Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, or Get Out of More Meetings

Agenda Item 5

Your Presentation Sucks … Really, Yours Sucks

Hey, while this item may look like it's for presenters only, look again.

As a meeting attendee, you can assist your meeting facilitator by reading the ideas here. Plus, who knows? One day you might be front and center, under the hot lights of the projector, desperately needing to make your presentation more effective. Ignore my suggestions at your peril (insert your own evil-sounding laugh here)!

First, a few questions for you as a presenter:

What makes meetings and presentations effective? You.

What makes meetings and presentations suck? You.

So, what's the difference (besides you)?

It's your ability to effectively engage people in the content you're delivering. It's having your attendees desire to listen, participate, and interact to achieve the outcomes you desire from your meeting.

That's a lot to ask? Sure it is, especially when Monotone Mitch steps up to read five PowerPoint slides packed with 27 bullet points about why this meeting is imperative.

Meetings require someone to lead them. I've been calling that person a meeting facilitator, but, really, facilitators are much more: the teacher and the referee, the person in charge of handling the unruly students (… oops, I mean fellow attendees and team members) in the back.

Attendees expect their meeting leader to be an interesting presenter and to engage them creatively, intellectually, or both, depending on the kind of meeting.

Attendees quickly become disgruntled ...