Find out ways to get meeting participants to pay more attention. Use some tried-and-true methods for getting their focus back to your topic at hand. These tips can help you to make your presentations more effective and memorable.
Upgrade to High-Quality Audio and Video for Your Conferences
First, make sure that you have audio and video systems in your conference room that work. Technical issues create delays during which meeting participants can have their focus languish. For instance, trouble getting the video working could result in participants picking up their phones and not returning their focus to the meeting after you correct the problem. Therefore, by preventing issues in the first place, you can allow meetings to seamlessly start on time and without problems to reduce focus loss.
Ask for Input from Meeting Participants
Another way to keep meeting participants engaged is through requesting their input. When doing so, be careful because there are some people who might become ramblers or side conversationalists when they provide meeting input.
These types of people are willing to engage in the meeting. However, when they do, they often derail the topic into personal anecdotes or ramble onto various unrelated topics. Allow these individuals to speak for a short while. However, once you notice they begin to deviate from the topic at hand, respectfully stop them and redirect their focus to the meeting. Don’t forget to thank them for their input. Even though they may go off-topic, their original points may provide you with valuable insights.
Don’t Let Any One Speaker Talk for More than Five Minutes
During meetings, don’t let anyone speak for more than five minutes. This rule includes speakers and participants. Talking for blocks of time longer than this results in participants starting to zone out.
To break up the meeting time, consider breakout sessions, questions, or other participant input. These ensure that meeting participants remain actively engaged in the meeting instead of just sitting in the room.
Get Help with Upgrading Your Conference Room A/V Equipment to Improve Meet Participants’ Experience and Attention
Audio and video quality are essential to helping meeting participants to stay focused. Start with these basics by contacting our professionals at Experience Audio Video Inc. for more information on upgrading your conference room.
Sources
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/ramblers_and_side_conversations_how_to_redirect_focus_during_meetings
https://commercialaudiovideoinstallationorangecounty.com/services/#conference-room
https://commercialaudiovideoinstallationorangecounty.com/