5 Ways to Communicate Better in Meetings

Business meetings are an integral part of everyday working life. Meetings are used to develop ideas, exchange concerns, present information and make decisions. A big part of learning how to run effective meetings relies on communication. Learning to communicate better in meetings can boost overall business results because they become more productive and are more likely to achieve business objectives.

Continue reading to learn 5 ways to communicate better in meetings

1. Plan your meeting

Establishing an effective framework and plan for a business meeting helps you to establish the right tone.  Assuring that your meetings have a purpose. Employees may approach a meeting with a negative attitude if they feel it has no purpose. Communicate goals and targets ahead of time and again at the start of the business meeting. When participants understand the purpose they will feel more compelled to engage and communicate throughout the meeting listening and participating.

2. Ask Questions in your meeting

Communicating better in meetings works better when the attendees are involved in the conversation, rather than simply listening to a long speech. However, some of those attending the meeting may be reluctant to interject or to volunteer points themselves, which is why questions are so important. Ideally, you should try to make intelligent use of questions to push the conversation forward and to get specific ideas from people. Questions can be aimed at the group, with attendees being given a chance to volunteer an answer, or aimed at individuals, which can be a good way to keep people engaged.

3. Be aware of your body language

Body language is just as important as verbal communication. It provides clues to your attitude and state of mind, be conscious of the message that you are sending with your body language.  As an article from Forbes on body language in leadership points out, people make snap judgments based on their body language. Before your business meeting, you need to consciously think about how you sit or stand. Avoid closed body language, such as crossed arms, and try to make eye contact with the other people in your meeting. Here are a few reminders to ask yourself before directing a meeting…

Are you slouching in your chair?
Are you using eye contact to include everyone?
Are your arms crossed defensively?

4. Choose the correct meeting room

When working on your communication in a meeting it is important to make sure that your conference room is a private, quiet and confidential environment. Unlike a public setting, a meeting room is a space created specifically to keep things private and confidential. In our conference rooms, you can create a quiet environment without distractions, which allows everyone in the room to focus. Not only that, but you’ll be able to hear one another too. You can get down to business with ease, without the disturbing background noise of public space. Our private luxurious meeting rooms have the facilities to suit you. Don’t hesitate to book today to maximise your meeting and conference experience.

5. Have a positive attitude

It is very easy to be negative or point out flaws in another person’s ideas in a meeting, but doing so may ultimately thwart the success of the meeting. Rather than addressing the downside of any issues raised within the meeting, try to locate the positive valuable side in each comment a person makes. Not only will this keep the meeting from being derailed, it also keeps the focus on developing solutions and creating progress.

 

Communication is critical when it comes to running effective meetings, learning to communicate better can easily be the difference between an unproductive meeting and a productive meeting that delivers the original objective. What you say must have a purpose, and it is vital to stay on topic. However, communication does not only go one way, and it is also not only about what you say. Bring your participants into the discussion and pay attention to your body language. Choose a meeting or conference room that has effective technology from one of our meeting packages and eradicate unnecessary distractions.

Recording meetings and listening to them back is a great way to pick up on areas of strength and areas of weakness. As you improve your communication, the overall quality of your business meetings will improve too.

To learn more about the importance of face to face meetings, you can read our handy blog post here.  If you and your employees require further training, then discover the national training service we have to offer here at Yarnfield Park.

A recap of the 5 ways to communicate better in meetings