untitled

Making Meetings Better

Two golden rules will make the meetings you

attend more constructive for you: Be courteous

and Be substantive.

Be courteous

• Make sure you know the name of everyone
  attending. Ask for a round of introductions
  if people don’t know each other.


• Use others’ names when speaking to them
  or referring to their statements.


• Be brief. Speak only to add something new.
  Don’t speak only to be heard.


• Listen to the person speaking. Don’t be
  planning your next statement while some-
  one else is talking.


• Look at the speaker.


• Speak in friendly terms to others. Never
  yell at other participants. If someone
  yells at you, try to reply quietly, in
  a friendly voice, perhaps with a bit
  of humor.

After a well-run meeting, compliment its

leader. Reinforce what you liked about it.

Be Substantive

• Speak only when you have something
  to say.


• Acknowledge the ideas of others, even if
  you want to build on them instead of use
  them as-is.


• If you disagree with an idea, acknowledge
  it and the person who offered it, while stat-
  ing your differences.


• Ask for clarification if you do not under-
  stand what someone is suggesting. Be firm
  in your dealings with those who try to run
  over you.


• If someone “steals” your idea, reclaim it.
  “That’s just what I was trying to say earli-
  er...you’ve made it much clearer.”

If you model these behaviors for others, you

might raise the entire meeting’s effectiveness.

Leading Better Meetings

If you regularly lead meetings, analyze how

your meeting looks to the participants. Ask

the same questions as participants might, but

answer them from your leader’s perspective.

The same golden rules apply to those who

lead meetings: Be courteousand Be substantive.

Be courteous

• Prepare in advance by sending out an
  agenda. If appropriate, send out a roster
  of attendees, including their first and last
  names, titles and organizational affiliations.


• Start and end on time. Keep your meetings
  to a reasonable and previously agreed
  upon length. Schedule the time to fit the
  tasks to be accomplished.

Acknowledge the ideas of others,

even if you want to build on

them instead of use them as-is.

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY

CHAPTER 9 • EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION 223

These two golden rules will

make the meetings you

attend more constructive

for you: Be courteousand

Be substantive.

Listen to the person speaking.

Don’t be planning your next

statement while someone else

is talking.