Making Meetings Happen: Simple & Effective Guide to Successful Business Meetings | Team Collaboration & Productivity Tips | Perfect for Managers, Leaders & Remote Teams

Meetings.Just the utterance of the word is enough to make most people dread it. And that's because many meetings fail to deliver what they promise due to poor decision making, the wrong participants, the wrong strategy or any number of reasons.Meetings are a fact of working life, and there will be times when enterprising writers not only attend but also conduct them ~ be they meetings with clients, business pitches or seminars and workshops promoting your services.This book will give you the foundation you need to conduct and participate in meetings with success. While some of the material is common sense, it covers the subject admirably, offering a variety of tips, techniques and strategies that cover all kinds of encounters. Topics include:* Preparing for a meeting- defining the agenda- deciding how to run the meeting* Conducting a meeting- how to present- behavioral aspects of a meeting- communication and leadership styles* Participating in a meeting* How to deal with difficult people and situations- conflict resolution style- problem solving meetings- multicultural meetings* Communication skills- Assertiveness- Non-verbal communication- Persuasive strategiesOf particular interest to freelancers are the chapters ~ 'Making a Presentation' and 'Strategies, tools and activities', which provide solid advice on structuring material, opening and closing remarks, answering questions as well as using audio-visual aids.Also of importance are the chapters ~ 'Taking Minutes' and 'Writing it all up and getting action' ~ which deal with note-taking and reporting of the minutes. While the chapters include rudimentary guidance on writing (ie use active voice rather than passive, etc), they do offer helpful information on how to structure the minutes of a meeting and ensure items are actionable and people are accountable.This is a handy reference guide which is easy to read and understand. 'Making Meetings Happen' is primarily designed to be used as a workbook. It features checklists in every chapter as well as worksheets and exercises, so that readers can workshop and hone their skills.-- Michael Meanwell, author of the critically-acclaimed 'The Enterprising Writer' and 'Writers on Writing'. For more book reviews and prescriptive articles for writers, visit [...]