Each business person who wants to
expand his or her business, or wants to move up the corporate hierarchy in a
large company must excel at hosting and conducting business meetings. This is
not a mean feat, and many coaches believe it is an art in itself. No one learns
this art overnight. It is necessary to be patient to become a great business
meeting host.
The outward appearance of the
meeting host, more specifically professional dressing goes a long way in
impressing meeting attendees. Jeans and T-shirts are out of question for
business meetings. The attire must be professional, meaning formal clothing
such as suit, leather shoes, solid colored shirts, matching ties etc. The
clothes should have a good fit, and that often necessitates going for customized
tailoring instead of buying readymade clothing.
Send the meeting agenda note in
advance of the meeting to allow attendees to prepare themselves before arrival.
If any of the invited attendees foresees their absence from the meeting, he or
she can inform the host before the meeting day. The agenda may include short
biographies of speakers, if they happen to be individuals not familiar to all
attendees.
Good meeting hosts ensure that they
arrange suitable accommodation for meeting attendees who will arrive from a
different city. Hosts also make travel arrangements to pick up such attendees
from the airport to the meeting venue. This requires careful planning and must
be done in consultation with a professional event manager.
Ensure that meeting props such as projectors,
video players, microphones etc. work properly during the meeting. To ensure
this, they get all such equipment checked in advance of the meeting.
Good hosts introduce all individuals
in the meeting, starting with the most unfamiliar or prestigious individual.
Take extra care to ensure that the meeting speakers do not extend their
allocated time. Using non-verbal clues, they signal to the speaker if he/she
exceeds time. It is important to politely smile at that moment to ensure that
the speaker does not feel bad.
Good meeting hosts make frequent eye
contact with people across the meeting table, without ogling, and ensure that
everyone in the room gets an opportunity to air his/her views regardless of
his/her seniority.
Finally, ensure that a personal
assistant takes down the notes of the meeting for future circulation. The business
meetings notes memo is an official record of
conversations that transpired during the meeting and help in formulating
post-meeting next steps.
