If you think continuing education, or lifelong learning, is important to the success of your business, then you need to think about how much time you, or your staff members, spend on attending a traditional class or seminar. First you?e got to get into your car and drive to wherever the meeting is, wasting precious hours in traffic. And being on time just isn? enough! You? better arrive early so you can get a good parking spot, register, and get a halfway decent seat.

Then you can twiddle your thumbs or reread the agenda five or six times while you sit there and wait for the course to begin. And when it's over you've got to walk back to your car, despite inclement weather, and drive back to your office. So, now you?e spent three or more hours of your busy day to attend a one-hour class.

Whether it? making the leap from employee to entrepreneurship and starting your own business, excelling in your current career, seeking a better job, motivating your staff or managing your time and money -- there is a way to gain access to personal and professional knowledge, camaraderie, and one-to-one interaction simply by using your telephone. Teleclasses are a great way to effect positive change in your life.

Telecommunication is the buzzword? and virtual classrooms, teleclasses, tele-seminars, tele-learning or conference call classes are the wave of the future!

Teleclasses are offered on a wide range of business and personal development topics and are an exciting, innovative way to attain valuable information, explore new ideas and gain new skills. You can examine your spirituality, inspire your life through the arts, learn a craft, dialogue on best places to travel, learn to create better relationships, learn to eat better or exercise to improve your health and fitness, or just simply have fun.

A teleclass is much like a regular class? except it brings the classroom to your doorstep! The technology is as simple as punching the digits on a telephone and the returns are immense! You simply dial into the conference call at a designated time; announce yourself to the other class participants, and the program begins.

The facilitator/teacher makes a presentation and there are usually questions and comments, followed by a lively and robust exchange of ideas. A major perk is that most teleclasses are offered at a variety of times and dates, allowing you to schedule them at your convenience.

Usually one-hour in length, and fully interactive, teleclasses can be accessed from your desk, your home, your car, a pay phone or even your hotel room. Best of all, the cost is significantly less than a traditional class or seminar when you consider travel and time; making tele-learning an extremely affordable knowledge tool. Teleclasses offer positive and essential education, using technology as a tool for communication with strong and consistently positive results.

And when the program ends, you hang up the phone. And guess what, your one-hour class took exactly one hour!One distinct advantage is that you can interact with other people that have different ability levels, skills and backgrounds, who can be from almost anywhere in the country or the world. You can take a class just for yourself or you can set up a teleclass that everybody in your company can take simultaneously.

The groups are usually small, 20 or less, so everyone gets individual attention through instruction that is both topical and focused. Teleclasses are a hassle-free, money saving alternative to traditional? n person?seminars and classes. NO Travel? NO Parking fees and you get cutting-edge, innovative and customized learning in an informal setting with a select group of people who, like you, want to take command of their learning experience and aren? afraid to take risks to increase their knowledge base and accelerate their development! So the next time you contemplate taking a seminar or a class to improve your business, personal or interpersonal skills -- you might want to make it a teleclass.

Rick Sherr?l is the founder of Pro Speakers Bureau (http://www. ProSpeakersBureau. com), an Atlanta-based agency that delivers high-quality speakers, trainers and subject matter experts as well as a variety of teleclasses, seminars and special events. For list of available teleclasses visit http://www. ProSpeakersBureau. com/Teleclasses

Author:
Rick Sherrell