Topics & Forms |
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Making Meetings More Exciting
Finding a way to make your meetings more exciting will be
critical to retaining your members and keeping them interested. The
energy you create in your meeting will flow over into your programs and
affect members enthusiasm. Have fun!!! (Don’t take yourselves too
seriously!)
- Start each meeting with some sort of ice breaker (a game or “get to know” exercise) or some “words of wisdom). Members will be more familiar with each other and energized at the start of the meetings. Ask members to take turns initiating this activity.
- Introduce any new members at the start. If a member brought them, recognize the member for outstanding recruitment.
- Have an agenda printed or written on a chalkboard or flipchart. Members can “follow along,” and feel there is a flow to meetings.
- Try having themed meetings (i.e. Hawaii, 20’s, Black Tie, etc.). Announce the theme a week in advance.
- Arrive ahead of time and check out the room arrangement. Vary the set up from week to week. Never sit in the same seat twice and encourage people to sit near others they don’t normally sit next to.
- Have a surprise social event in lieu of a meeting. Those who didn’t show up might be sorry they missed it.
- Give out prizes for “five meetings in a row.” Encourage members not to break their streak.
- Take time at the end of each meeting for recognizing members. Have a traveling award for the hardest worker, most embarrassing moment of the week, or to just say thank you.
- Stick to your time limit. Make sure members know approximately how long each meeting will last. Sometimes members don’t show up for things because the last one lasted two hours and they don’t have that much time.
- Try to keep the meeting as interactive as possible, with the “reporting” that needs to be done kept as brief as possible. People join an organization to participate, not just to listen to others talk. Never let anyone (including yourself) talk for more than a couple of minutes.
- When members seem apathetic, have an open forum on “why you joined this group” and encouraged people to share. Ask if people “are getting what they want out of the group, and if not, what can be done to change things.
- To encourage and reward participation, give candy or other little rewards when someone contributes to the meeting.
- Remember that the end of the meeting is as important as the beginning. Do another icebreaker or somehow put closure on the end of the meeting.