How to Start a Meeting

Preparing the Opening Remarks

Draft opening remarks for a business meeting. Decide on a meeting format before you begin to plan any opening statements. Business and board meetings should have more formal opening remarks to acknowledge the attending members. Keep opening words short for more casual meetings, especially when the attendees have an allotted time to introduce themselves. You can find templates for how to start a casual meeting online. Roundtable meetings might not require as much preparation, since each member leads a different portion of the meeting. For instance, start a meeting by saying: “Welcome! I’d like to thank everyone for coming out to our quarterly budget meeting. Before we begin, I’d like you all to take a look at the agenda with me.” You could also encourage attendees to share their successes and wins since the previous meeting. We all have a tendency to focus on what's not going well—by reframing our thought process to think about the positives, it encourages us to gain awareness around and acknowledge our successes.

State the purpose of the meeting clearly. Make sure that all of the meeting’s attendees understand what you will be discussing. It will be much harder for people to focus if you don’t establish a clear goal or purpose. Let them know what to expect after you‘ve greeted them. In a business setting, you can state say something like: “The purpose of this meeting is to figure out a way to trim this quarter’s budget.” For more casual settings, you might stay, “Let’s share our thoughts and experiences on this issue.”

Follow an agenda to avoid any confusion. Review what the meeting will cover before jumping into any new conversations. Different topics can lead to different discussions, which can quickly spiral off topic if you aren’t following a planned agenda. Having an agenda helps to keep the meeting on track and on topic, and gives attendees a way to monitor how long the meeting goes. Clearly state if a certain part of the agenda only applies to one person. To avoid any confusion in the meeting, establish who is in charge of which task. For example, say, “John will be handling all of the budget paperwork. Talk to him if you have any questions.”

Running the Meeting Efficiently

Start the meeting on time to stay schedule. Make sure that the meeting begins at its scheduled time. You want to show all meeting attendees that their time is valuable. By starting the meeting on time, you are creating an atmosphere of mutual respect. Punctuality also makes it easier to make time for questions later. Be sure to end the meeting on time as well.

Review any ground rules to maintain order. Remind the attendees of the meeting policies before you begin. Depending on the meeting, you may have more ground rules than others. For example, a support meeting may have a confidentiality reminder for the members. A business meeting may have a rule about attendees being thorough and specific when speaking. Establish these rules at the beginning of the meeting. It will be much more difficult to enforce any rules if you are bringing them up at random times. For instance, in a business meeting, you could say: “If you have any issues with this quarter’s budget, please wait until the end of the meeting to speak with me privately.”

Allow time for attendees to introduce themselves. Give attendees an opportunity to say hello and to learn each other’s names. Member introductions are more necessary and valuable for support groups, since each attendee will be speaking throughout the meeting. Introductions can be valuable in a formal setting as well, but make sure that they don’t take away from items on the meeting agenda. For example, you could say this at a formal meeting: “Before we begin, I’d like to go around the room so that each person can say their name and position within the company.” At a casual meeting, you could say: “Let’s go around the circle and introduce ourselves. You can also share one positive and one negative thing that happened to you this week.”

Establish a time for questions and comments. Make sure that attendees have an opportunity to make their voices heard. Try to include a specific item in the meeting’s agenda that’s dedicated to answering questions and listening to feedback. If attendees feel confused when they’re leaving, they may think that the entire meeting was a waste of time. Shut down any toxic behavior from attendees. While open communication is important, passive-aggressive conversations tend to make a meeting tense and uncomfortable. If you feel that passive-aggressive commentary could be a serious issue for your attendees, make a comment on toxic behavior at the beginning of the meeting.

Getting Your Point Across

Speak with concise language to make a clear point. Avoid using unnecessary filler language in a formal business meeting setting. In a more casual setting, try using friendly and inviting language to eliminate any confusion on who you may be addressing. By streamlining your own language, you are also streamlining the efficiency of the meeting overall. For instance, in a formal meeting, instead of saying, “We are having difficulties distributing papers due to a mechanical issue,” say, “We can’t make any copies because the printer broke.” In a casual meeting, say, “Let us all share something good that happened this week” to make it clear that you’re addressing the whole group.

Incorporate pauses to place emphasis on a point. Choose strategic places in your speech to include a second or two of pauses, as this helps the listener to pay more attention to what you’ll say next. Pausing also allows you to catch your breath and mentally review what you want to say next. Speak slowly and clearly so that everyone can hear and understand you.

Get to the point by using clear, active verbs. Speak in a way that is clear and actionable so that people can immediately understand what you’re trying to say. Try to avoid using the passive voice, which will take the direct action out of your speech. Including an active voice gets your point across far more directly and smoothly than a passive voice. For example, say “We reached our goal,” instead of saying, “The goal has been reached.”

Avoid redundant language so you can make a clear point. Don’t use unnecessary words when trying to make your point. There’s no need to make a statement longer than it has to be when you can make your point in a few words. In any type of meeting, terms like “close proximity” and “particular interest” can be shortened to “proximity” and “interest” when you speak. For instance, say, “This project must be completed by noon” instead of saying, “This project must be completed by 12 noon.”