Meeting Facilitation Pillows

"Now how can we make this problem fit one of our solutions?"

'In hindsight, I believe that our oversight was shortsighted...'

'To help our brainstorming, John's going to bang his drum and scream at the top of his lungs.'

"Obviously some people here don't appreciate the gravity of our situation."

"Can I savor this for a few moments? The ball's never been in my court before!"

"Why can't the rest of you be more like Rollins, here? He does his homework!"

"Shall we start with an icebreaker?"

Inclusive speech

'I'm sorry, but everyone is in a meeting.'

'Complete sentences?? Jeez, how verbose can you get?'

The Importance of Planning Thoroughly in Advance

'All those in doubt, raise your eyebrows.'

"This isn't the big city anymore, Jim. I'm the facilitator now."

We Have A Lot To Cover.....

"This is the communications workshop, right? Let’s get started, I’m prepared!"

'I thought people were quite receptive to the change seminar.'

'All in favor of just laughing it off, say ha, ha, ha.'

The first week of the brainstorming session went slowly.

'Come on, Walter, you're wasting out time! Stop using complete sentences!'

We don't call these savage screaming fits. We call them confrontation verbal interfacing.

"You're wondering why I've called you here."

"We finally found a way to bottle enthusiasm."

'Sir, Ms. Selby is here for your 3:00 meeting.'

How to engage an audience

'I'm feeling a sense of conclusion here, so let's draw things to a close.'

'He has a very open mind. Everything goes in one ear and out the other.'

Start the session by doing something unusual.

"So that's five for bailing, and three for patching. If there are no objections, the chair will now hear arguments."

The meeting will start a little late, intelligence is lost in the building somewhere.

As the Chief Corporate Adrenal Gland of the company, Fred's recommendations were rarely a surprise.

A workaholic's dream.

'How are we supposed to think the unthinkable if we have to drink the drinkable?'

The facilitator from hell.

'And now, Gentlemen, that we have our thinking caps on, let us continue.'

'Ladies and gentlemen, today we're going to get down to nuts and bolts.'