1. Facilitating An
Effective Meeting
ELLIOTT W. ADAMS, M. ED.

2. Our mission & desired outcome
Petz (2011) emphasizes the
importance of introducing
mission and desired
outcome statements EVERY
TIME!

3. Today’s Agenda
Our Mission: The purpose of today’s meeting is to
review the components of an effective meeting.
 My Desired Outcome (Vision): As a result of today’s
meeting, our facilitating leadership will be able to:
 evaluate this meeting facilitation’s best practices.
 determine your own strategies in meetings you
facilitate in the future here at Williams Temple.

4. Effective Meetings Require:
 the facilitator understanding their role as
the leader of the meeting.
 researching your audience.
 pre-planning + preparation = good
housekeeping.
 a clearly defined goal/mission statement.
 a desired outcome.
 respecting your audience.

5. The Facilitator’s Role
 Mindtools.com (2014) defines “facilitate” as:
 "to make easy" or "ease a process".
 What a facilitator does is:
 plan,
 guide,
 and manage a group event.
 Facilitation ensures that the group's [goals and
outcomes] are met effectively, with clear
thinking, good participation and full buy-in from
everyone who is involved [with ease].

6. Facilitator’s Tools
Pre-planning + preparation = good housekeeping etiquette
with some and/or all the following:
 Set-up time before your audience arrives
 Electronic presentation tools (Power Point)
 Presenter remote aka “the clicker”
 Mobile or modular workstation
 Self Stick Easel Pads with easel and markers
 Presentation and Handouts (e-mailed and/or paper
copies)
 Facilitator guides

7. Research Your Audience
Who am I meeting with?
 Business professionals?
 Attorneys?
 College students?
 Military?
Considering meeting activity devices
appropriately…
 Is an ice breaker appropriate for this audience?
 Is this activity research-based?
 Does a tangible item support meeting goal(s) and
outcomes?

8. Research Your Audience
As the facilitator, what tools do I need to
present to my audience (if necessary)?
 Handouts
 Guides
 Manuals
 Writing instruments (Pens, markers,
name tents)

9. Research Your Audience
What are their communication styles?
 E-mail
 Text
 Social Media
 Paper, Flyer

10. PowerPoint Tips
Avoid PowerPoint distractions during the
meeting by considering the following:
The darker the background, the better
Use a 20-point font or larger for your
smallest font (legibility)
Line up your slide headers and content
text using the Slide Master with gridlines
Short, succinct bullet points

11. PowerPoint Tips
 Avoid PowerPoint distractions during the
meeting by considering the following:
Practice timing, animations, and slide
transitions before your meeting (less is
more)
Ask about the logistics of where you will
present (room size, lighting, type of
computer you’ll present on, etc.)
Expect the unexpected (e-mail your
presentation)

12. Goal vs. Outcome
Goal:
Why are you, the facilitator, having this meeting?
Outcome:
What do you want to walk out the door with as a
result of these people being together?
Petz (2011) differentiates, with respect to its focus
and results, (a) meeting goal(s) and (an)
outcome(s) as the following:

13. What is your meeting’s goal
(mission statement)?
Why are you having this meeting? Here’s
an example:
 Goal: The purpose of today’s meeting is to
deconstruct the components of an effective
meeting.
The participants should, as a result of
hearing the goal, understand to a degree
why a staff meeting is necessary.

14. What is your meeting’s desired
outcome statement?
What do you want to walk out the door with as a
result of these people being together?
 Engage participants with (an) actionable
outcome item(s) (Bloom’s Taxonomy)
Here’s another example:
 Desired Outcome: As a result of today’s
meeting, participants will:
 evaluate this meeting facilitation’s best
practices.
 determine your own strategies in meetings
you facilitate in the future.

15. Actionable verbs in your goals
and desirable outcomes
 Verbs are action words; they require you to
do something.
 Bloom’s Taxonomy; a continuum of “learning
domains with action words/verbs eliciting
lower to higher order thinking skills
 Writing strong goals and outcomes require a
starter statement followed by an actionable
word/verb with a predicate.

16. Respect Your Audience
Our schedules are busy and our time is
limited, but when and where possible:
 Start on time, end on time.
 Predict, plan, and prevent (proactive vs.
reactive).
 Take individual questions requiring in-depth
responses either directly after meeting or with
follow-up communique.
 Follow up with participants with regards to the
meeting’s desired outcome(s).

17. Questions?
ELLIOTT W. ADAMS, M.ED.
E-mail: ewarneradams@gmail.com
THANK YOU!

18. Resources
 "The Role of a Facilitator: Guiding an Event
Through to a Successful Conclusion." Facilitation -
Communication Skills Training from
MindTools.com. MindTools.com, 2014. Web. 26
Feb. 2014.
<http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/Roleo
fAFacilitator.htm>.
 Petz, Jon. Learn how to run an effective meeting
that gets results! Productive meeting tips from
author. . YouTube.com, 5 Sept. 2011. Web. 26
Feb. 2014.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndEAAw64
ByY>.