Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, or Get Out of More Meetings

Meetings, the cornerstones of collaboration, inspiration, and progress, have suffered excruciating humiliation at the hands of corporate America. Gone are good agendas, participation, focus, and follow-up that are the lifeblood of great meetings. Instead, too many meetings drone on like some sort of soul-crushing, walking-dead zombie robbing workplaces of joy, productivity, and time. But there is good news: meetings can be saved ... by you! Boring Meetings Suck empowers you to take charge of meetings that have become a waste of time and talent. Most books on meetings focus only on the person responsible for planning and hosting the meeting, but Boring Meetings Suck dares to admit what other authors avoid. Only when attendees learn how to diplomatically speak up and get meetings back on track wi ll everyone benefit.

This book offers dozens of Suckification Reduction Devices, or SRDs, to make the next meeting you attend more efficient and effective. Learn which meetings you can skip and how to call out the perpetrators of poor meeting etiquette. But it's not enough to stop others' meetings from sucking; you must make sure your meeting doesn't suck. Learn how to become a better speaker by making eye contact, working the stage, and varying the speed of your speech. Get the essential elements for planning large meetings or conferences, and get new techniques that will help you run "get in, get it done, and get out" meetings. With Boring Meetings Suck, you'll learn:

• How to graciously excuse yourself from a meeting without losing your job
• The right ways to use PowerPoint (and other technologies)
• Three polite ways to motivate people to wrap up
• Why you should turn your phone on in all meetings
• Tips to make your presentation powerful and not pointless
• How to be a meeting hero, and get people to show up on time, participate, and return to their desks happy and with extra time in their pockets

When done right, meetings can rock. They can be vehicles for innovation, motivation, and decision-making. They can spark revolutions. They can save the world! All you have to do is not let them suck, and this book shows you how.