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."

'Why is it that nothing ever gets done at these meetings?'

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

We Have A Lot To Cover.....

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

'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.

"We finally found a way to bottle enthusiasm."

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

How to engage an audience

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

'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.

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

A workaholic's dream.

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

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

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

The facilitator from hell.

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