact with vendors and professionals who can help them one-on-one, and just be entertained. These are all areas where small businesses have enormous competitive advantages over their corporate counterparts.

    If you have yet to make social networking a part of your small businesses marketing strategy, here are a few tips to help you get started, and to compete with the bigger players:

    Be people, not organizations. Lots of people want to be friends with you, but few are interested in joining up with a faceless organization. Make sure your social profiles emphasize the people in your company and encourage customers to get to know them. You’ll be able to make a lot more progress if users feel like they’re reaching another human, not a marketing or customer service department.

    Develop a brand and voice. Really, this comes down to fun. If what you say, post, and share is entertaining, people are going to come back. Make a habit of finding something funny, or at least offering a message with some insight. Pretty soon, these will become a part of your brand, a voice that other social media users will look forward to hearing.

    Start slowly, but move consistently. There’s no reason to turn your company upside down if you just want to dip your toe in the social networking tool. There’s nothing wrong with setting up a few profiles, devoting 10 minutes a day to making contacts and updating messages, and seeing what happens. Just make sure that you get started, and don’t let your activity drop off completely. Social networking sites thrive on going conversations, so don’t go long stretches without saying anything.

    Whisper your marketing message. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are no places to go shouting about your low, low prices or some other special. Instead, use these forums to have a little fun, share some insight and advice, and ever so quietly mention once in a while that you or your products are available. If the rest of what you have to say is interesting enough, people will take notice and respond accordingly.

    Integrate social media into your overall marketing plan. One of the biggest social media marketing mistakes we see – in companies of all sizes – is using those sites in a vacuum. There’s nothing wrong with hoping your online profiles and messages will bring you new customers and clients; but make sure that what you’re doing and saying this supporting other things you have going on, as well. If you frequently have sales at your retail locations, mention them online (but again, without resorting to straight advertising.) Or, if your normal way of finding business is through business journal columns, be sure to mention them on social networking sites. The point is that everything you do, online and off, should be pointing in the same direction.

    Social media sites are one of those places where small businesses have a distinct advantage over large ones. Follow these tips, use your online profiles and messages to support your other activities, and you’ll soon begin to see why.

  • How to Become a Meeting Whisperer

    Every day, there are 11 million formal meetings in the United States. That’s more than 3 billion meetings per year. By one estimate, this means that the average professional spends 37% of his or her workday in meetings. That’s a lot of time. As project managers, it is up to us to set up our meetings for success and make the best use of everyone’s time.
    When I think of someone who’s an expert in taming problems, I think of Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer. He’s a master of controlling wayward animals with a simple click of the tongue—a small gesture that makes a big difference. That in mind, it’s time for project managers like us to become meeting whisperers, taking the small but important steps needed to control wayward meetings.

    How Meetings Lose Their Way
    When was the last time you walked out of a meeting thinking, “Wow. That meeting was incredible!” Most likely you’ve left feeling drained and with an action item of a follow up meeting. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s up to you, project manager, to not be the main culprit of bad behavior. If you’ve ever set up a meeting and did/thought any of these things, your meeting could be a waste of time:

    • Who needs an agenda? I’ve got this.
    • I don’t need to explain why we’re meeting. We’ll cover that in the meeting.
    • I can squeeze another one hour meeting between my 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock. It’s not like I need to prep the room.
    • It’s cool if people use their phones/laptops during the meeting. I know they’re busy.
    • This collaborative meeting is turning into a one-man show, but I can’t interrupt him. That would be rude.
    • Is this phone working? Why is nobody talking, and why are they all looking at me?

    Become A Meeting Whisperer

    Scheduling a meeting shouldn’t be taboo. Your meeting shouldn’t be unproductive or uninspiring. It should be to the point, drive results and get things done. Here’s a helpful checklist to make this happen. What project manager doesn’t like a checklist?

    1. No Agenda | No Meeting

    If you walk into your meeting and you don’t have an agenda, your meeting will not be productive. Instead of getting things done, you just charged your client money to talk to your co-workers about their weekend plans. Create a firm agenda with a desired outcome and plan, then send it out with your meeting request. Remember to be flexible, but having a set agenda for the meeting sets you up for success.

    2. Have A Set Meeting Time Every Time

    When you plan a project, you know there will be demos with the client. You also know that weekly check-ins lead to success. Plan for these meetings, and schedule them at the same day and time every week. This gets both your team and your client into a rhythm. It also guarantees your developers will always have their next release in mind and helps them avoid unexpected disruptions of their work.

    3. Think Like A Boy Scout

    Follow the scout motto and always be prepared to handle possible technology and room issues. Give yourself enough time to set up the room, clean the whiteboard, and make sure you can start your meeting on time. If you are using a conference line, dial in early. If you need to walk through a presentation, have it on screen as people walk in. Set out copies of the agenda on the table. Taking time for these preparation tasks will help you start your meeting on the right foot.

    4. Assign A Note Taker

    If you are running the meeting and doing most of the talking, then assign someone to help you take notes. If you are operating as the facilitator, then assign yourself as the note taker. Don’t be afraid to pause the conversation to let everyone know you’re jotting down what they said. Repeat back key points. At the end of the meeting, share out your meeting notes so everyone is on the same page. This will help your team leave the meeting ready to work instead of feeling drained and unsure.

    5. Please Mind The Clock

    It’s up to you to control the pace and respect everyone’s schedule. If you scheduled a meeting for 30 minutes, start wrapping it up at the 25 minute mark. Use your agenda to time-box the meeting and set a end time. Time-boxing will discourage the group from wanting to ramble. It will also reveal if a topic is too large to cover in one session. If a topic starts to run long, carve out time for a micro-meeting to stay on schedule.

    6. Leave Your Cell Phones At The Door

    Messing with your cell phone during a meeting is disrespectful. We understand how busy everyone is, but the world will not end if you go for 30 minutes without a phone. At the start of the meeting, ask everyone to stay off their phones. If there are a lot of laptops, go around the room and ask everyone to identify how they will be using their laptop. If it’s not being used to bring value to the meeting, ask them to close it. These measures sound strict, but they’re essential to keeping everyone focused in the meeting.

    7. Be The Enforcer

    If you called the meeting, you control the pace. We’ve all experienced the meeting hijacker—a person who takes advantage of having everyone in the room to interject his/her own agenda. This can rapidly eat up important time while distracting from the purpose of the meeting. If someone interrupts the agenda, it’s up to you to speak up. You can diplomatically interrupt to get the meeting back on track. Listen to his/her point, express appreciation and then suggest tabling that topic for another time. Engage with the group and be a facilitator.

    8. Leave With A Plan

    What project manager doesn’t love action items? The most successful meetings are those that end with actionable tasks and a clear understanding of what’s expected. At the close of the meeting, recap what was discussed, address each person by name who has a takeaway, and get their confirmation that they understand what’s expected of them. After the meeting, send out a recap email. Don’t forget to thank everyone for participating.

    What’s Your Approach?

    Ultimately, we project managers are the ones responsible for the success of our meetings. We can prevent our meetings from being a waste of our colleagues’ and clients’ time. Becoming a meeting whisperer doesn’t mean being bossy or condescending; it’s simply about being respectful of everyone’s time.
    We all have our own style and rules to live by when it comes to meetings. Some of these techniques may not work for you, but they should give you new ideas on how to transform your meetings. Do you have any tips or suggestions you’d like to share? Atlantic BT would love to know!