Frequently Answered Questions about The Meeting Medic

A lot of meeting advice is vague, how do I know yours won’t be?

I’ve been writing about how to use Facilitator Cards to improve meetings, workshops, and curriculum for the past five years. It’s not about quick tips and tricks, it’s about an entire methodology of facilitation that enables looking at an agenda and seeing how it will work during the session.

• Do you know how people are answering your questions?
• Have you changed up the group size during the meeting?
• What materials are you using to capture people’s responses?

My advice is hyper-specific and actionable. we’ll even try out prompts together during our meeting to make sure you’ve got the exact wording that will get you the responses you’re looking for! I believe that meetings are made better with a thoughtful facilitator at the helm. Facilitation is not a charisma-based skill, it’s a practical set of moves that can be used to unlock a groups full potential. As facilitators, we are attempting to help our groups help themselves. It’s not about our expertise or seeming like the smartest person in the room, it’s about helping **our groups understand themselves and each other.

And I promise that none of my advice will ever be to play music while people are logging onto your Zoom call.

Why is this meeting worth an hour of my time?

I’m going to be honest: you’re always going to have meetings. Not the same type of meetings or with the same groups of people, but we’re humans—we like to meet up. And I think the world will be a better place if we can enjoy at least a few of those meetings!

This meeting is an investment into all of your future meetings. It’s kind of like a “prevention is easier than a cure” thing. Bad meetings lower morale, break comradery, and cost businesses more than just potential earnings. Good meetings make people excited about the work their doing, create and deepen group bonds, and they make everyone feel like they are uniquely contributing to the overall success of the team. If you don’t want to commit an hour, no problem.

Sign up for the 15-minute session and make your choice after that! I respect your time and what you choose to do with it 😁

Do I need a deck Facilitator Cards for these meetings to make sense?

Nope! While my facilitation philosophy is aligned with the cards, the processes on the cards themselves are universal. There is no need for a physical deck or a previous knowledge of Facilitator Cards! If you already have a deck we can absolutely implement using it during your meeting, but there is no pressure or requirement to have the deck when we meet.

I have a question about my meeting/workshop that doesn’t make sense with your offerings, what should I do?

Send me an email at themeetingmedic@gmail.com with details and any questions you have, and we’ll make specific plans that address your meeting needs.

Frequently Answered Questions about Meetings

Is there such a thing as a good “icebreaker” question?

The short answer: yes! Icebreakers have a terrible reputation because they’re often awkward, take too much time, or seem superfluous to the meeting. None of those things have to be true! The best icebreaker is the one that doesn’t take more than 5% of the meeting, has some novelty to it, and gets everyone comfortable speaking with each other. Here’s three you can do with the entire group!

1. Have everyone fill in the blanks to this sentence, “I’m coming into this meeting feeling ____, but also ___.” Two data points from everyone in the room, suddenly we all have a much better sense of where each other are coming from.
2. Have everyone write for one minute in response to, “I am hoping to get ____ out of today’s meeting…” after the minute is up, have everyone share a one-sentence summary of what they wrote. If there’s not enough time to hear from everyone, put people into pairs to discuss what they wrote down for two minutes with their partner.
3. Put everyone into pairs. Then, have them fill in the sentence “Something that’s going well for me lately is…” for one minute each. One partner will set a one-minute timer while the other partner will speak first, saying the sentence, “Something that’s going well for me lately is___.” repeating the stem each time. If they run out of responses before the minute is over, encourage them to stretch creatively to keep filling it in. Otherwise, they should sit and wait for the minute to finish instead of having their other partner begin their round.

Each of these icebreakers does not take more than five minutes (unless you’ve got a big group filling in the blanks) and gets everyone comfortable sharing their thoughts in a meeting setting. Remember, icebreakers don’t have to happen with the entire group in order to be effective! You can always make the prompt relevant to the topic/subject of the meeting, or use the time to surface the groups understanding of their emotions coming into the meeting. Looking for even more of my thoughts about icebreakers? Check out three more methods that get everyone on board with your opening activity!

When I ask a question, no one responds. How do I get them to share?

It’s not that you’re asking the wrong questions, but it might be that your group simply doesn’t know how to respond.

Oftentimes when we’re “throwing questions out there” we leave it up to everyone else to figure out how to structure their answer. When there aren’t clear expectations or structure, people are going to have to guess. Sharing their thoughts out loud can already be intimidating for a lot of people, and having a specific method for answering helps alleviate a lot of the fear and anxiety that comes with speaking in public.

Meetings can often be high-stakes environments where people want to show off their knowledge and demonstrate their capabilities. They’re also packed with different dynamics between bosses, managers, and co-workers.

“What if I say the wrong thing?” is an anxiety that prevents many people from attempting to answer questions, so giving them specifics on how to structure their answer, or permission to really go for it with their ideas can make a huge difference in response rates.

Instead of asking, “Does anyone have any great ideas?” have everyone make a list of their ideas for one minute, then ask everyone to share their favorite idea they wrote down.

When we ask a general question, we get vague answers. By crafting our questions to be more intentional, we get responses that speak to the heart of the question being asked.

When I ask questions, the same people always respond. How do I get new voices in the room?

How people answer is usually determined by how we instruct them to. But most of the time, we don’t give that instruction and we default to whoever is willing to speak. Having people “just shout out” their answers creates an environment very few people find motivating to share their thoughts in, and raising hands still favors people who are willing to say their idea out loud in front of the entire group.

Make everyone write down their answers for one minute, then have them chat with a partner about their ideas for 2-3 minutes before coming back for a discussion.

• They’ve already voiced their ideas to their partner and potentially improved/combined ideas within that short conversation
• People who would be unwilling to share their own idea can have it shared by their partner

Also, you can have this bonus advice for free: don’t ask if any “brave souls” are willing to answer. I know the intention is to acknowledge that it can be scary to answer in front of the group, but all it does is reinforce the feeling that it will be scary rather than alleviate the pressure that’s preventing people from participating.

How can I feel more confident going into a high stakes meeting?

Having a plan that you know works and will guide you through the meeting. Your facilitation shouldn’t rely on charisma, but rather setting achievable goals and understanding your role in helping everyone achieve those desired outcomes.

A clear sense of what to do in moments of conflict, how to keep yourself calm when it comes to time management, and understanding how to sequence processes that help everyone do their best and bring their best thoughts, ideas, and energy to the meeting.