A blog about leadership: How to start a meeting extraordinary interesting in 11 ways

Well started: 11 pretty cool ways to start your meeting

Well started is half complete
When you are a meeting leader, you may think that you are the one to speak most of the time. Instead, you need to be listening and questioning most of the time. It is said that he who speaks much dominates, while he who asks much rules.

The danger, of course, is that your participants will then say most and decide everything. No, no. That's not the case. Do you then relinquish your power? No, not either. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. You control abundantly. Now you have to get involved. Here are 10 tricks to it. If the ideas are a little too airy, please contact the undersigned. Then we make it specific and suitable for your meeting.

Please understand that when the meeting is boring, then no one hears anything, learns anything, gets wiser to anything. Maybe they are all sitting and sleeping inside. They sleep with open eyes. Their thoughts are completely different. They are not in your meeting room. Therefore, try these:

1. Ask your participants to write down the topic or questions that, in their opinion, is the most crucial today.

2. Start with an opening question that requires your participants to vote by raising an arm.

3. Ask your participants to guess omitted facts (in your explanations, on your handouts or slides).

4. Complete a ‘Who comes closest?’: Ask everyone to guess the number. Write the number on a flip. Add the numbers together. Divide by the number of participants and see if the average guess comes close. It's called Wisdom of the Crowd. How close is the number to the best individual guess? Give a prize to her who came closest. Choose a prize that is something you hold dear.

5. Present your story based on the SPAP model: describe the Situation. Explain what the Problems are. List Alternatives. Bring your Proposal. Involve your participants by asking for their Suggestions instead of bringing yours.

6. Start with a quiz or a test. Let your participants solve the test individually or in pairs. Make sure they talk about questions and answers.

7. Involve your participants physically. Ask them to stand up, raise their arms, pat, trample, etc. Remember to give a reason for these gymnastics.

8. Introduce a new language. Measure the participants' interest or point of view. Keep them awake.

9. Use pictures of products, customers or employees and let them run as a slideshow while presenting…

10. Use dialogue cards (find the world's best selection of dialogue tools at LEADERSwarehouse.com. There are many ways to use dialogue tools. Find ways and methods here too.

11. Demonstrate a product, an opportunity, a process. Be sure to involve your participants.

Written by Michael Meinhardt, LEADERS WAREHOUSE.