Meeting Management: How to Run an Effective Meeting
There are several reasons why you might find yourself in a situation where you have been asked to run a meeting at your place of work. Perhaps you have recently been promoted and are about to give your first briefing, or maybe you have done some standout work lately, and your manager has asked you to help bring your coworkers up to speed on a certain point.
Whatever circumstances have led to you running a meeting, being in charge of holding a meeting at work can be a task that is easier said than done, especially if it is something that you have never done before. It requires you to present yourself as an authority on a certain aspect of your job and have the ability to provide pertinent information to your peers and coworkers. You might also have one or two of your superiors in the room for your meeting.
If you are concerned about how to prepare for your first meeting, here are a few tips to help you keep the room engaged and present your information as clearly and concisely as possible.
Help Your Audience Absorb Information
If you want to run an effective meeting, whether online or in person, you should have some sort of presentation prepared for the occasion so that you can keep your audience engaged and present your information as clearly as possible.
For those running a virtual meeting, one element that you should look to include in your presentation is accurate live captioning. This will provide captions for every word that you speak during your meeting in real-time.
As a result of using software like this, you can be certain that everyone in attendance can absorb all the information that you are conveying clearly and easily. The bonus of using captions is that it can make your presentation more accessible to those who cannot watch the presentation by providing a visual aid and in the language you require.
Start with an Agenda
Stepping into the first meeting where you are at the helm can be intimidating. You might be concerned about hitting all of your points in the allotted time frame and conveying everything that you need to. This is where an agenda can really come in handy.
Bear in mind the fact that the agenda that you draw up for the meeting isn’t just for your benefit. You should also explain your agenda to the room at the start of your meeting so that everyone knows what to expect and what points will be covered. This will help you to keep things clear and reduce the number of questions that your audience might ask throughout your presentation.
Finish with a Clear Decision or Call to Action
Ending your meeting can also be a bit intimidating. In order to end on the note that you want, you should look to wrap things up with a clear decision or call to action. Essentially, you don’t want your audience to have to guess what the point of your presentation was. A definitive decision in this way will help you to wrap things up nicely.