How to Make Meetings More Engaging

Ugh, it’s time for that weekly meeting at work. Time to go over all the things everyone has to do and blah blah blah. Yawn. These meetings are often tedious and you constantly get distracted by thinking about what you’re going to have for lunch or why the meeting room is so cold. 

Whether you’re a manager, employee, or entrepreneur, meetings are a necessity. When done right, meetings are a great way to brainstorm, celebrate successes, and establish plans to excel and grow the company. Often times, meetings can feel like a drag, and can be unproductive when it isn’t run efficiently. All those who attend meetings want to have positive outcomes, no one wants to be bored out of their brains and no one wants to run a meeting that people dread. So in the spirit of everyone having a more enjoyable, productive experience, here are some tips and ideas to making meetings more fun for everyone.

Have a Game Plan

Knowing what you’re trying to accomplish in a meeting is key to being productive with topics of conversation. Have a game plan with a goal. According to Forbes, If you can’t give a clear reason as to why people are in the meeting and what you’re trying to achieve, then you shouldn’t have that meeting. Another important way to keep a meeting on track is to have a structure for the meeting. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you write up an agenda and pass it out to everyone at the start of the meeting. But it definitely means having an idea of what you want to speak about, and how to do it. If structure and organization are in place then everyone knows what to expect. Finally, be sure to start and end meetings on time. Schedule the proper amount of time needed and be respectful of everyone’s time. Staying focus and on task will help everyone get more out of every meeting.

Keep their Attention

One of the hardest parts of a meeting is keeping everyone on track. Scheduling, and structuring meetings is a great place to start to keep people engaged, here are a few more ways to encourage and keep attendee’s attention.

Start a meeting with good news! One of the best ways to get people excited for a meeting is to celebrate employees, the company and accomplishments! Begin the meeting by taking some time to go around the room and have everyone share something. This could be something about good about a work project or even something personal that they wish to share. This may sound like a silly icebreaker but it really will benefit your meeting. If your goal is to have more engagement in meetings, ask people to engage! It may even be good to find short games to play in order to wake everyone up a little and get ready to be productive!

Think of the last time you sat in a lecture hall, or were in a seminar. No matter what the topic is or how interested you are in it, your mind begins to wander at about 10 minutes in. In order to keep a meeting on track, it’s important to provide the tools for your attendees to be successful. Give your audience tools to engage throughout the meeting. Check in using live polls they can participate in, and make sure to have designated time for questions.

Shake it up!

Sometimes the best way to keep an audience’s attention is by doing attention getting things. Instead of getting stuck in a rut of running the same old meeting, try to spice things up by trying new things! 

Here are a few ideas to try:

  • Coming up with different themes for meetings
  • Bringing in new snacks to try
  • Changing up venues and seating arrangements
  • Mediation or something to wake the body up 

Whatever you try, just start something new and fun so your audience has something to look forward to!

Rethinking and changing up how you conduct and structure meetings is a great way to get everyone involved more engaged. PowerPoint is the most popular medium for presenting information in a meeting setting, and honestly it can become kind of boring and monotonous. In order to break the monotony, try using something like Prezi, or switching up the style of meeting. Whatever kind of meeting you decide to have, it is very important to take notes! Taking notes and then distributing those later can help sum up what was decided and spoken about in a clear and concise way. That way everyone has the opportunity to refer back to the notes if needed. 

Meetings may not always be the most entertaining, but they are a business world necessity. Getting a team all together is the best way discuss successes, goals and solve problems. Utilizing these tips and ideas will help you take your meetings from dull and droning to engaging and more productive than ever!

Thanks for reading! 

Here are some more helpful links:

6 Expert Tips To Make Meetings More Effective And Engaging

10 Killer Tips to Run Effective Monthly Team Meetings that Engage Employees

How to Make Deathly Dull Meetings Fun and Interactive Again

Katy Harrington
Katy Harrington

Book a Tour Now

A home for your business starts here!