I endured the most awkward business meeting so you don't have to. Here's what you need to know.

The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.

The rapid heartbeat, heavy breathing, and exasperated sweating were palpable, even through the screens of the virtual meeting. One hour became two, then three, and the villain holding hostages hijacked the collaborative session. My assistant texted me furiously, sending thumbs up in aggravated pleas to interrupt and cut him off. When I did, I realized I was way too late; the damage was done, and the author and the public had suffered the results of his socially unconscious actions.

In case you're wondering, no, he didn't fundraise on that call. And no, he didn't win any customers or leads either. He has, however, made some enemies, though I'm sure he's completely unaware of that - and luckily that's not for me to tell him. At the end of the day, he was probably the smartest, in some ways, the most "accomplished" person in the room. However, being intelligent or accomplished does not make a person immune to alienating their audience all of a sudden. Here are the five cardinal rules he broke and how we can avoid a similar tragic fate:

Related: Virtual Meeting Etiquette Guide for Hosts and Attendees

1. Build, don't denigrate

There is a tempting trap that too many young, new, or may fall into the predicament of building credibility and being taken seriously. This trap: confusing arrogance with wisdom or credibility. In this case, the culprit was a young and talented aspiring tech founder who was on his way to building an unequivocally impressive product. Unfortunately, the way he positioned himself and the product instantly elevated his skills above the audience, and his listeners were quickly put off by the way he spoke to them.

Rule broken? He did not build his following or act in the name of service or benevolent nurturing; instead, he spoke to them with contempt and cut ties within the first few minutes.

2. Qualifications matter

We've probably all heard the understatement of selling ice cream to Eskimos, but is that really the sign of a great salesperson or a successful entrepreneur? So many entrepreneurs jump straight into the field or try to convince an audience or lead that they aren't fully qualified yet. In this case, the genie might talk until he's blue in the face, but his audience still won't really know or care what he's saying, just because he was selling to the wrong crowd. . Qualify first, pitch second.

Related: 4 Meeting Mistakes You're Probably Making and How to Fix Them

3. Impress the wrong person

Ironically, he's not the first entrepreneur I've heard this week call himself the best [name of title] in the world. There was the "hardest working content creator" in the world, then the "best blockchain coder of his generation" and a few other self-proclaimed titles which I will spare you the details. This speaker was aiming his pitch to impress one person, in fact, his favorite person: himself. That might be okay if he was his own best client or his own well-funded venture capitalist, but that's not the case. His positioning impressed the wrong person, neglecting the good people who were in the room. In fact, the self-aggrandizing statements and narcissistic tone rather repelled the few qualified listeners who would have otherwise requested a follow-up discussion. Spoiler alert: they didn't.

4. Manners matter

I'm not going to claim that all successful entrepreneurs, marketers, and salespeople are nice; I will, however, argue that those who are obviously mean or inconsiderate – especially in a public forum – are polarized enough that they lose some (many) potential customers. This interjector dismissed points, questions, and requests from other meeting attendees, while publicly disrespecting the host and moderator. As someone with behind-the-scenes access to follow-up communications from attendees, I guarantee they didn't miss it either.

Related: 7 Tips for Watching Your Manners D...