How to Lead Engaging Meetings
The what, why and how of creating engaging meetings in-person and online where everyone participates in helpful ways
Watch Promo
Over 1,200 organizations learned how to run engaging meetings from Barbara MacKay and North Star Facilitators.
Have you ever led a meeting where:
- You don't get answers when you ask a question?
- One or two people do all the talking and no one else gets a chance to contribute?
- You lose people's attention to distracting technology?
- You feel like you have to do it all on your own, because no one else is stepping up?
The good news? Meetings don't have to be stressful or exhausting.
To get everyone actively engaged—so everyone is contributing their best ideas and working well together as a team—you need to learn how to:
- Ask great questions
- Lead activities that work for participants with different thinking and learning styles
- Structure your meetings to create irresistible opportunities for engagement
With just a few simple meeting techniques, you can transform those plodding, dull meetings into energizing events your team wants to attend.
This course will teach you the crucial meeting leadership skills you need to lead consistently engaging meetings. Please note all the techniques that we cover here for in-person meetings can also be used in some adapted way in online or virtual meetings. We’ve just added a handout in each section that helps you lead engaging virtual meetings.
Whether you're a brand new team leader, or you're working with a new team that you're having trouble engaging, or even if you've been leading meetings for years and you're looking to upgrade your approach, taking this course will give you the practical skills and confidence you need to run more engaging, successful meetings.
Your Instructor
Certified Professional Facilitator and Assessor, IAF Hall of Fame Inductee
Barbara's been facilitating since 1981. She founded North Star Facilitators in 1995 and has since led thousands of facilitated meetings, conferences, and workshops all over the world.
Today, Barbara focuses on ensuring that the world has increasing numbers of competent, collaborative leaders. Her approach to teaching is to honor the incredible intelligence of every person. Her core facilitation methodology is the Technology of Participation (ToP) infused with principles of neuroscience, Non Violent Communication, cross cultural diversity and inclusion perspectives, and graphic facilitation.
Course Curriculum
-
StartMeet & Greet Barbara - Your Course Facilitator (3:09)
-
View NowCourse Overview - What to Expect (3:48)
-
View NowHandout: Your Guide to Engaging Meetings
-
StartUnderstanding Beliefs, Values, Assumptions About Meetings (2:36)
-
StartMeeting Leader Roles (2:15)
-
StartHandout: Self Assessment on Meeting Leader Roles
-
StartWhy Engaging Meetings Matter (2:31)
-
StartHandout: Why Engaging Meetings Are So Important
-
StartHandout: Why, Who & What of Engaging VIRTUAL Meetings
-
StartQuiz: Why Use a Variety of Participation Formats
-
StartThose Who Talk a lot and Those Who Talk Too Little (4:35)
-
StartHandout: Dominant & Quiet Participants
-
StartThe Importance of Comfort, Context and Content to Ensure Engagement (4:07)
-
StartHandout: Understanding Comfort, Context, and Content
-
StartMultiple Ways to Participate in the Content (4:57)
-
StartHandout: The How of VIRTUAL Engaging Meetings
-
StartQuiz: How to Increase Engagement through Use of All the Senses
-
StartEngaging Introductions to Ensure Comfort and Context (2:32)
-
StartBonus: How to Introduce Yourself as Facilitator to Ensure Comfort (1:04)
-
StartGo Arounds (Round Robins) to Ensure Comfort (2:59)
-
StartConstructivist Listening to Ensure Comfort and Content (2:33)
-
StartHandout: Constructivist Listening Technique
-
StartGreat Questions to Ensure Context and Content (3:47)
-
StartHandout: The Art of Questions
-
StartHandout: Verbal Techniques for Engaging VIRTUAL Meetings