I’m sure we all have attended some less than optimally run meetings. You know the ones; they seem to go on and on forever and still do not accomplish anything. I know I’ve been in a few of these. Yet running a successful meeting – or session – doesn’t just happen.  In fact, successful meeting/session facilitation takes place in four phases: planning the session, opening the session, facilitating, and closing the session. In this posting, we’ll explore the planning phase.

A good meeting/session requires good planning. But how much planning? I’ve heard it said that a typical model is 10% planning, 80% meeting, and 10% follow-up. A much more effective model is 50% planning, 30% meeting, and 20% follow-up. One of my favorite quotes is, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” No one has time to waste, so putting a bit of time and effort into planning can help ensure your meetings/sessions are meaningful and productive. Below are suggested guidelines for planning effective meetings:

Determine the Purpose or Desired Outcomes of the Session:

Survey the people who will attend the meeting for topics they would like to have included in the meeting and ask for a brief description of their topic. Upon receipt, look for commonalities among the topics and prioritize accordingly. Better yet, once you’ve obtained a list of proposed topics, let the attendees prioritize the list! (Our Facilitation Skills for New Facilitators course has some excellent techniques for doing just this!)

Create an Agenda:

Once you have prioritized the topics, create objectives or agenda points for the entire session. Langevin emphasizes that clear, simple objectives should be written as an action verb followed by a noun. Also, declare start and end times for the session along with time limits for each topic as a courtesy for those attending. Generally, you can stay on track and achieve your outcomes if you adhere to time limits and keep the discussion flowing in an orderly fashion!

Post a “Parking Lot”:

Trainers use “Parking Lots” in their classrooms as a way to “bench” an issue/question until it can be addressed.  This technique works well for meetings, too. Plan to use a flipchart page or whiteboard on which attendees can write their issue/question until the end of the meeting. This keeps the session flowing more smoothly, allowing attendees to have their questions answered at specified times of the meeting.

Consider Room Set-up:

Believe it or not, this is an essential part of planning your session. The room set-up can make or break your meeting by allowing it to flow the way you need it to—or not! You have a few options:

1. Round Tables: great for brainstorming sessions.  Fosters a ‘team’ environment and encourages participation among small groups.
2. “U” Shaped: use this set-up when you want the attendees to see each other and interact only when needed.
3. Lecture Setting: chairs are in rows, like a theater. This set-up establishes the speaker as the main focus and works well when the main purpose of the session is solely imparting information.

Finally:

I encourage you to send out reminders about your meeting.  They should go out a day or two before the meeting.

Whether you are a manager, team member or HR professional, you may be called upon to facilitate/lead a meeting. So remember, it all starts with planning. And I’d love to hear what you’re doing around the Planning phase. Feel free to share! For more how-to’s on facilitating meetings, consider our new Facilitation Skills for New Facilitators workshop. The press is that it is a winner!

Melissa

• Am I making eye contact?
• Are my gestures appropriate and convincing?
• Is my stance balanced?
• Am I using speech fillers?

Below are some of my favorite skill and improvement tips.  Some of these techniques may seem obvious, but they’re often neglected or forgotten — especially when under pressure.

Make random eye contact.

It’s the most powerful means of conveying non-verbal messages and the single most important aspect of connecting with an audience.  Scan the entire room and allow your gaze to rest on one person for approximately two seconds before you “scan and lock” again.  Try to create a casual flow from front to back, side to side.  Eye contact makes your audience feel included and acknowledged.

Smile!

It seems obvious, but a smile is the first thing that goes when you are nervous.  But smiling is a great method to break the ice and put your audience at ease.  Become aware of the degree to which you smile (or don’t) when you’re nervous.

Use gestures for emphasis.

A gesture is a hand movement that is as much a part of language as speech!  The bigger the audience, the bigger the gestures need to be.  Try to scale your gestures to match the size of your audience.  Gestures need to start at the shoulder and stay above the waist – so everyone can see them.  Low gestures can draw the audience down and away from your face, and then they become distracting.  Penguins can be cute, but they’re not good presenters.

Assume the “Ready Position.”

Place your feet hip-width apart to create a solid base.  Position your weight over the balls of the feet and relax your knees.  Finally, rest your arms at your sides.  Resist the urge to fidget!

Move with purpose!

Focus on someone in your audience.  Move toward that same person as you are speaking, and maintain eye contact.  Stop in the “Ready Position” and stay in one spot for awhile.  Don’t move too soon, or you’ll look like you’re pacing.  From here, you can focus on several people, one at a time, for 3-6 seconds each.  (3-6 seconds translates into a complete thought or sentence per person.)

Make listening easy.

By incorporating silent spaces between thoughts, you give listeners time to absorb the idea you just stated.  Best of all, it gives you an opportunity to breathe!

Reduce filler words.

Become aware of the fillers (uh’s, um’s, you knows, etc.) and replace them with the silence of a pause.  Listen to your own voice-mail messages to help identify your particular fillers.

Finally, don’t hide your hands in your pockets!

If both of your hands are in your pockets, it says your usefulness is in suspension!!  Literally translated, “I can’t give you a hand.”

I enjoy learning about and gathering new tips and techniques to add to my “Trainer’s Toolbox,” so I’d like to hear from you.  What are some of your favorite tools/techniques to polish your presentation skills?

Melissa