Steps to Run a Meeting
The people that work in positions at the higher level, like Alexander Djerassi, have more responsibilities. One of those responsibilities includes running meetings. They get to choose how often they hold meetings. It could be once a month, twice a year, or even once a year. If it’s their first time, they may struggle running the meeting.
1. Be Prepared
The most important step to run a meeting is to prepare themselves for what’s to come. Most people know ahead of time when they are running the meeting. It would be a good idea for people to put together a Powerpoint or a Word document illustrating the points. There are a lot of people that are visual learners. It helps them to see what is being said rather than hearing it. Poster Boards with graphs are also helpful to use.
2. Practice
Practice makes perfect. Now that everything is put together for the meeting, people should practice their presentation. They could be presenting to their employees or pitching ideas to gain new clients. To practice for the meeting, they can rehearse what to say in front of the mirror. The best way to practice would be to grab a group of people. Those people could be close friends or family members. That group of people can provide feedback after the rehearsal. During the practice session, it’s also best for the presentation to be timed. If it lasts too long, people may run out the door once it’s over. If it’s longer than they want it, then they can go back to step one and shorten their presentation a bit and practice again. Some people may have to practice a lot because they left things out or they’re stuttering, and that’s okay.
3. Speak With Confidence
When the day comes for them to run their meeting, speak with confidence. Take a deep breath and begin. They need to be sure they are looking their potential clients or employees in the eyes. When they look down at the ground or turn their head to stare at the board, people can hear them. Their audience may also lose focus and get distracted by other things. Their employees need to know that they know what they’re talking about. Hopefully, during their practice session, they got out all the umms and other stutters. When speaking with confidence, the most important thing is to capture the attention of their audience. A few signs that the meeting went well is when people start nodding their heads, smiling, or clapping.
4. Ask Questions
Once the meeting has ended, ask if anyone has any questions. It will give the employers some help to see if anything was left out. If no one has any questions, then the employer has covered everything. They are now able to dismiss the meeting.
These four steps will help all employers successfully run a meeting as Alexander Djerassi would. Once they have their first meeting under their belt, they can successfully run others without a problem.