Productive meetings: tips on two of the biggest pitfalls.

• Author: Wilson, Scott
• Position: Advice Meetings

MOST OF US HAVE READ a number of articles and/or books on how to plan a great meeting. Then we proceed into the meeting prepared with our agenda, visual aids, goals and guest speakers only to end up with another boring and possibly unproductive meeting.

I have been on both the planning and presenting side of meetings and it is easy to look into the eyes of the audience and determine what keeps their interest. While it is still important to follow the expert meeting tips--starting meetings on time, planning agendas, setting goals, encouraging participation, inviting guest speakers, using visuals and having a good room layout--these tips alone will not ensure meeting success. While discussions regarding the perfect meeting could be endless, I will focus on what I have observed are two of the biggest meeting pitfalls: poor use of audio and visual presentations, and ignoring the power of food and beverages.

USE OF AUDIO AND VISUAL PRESENTATIONS

Behavioral research confirms that we can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text--so it is clear that you need to have some sort of visual aids. In our high-tech visual world, groups expect to be entertained by impressive visual aids--there is nothing entertaining or impressive about an overhead projector with transparencies. Get with the times! Invest in one of the many presentation software products now available and turn your presentation into something that you would want to watch and hear.

Once you become modernized and are ready to make your mark as a presenter, look for ways to add some "wow" to your visuals. While pictures and clip art can add to a presentation, be sure that you have a theme and design for each slide that make one major point. If you are unsure if your artwork supports your theme, have someone else look at your presentation to see if it makes the same point to him or her. Be careful not to use the same familiar clip art or pictures that everyone else is using. When I see the overused animated man with glasses and a moustache...