As a leader you will need to communicate information, teach, share ideas, and educate.

That too is
essentially the purpose of a meeting. It’s an opportunity to share information, to motivate, to
educate, and if necessary, to reach a decision, develop action plans, and ultimately to increase sales!

In this module, you will learn:

• How important it is to determine the purpose of a meeting
• What is required to conduct a successful meeting
• How to create an environment that has a positive impact on the meeting and the attendees
• How to encourage participation from all attendees

Types of meetings you may conduct:

• Sales Meetings are ideal for discussing sales, results, as well as to recognize leaders for their
achievements
• Strategy Planning Meetings with your leaders
• Opportunity Meetings where you would provide information about Immunotec’s business
opportunity
• Group meetings with your downline
• Group meetings with potential Silver/Gold Distributors

You need to be able to use a variety of skills to ensure that all types of meetings are conducted
effectively.

Having identified the best type of meeting, you then need to:
• Define the PURPOSE more specifically. Ask yourself, “What is the objective of the meeting?
What do I hope to accomplish or impart to the attendees? What will be the call to action?
• Having clear objectives for your meeting enables you to remain focused on your topic, and
ensures that your preparations are appropriate.

Whichever type of meeting you are planning, you need to make certain preparations.

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Preparing for a Meeting

Step X Agenda

A good agenda, such as the sample shown below, should include:

• Items to be discussed and the order in which you want to discuss them
• The time at which the meeting starts, and when it is expected to end
• Your copy of the agenda should also include the approximate timing for each item

Sample Agenda

Begin: 6:30 p.m.

End: Approximately 7:45 p.m.

1. Recognition/Review.............................................................................................................................................. 20 min.
Welcome with personalized words
Recognize people for accomplishments

2. Plan/Educate............................................................................................................................................................. 30 min.
Conduct discussion on topic
Invite attendees to ask questions

3. Goals and Agreements........................................................................................................................................ 15 min.

Encourage attendees to set/reset long-term goals

4. Close................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 min.

Tip: You might want to consider a “time keeper” to ensure everyone stays on task and that the meeting
ends on schedule. Also, jot down any ideas generated from conversations. If time permits, these ideas
could either be covered at the end of the meeting, or could be an appropriate topic for the next meeting.

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Step Y Time and Place

When you are deciding when to hold a meeting, keep in mind that certain days of the week and times
of day work better than others.
• Avoid late afternoons before a holiday or weekend
• Avoid early mornings following a day off
• Consider lunch or breakfast meetings

Step Z Identify Attendees

Whom you invite to the meeting depends primarily on the meeting’s agenda, but it may also depend
on the criteria you have determined for attendance.

Invite Attendees:
• You could telephone each person, send out invitations by e-mail, or use a three-way call to
invite attendees to a meeting.

Step [ Materials and Equipment

Materials and equipment may include:

• Product display
• Brochures
• Flip Chart
• Reports
• DVD player
• Laptop
• Projector

Step \ Recognition

Recognition is an important part of all meetings. As part of your preparation, you need to plan for
recognizing Distributors’ accomplishments.
• Identify who you will recognize
o Consider the achievements to be recognized in your organization to help identify the
appropriate Distributors
• List the specific accomplishments of each of the Distributors you will recognize
• Prepare a brief recognition statement
• Use the Distributor’s name during your statement (at least 2-3 times). Try to avoid saying she
or he…people love to hear their name!

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Effective Openings

The following openings can be particularly effective when you are writing a Recognition Statement:

• I appreciate _______________________________________________________ .
• I want to express my gratitude to _______________________________________ .
• Thank you to _______________ for ____________________________________ .
• I would like to tell of ________________’s success at _______________________ .
• I hope you will share my pleasure in _____________________________________ .
• I want to congratulate ______________ on ______________________________ .
• I am indebted to __________________ for ______________________________ .
• Please share my joy in __________’s accomplishment of _____________________ .
• You will love ___________’s idea about _________________________________ .
• __________ is most deserving of _________ because ______________________ .
• __________ has been particularly helpful in ______________________________ .
• __________ has set high standards for the rest of the group.

Step ] Evaluation

Although an evaluation is not essential to the meeting itself, it is a very useful tool in helping you to
prepare and conduct future meetings.

An evaluation might be conducted in any or all of the following ways:

• By yourself
• By an observer
• By the attendees

If you were evaluating a meeting you had planned and conducted, here are some questions you might
ask yourself afterward:
• Where did things go well? Why?
• Where did I have problems? Why?
• Did I keep to the agenda? If not, why not?
• Did I achieve my objective(s)? If not, why not?
• What would I do differently next time?

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An observer/note taker attending the meeting may be able to detect responses to the meeting that
you may not have noticed; be sure to brief the observer/note taker on your purpose of the meeting,
your objectives, and the call to action.

An evaluation might be conducted by:

• The attendees
o Evaluations by attendees capture feelings and reactions that they may not want to
express to you personally (i.e. did the meeting achieve its objectives? Was the
meeting helpful? What changes in how or what Distributors sell, will result from the
meeting?)

Evaluation Form
For each of the following questions, circle the number that indicates your level of agreement:
1 = Strongly Agree 2 = Agree 3 = Hard to Decide 4 = Disagree 5 = Strongly Disagree

1. The meeting achieved its objectives 1 2 3 4 5

2. The meeting achieved my personal objectives 1 2 3 4 5
3. The content of the meeting was relevant 1 2 3 4 5
4. The presenter/facilitator was well prepared, presented effectively, and kept my 1 2 3 4 5
attention
5. Overall, the meeting was helpful to me 1 2 3 4 5

Write a brief answer for each of the following questions.

6. Which portions of the meeting were helpful to you?

7. Which aspects of the meeting were least helpful to you?

8. What action steps will you take as a result of this meeting?

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Creating a Conducive Environment
Introduction
An appropriate environment is an essential part of conducting a successful meeting. When people
feel comfortable in their environment they are relaxed, receptive, more apt to pay attention to the
business of the meeting, and to participate.

Room Arrangement
You also need to consider environment in relation to the type of meeting you have planned:
• A room arranged where attendees sit at tables in rows facing the front of the room is most
conducive to a Business Opportunity presentation, seminar etc...
• A room arranged where attendees face each other promotes dialogue and a free exchange of
ideas, and is more conducive to a meeting such as a strategic meeting with your team.

Additional Considerations
Other considerations about the meeting’s environment may include:
• Where you will place equipment (e.g., flipchart, video monitor, etc.) for maximum visibility
o To make sure things run smoothly, set up and test any audio/visual equipment prior
to the meeting
• Where the refreshment table will be located. (if applicable)
• How and where you will arrange the product display
• How you will distribute materials (e.g., agenda, reports, etc.)

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Generating Participation
Whatever extent you consider appropriate, participation is an important part of every meeting.

Let’s take a look at some ways you can encourage it.

Introduction
Although you need to be sure to get your points across during the meeting, you don’t want it to
become a lecture. Generating participation not only helps the meeting to be successful, it also helps
attendees to:
• Build their communication skills
• Feel more comfortable expressing their ideas
• Gain confidence by understanding that their contributions are valuable

Generate Participation
Generate participation during the meeting by:
• Listening to other people’s ideas
• Encouraging everyone to participate
• Using a combination of open-ended and closed-ended questions
• Acknowledging and responding positively to attendees’ contributions
• Asking for and being open to different points of view
• Listening carefully to what is said
• Using active listening techniques

Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions

• Closed-ended questions are a form of question that can usually be answered with a simple
“yes/no”, or demand a specific piece of information. Typical closed-ended questions are: Do
you want coffee? What is your name?
• Contrary to closed-ended questions, open-ended questions cannot be answered with a
simple “yes/no” answer. Typical open-ended questions are: What do you think about X? Why
is the sky blue?

Active Listening
When someone else is speaking it is integral that you listen carefully and make sure they know you
are listening. One way to do this is to use active listening.
• Encouraging
• Restating

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Encouraging:
• Verbal and non-verbal support that let the speaker know you are listening and interested
o Verbal encouragement includes saying things such as “I see” and “Go on”
o Non-verbal encouragement includes nodding, making eye contact, smiling and other
facial expressions, hand movements, and a receptive posture
Restating:
• Restating what a speaker has said from his/her point of view
o Restating is used as an acknowledgment of what has been said and helps to confirm
your understanding
o Restating techniques include acknowledging the speaker’s feelings, showing empathy,
and stating the focal point of the speaker’s message in your own words

Encouraging Quiet Attendees

In any meeting, there are usually people who are eager to participate and need little encouragement.
But there are also often quiet attendees who need a bit of extra encouragement. You can help
encourage these quiet attendees to participate by:
• Redirecting questions or comments to them and specifically asking them to contribute.
• For example:
o “John, I’m sure you have a great answer to this, but I would first like to hear Mary’s
perspective on the subject and then I will get back to you, John ☺”

Closing the Meeting

When the business of the meeting has been concluded, you need to close it by:
• Recapping the agenda to ensure that everything has been covered
• Reviewing any action plans that have been discussed, and agreeing on a time frame for
follow-up
• If a follow-up meeting is required, set a time and date when possible
• Ensuring that any evaluation forms have been completed and collected
• Most importantly, thanking everyone for attending and participating!
• Having a “call to action” at the close of your meeting

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