It’s that time late in the morning when most people’s first cup of coffee is starting to wear off. You’re trying to give a very important presentation at a work meeting, but you look around the room only to see eyelids drooping and heads nodding. Everyone is trying to politely stifle their enormous yawns and their eyes are glazed over in a tired, zombie-like stare.
Yes, your meeting audience might be overworked and sleep deprived – but if your presentation lulls them into a stupor they can lose motivation and miss out on your important message. It can be hard to keep things exciting if the material is a little dry, but it’s very important.
How can you fight against the office slump and keep people awake and energized during your meetings? With a few adjustments you can hold meetings that will leave people feeling pumped and enthusiastic rather than bored and sleepy. Here are some great tips for the next time you are holding an important business meeting, such as in the meeting rooms of Carden Park in Cheshire.
Tips for Keeping People Awake During Your Meeting
- Start the meeting with an ice breaker to get people awake and involved. Go around the room and ask everyone a quick question to get the ball rolling. It doesn’t have to take long, it can be 20 seconds for each person to check in and say something random about themselves.
- Have an outline. At the start of every meeting, you should have an outline that will let everyone know what will be covered, how much time is allowed for each section and when the meeting will end. People will be more attentive if they have the clear knowledge of when the meeting will end.
- There should be a clear objective as to why the meeting is being held in the first place. Unless you can set a well-defined goal that everyone can understand – don’t have the meeting.
- Call on people for answers throughout the meeting, but do it sparingly. This will keep everyone paying attention because they will know that they could be called at any time.
- Let people know that they have a voice and they can take part in the decision making. This will help them to feel more engaged with the meeting.
- If you see that people are flagging, take a break partway through the meeting and allow people to stretch their legs and get their blood flowing. You might even want to lead a few stretches or exercises to get everyone moving.
- You can also add in a five minute break so that people can catch a humorous Youtube video, in order to give them a mental break and make them laugh.
- Keep the meeting fast paced. If you find that it is lagging on, wrap up the topic and move on to the next thing. Try to say things in the most concise way as possible.
- Don’t waste the time of your listeners with unrelated stories, bad jokes or other unnecessary filler. Keep things short and sweet.
- Make sure that there aren’t overly stodgy, sugary sweets in the office such as donuts or pastries. These will cause people to get a sugar rush, but then come crashing down and feeling more tired than ever before.
- However, you might want to make sure that coffee is available within the office. A little caffeine buzz can help to wake people up if they are feeling sleepy during your meeting.
- Make sure that the room where you are holding the meeting isn’t too warm and that there is fresh air circulating through it. A warm and stuffy room is much more likely to put people to sleep.
- Also, if possible the meeting room should have as much natural light as possible. Studies have shown that sunlight helps us to wake up and feel more alert naturally.
These are just a few tips to keep in mind when you are having a meeting, whether at your office or at one of the many great meeting venues in Cheshire. If you can hold the attention of your meeting attendees and keep them awake and focused, you will be able to deliver your message effectively.
