1. The art of running a meeting
Uh oh … I’m in charge … What do I do now?
• Be prepared
• Be organized
• Print a large-font agenda
• Get help (arranging tables, distributing handouts)
• Get a microphone
• Introduce yourself and welcome people
• Keep the meeting moving: time limits (get a timer), stay on topic, learn to cut off comments that
are not moving the discussion forward
• Know your agenda, your bylaws and your topics (if you have a speaker on a specific topic, find
out about it before the meeting)
• Visit a neighboring NC meeting – the most important lesson may be what you don’t like rather
than good ways to run a meeting
• Get a mentor but remember that your mentor may not be good at all tasks
• Have the person sitting next to you help you keep track of where there are hands up waiting to
make comments or tallying votes, etc
• Make sure your motions are what you want, specific enough to cover what you intended but not
too specific that you can’t accomplish what you intended
• Confused about a procedural issue? Take a moment to think it out.
• Roberts Rules for Dummies / Idiot’s Guide to Roberts Rules
• Other library resources on “How to Run a Meeting”
Outreach – Where are my stakeholders hiding?
• Go where the people are in your community and go when the people are there
• Keep going back to where the people are
• Make sure people know who you are and what you do (what the NC does)
• Make sure you follow up if someone asks for help – even if you can only refer them somewhere
else without solving their problem.
• Have a flyer or a business card or some means for them to find you – don’t just tell them an
“easy” website and expect them to remember it.