How to lead a meeting
Expert sources (3)
- 1
81. Build a Presence People Remember (Lorraine K. Lee)
Lorraine K. LeeVisibility expert - 2
How to Become a Leader at Work in 4 Ways
Alexander LyonCommunication professor, leadership coach and founder of Communication Coach Academy - 3
How to Talk So Clearly People Assume You’re Brilliant
Leila HormoziEntrepreneur
Mentioned experts haven’t endorsed RiseGuide
Summary
Leading a good meeting showcases your leadership and makes everyone's time valuable. Key practices: prepare and set a clear agenda with timeframes, demonstrate competence by being fully prepared and contributing informed opinions, control the focus by avoiding side tangents, facilitate quality communication by asking good questions and summarizing, support engagement and participation (especially for quieter attendees), and encourage cameras on in virtual sessions.
Leading a good meeting is an easy way to stand out and make everyone's time worthwhile. A few practices help:
- Prepare and set an agenda: Lorraine K. Lee suggests deciding the goal of the meeting, outlining the questions you want answered, and sharing a clear agenda with timeframes so people can prepare 1.
- Demonstrate competence: Alexander Lyon recommends showing up fully prepared, having done any pre-work, so you can contribute informed opinions and lead by example 2.
- Control the focus: Leila Hormozi points to keeping the conversation on track, not letting it get derailed by side tangents, and respecting everyone's time by taking off-topic matters offline 3.
- Facilitate quality communication: Help set goals, ask good questions, manage tension, and summarize key points when the discussion starts to drift.
- Support engagement and participation: Invite people in early and give several ways to contribute, so quieter or more introverted participants have a comfortable way to share.
- Enhance virtual sessions: For video calls, encourage everyone to turn their cameras on to lift engagement and make it feel more collaborative.
Before every meeting, define a clear goal and an explicit agenda with timeframes to guide preparation and keep the discussion focused.