To pre-record, or not to pre-record, that is the question.

Public companies report their earnings performance to their shareholders on a quarterly basis – generally in January, April, July, and October. These quarterly reports can have a great effect on the company’s stock price. According to Investopedia.com, they can cause investors to bid up the stock’s price or else pummel it down depending on how the numbers shape up in regard to analyst expectations.

After a public company announces their earnings report, they may schedule a conference call to go over the details and allow analysts and investors to dial in and ask questions. These calls generally start off with a script of prepared remarks then followed by a Q&A session. Many companies read their remarks live while an increasing number of companies are choosing to pre-record their remarks in advance of the call.

What are the benefits of pre-recording versus reading the script live?

Some speakers may fumble during a live reading, phones ring, ambulances drive by, people cough, sneeze, etc. These interruptions can cause the scripted portion of your earnings call to get a little awkward! With the pre-recording, you can edit out any disturbances or re-record any portions that aren’t presented smoothly, without interruptions. It also relieves the stress of presenting to allow your team to concentrate their efforts on preparing to interact with the audience. Instead, you can focus on your questioner queue if you’re going to have live callers dialing in to ask questions. This ensures you’ll have a clean and polished presentation with no surprises or awkward moments.

How does it work?

MultiVu offers 3 different options for pre-recording your prepared remarks. First, and most popular, is the operator-assisted pre-recording where your team dials in at a scheduled time and are joined with an operator on the line who assists you with the recording process. The operator will note any edits needed during the recording while following along with your script. The second option is an independent pre-recording where your team dials in at their leisure to record using phone prompts. No operator will be on the line and edits are very limited. One clean take is best so if you need to re-record you can just start over. The third option is for your team to record on your own and send us a completed audio file which we will then play at the beginning of your call after the operator’s opening.

Do all speakers need to be in the same room?

Your team can dial in while sitting in the same room, or from separate locations where they will be joined together on the line for the pre-recording session. If you can’t schedule all your speakers at the same time, we can set up a second recording as needed and our editors will join the recordings together.

What’s the timeline for a pre-recording?

We generally like to schedule pre-recordings at least 24 hrs prior to the live call to allow time for any re-records or edits necessary. We schedule them on the quarter-hour to avoid on-the-hour phone traffic. Preferred times are between 12:15 PM and 3:15 PM ET. After the recording, our editors will work on any edits requested during the call and we’ll then send you an edited audio file for your review. If any further edits are needed, we ask that you send us clear notes along with timestamps to expedite the edit process. We’ll then send a revised audio file for your approval. If you need to re-record any portion, we ask that you let us know as early as possible to make sure we can accommodate your request. Approval is due at 7 PM ET the evening before any call scheduled before noon the next day. Otherwise, the file must be approved at least 3 hours prior to the start of the event.

Currently, 27% of our telecom projects include pre-recording and that number is increasing every year as clients are realizing the benefits and assurance of a smooth call using this service. Check out our one-sheet that breaks down our pre-recording service guidelines and costs. If you want to learn more about how our team handles quarterly earnings for our clients, check out https://www.multivu.com/blog/2018/quarterly-earnings-rollercoaster.html. Have more questions? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].

MultiVu and Chorus Call: Pre-Record Guidelines

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ABOUT THE EXPERT: Virginia O'Brien

Virginia has been with MultiVu since 2008. She started on our business intelligence team, then transitioned to healthcare and multimedia news release teams. In 2014, she transferred to the Webcast team where she now manages and produces webcasts. In her free time, she likes to explore the historic, small towns of Upstate New York and runs a dog walking business in her neighborhood.