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Corporate
Coach Group

Run Productive, Purposeful Meetings Every Time

Meeting Skills Training 1 day

Meetings need to be seen as both positive and productive. This training examines the common mistakes which are made surrounding meetings and how to avoid them. We show you how to make your meetings more purposeful and how to keep your meetings on-track, managing disruptions and making logical decisions and action planning.

Available as live online training via Microsoft Teams, or as bespoke in-house training tailored to your organisation.

★★★★★
"Course content was great, a lot of in depth information that I can use in the future. Many tools and techniques will be used by myself. Amazing presentation, enthusiastic and energetic." - Harveer Sihota, Critico Group
Quality Training
Established 1997
6 CPD Hours
Delivery Options Upcoming Dates

Course Overview

What is Meeting Skills Training?

Effective meetings do not happen by accident; they are the result of deliberate preparation, skilled chairing and disciplined follow-through. This effective meetings training course examines the most common meeting mistakes and gives you the practical tools to avoid them, so that every meeting you chair or attend becomes purposeful and productive. Rated 4.9 out of 5 from over 600 delegate reviews, it is one of the most trusted meeting management training courses available in the UK.

All cost-effective meetings share a set of common attributes. They are well chaired, well organised, well prepared, well attended, well recorded and highly productive, in the sense that they achieve the purpose for which they were originally called. Learning how to run a meeting well is a skill, and like all skills it can be taught, practised and consistently improved.

This course investigates the role of the chair; how to organise an effective meeting and create a focused agenda; how to manage attendees, some of whom do not always behave well; how to keep accurate records of the meeting; and how to ensure the meeting achieves its purpose. The purpose of meetings may be to exchange information, to solve problems, to make decisions, or any combination of these three.

People complete this meeting management training with a full understanding of how to hold highly productive meetings. They leave with practical techniques they can apply the very next time they chair or attend a meeting.

Core Skills

The Key Skills Covered

This meeting management course is built around six evidence-based skill sets. Developing each of these will help you run effective meetings and contribute to discussions that are purposeful, well managed and genuinely productive.

  1. 1

    Structured Meeting Preparation

    Learn how to plan and prepare a meeting properly, including writing a clear agenda that specifies the purpose, topics, time allocations and desired outcomes. Well-prepared meetings are shorter and more productive because everyone arrives knowing what is expected of them.

  2. 2

    The Role of the Chair

    The chair is responsible for the tone, pace and outcomes of every meeting they lead. You will learn the responsibilities of an effective chairperson: how to open a meeting with purpose, keep discussions on track, draw out quieter voices and close each agenda item with a clear decision or action.

  3. 3

    Goal Setting and Clear Definitions

    Vague language is one of the most common causes of unproductive meetings. You will learn to communicate goals, standards and expectations using precise, specific language that leaves no room for misinterpretation, ensuring everyone leaves the meeting with the same understanding.

  4. 4

    Logical Decision Making

    Effective meetings reach clear, logical decisions rather than deferring action or rehashing the same discussion repeatedly. You will learn structured decision-making frameworks that help groups evaluate options objectively and commit to a definite course of action.

  5. 5

    Managing Delegates and Conflict

    Not all meeting participants are cooperative. You will learn how to manage common difficult behaviours including cynicism, aggression, excessive talking and disengagement, and how to handle conflict between delegates constructively so that the meeting continues to progress.

  6. 6

    Communication and Body Language

    Your voice tone and body language shape how your message is received, particularly under pressure. You will develop awareness of the non-verbal signals you send as a chair or participant, and learn how to use your voice and posture to project confidence, command attention and keep discussions calm and productive.

Who Is This Course For?

Who Should Attend This Meeting Skills Training Course?

Designed for anyone who chairs, facilitates or regularly attends meetings and wants to develop their meeting management skills to make every session more productive, purposeful and results-driven.

Managers and Team Leaders

Learn to chair team meetings and one-to-ones with confidence, clarity and a consistent structure.

Meeting Chairpersons

Develop the skills to lead any type of meeting purposefully, keep it on track and reach clear outcomes.

Project Managers

Run project meetings that generate decisions and actions rather than lengthy, inconclusive discussion.

All Professionals

Anyone who attends meetings regularly and wants to contribute and influence more effectively.

Also beneficial for project managers who lead cross-functional meetings, HR professionals facilitating consultation or review meetings, and team members who want to contribute more effectively as attendees.

Course Agenda

Meeting Skills Training Course Details

AM

Morning Session • Meeting principles, the role of the chair and decision making

Establish why so many meetings fail and what the principles of an effective meeting actually look like. You will explore the responsibilities of the chair, how to set meaningful goals, communicate with precision and structure logical decisions that stick.

We open by examining what a meeting is for and why so many organisations run meetings that are costly, inconclusive or simply unnecessary. You will assess your own experience of meetings, identify the most common problems and begin to build a picture of what an effective meeting looks like in practice.
Before improving anything, it helps to understand what is at stake. We calculate the real financial cost of poor meetings by considering the combined salary cost of all attendees multiplied by the time spent, then compare that against the outcomes achieved. This exercise motivates a serious commitment to running every meeting as efficiently as possible.
All cost-effective meetings share common characteristics: they are well chaired, well prepared, well attended, purposeful and productive. We introduce the core principles that underpin every type of effective meeting, whether it is a brief team stand-up or a formal board-level review.
The chair sets the tone and pace of the meeting and is ultimately responsible for its outcomes. We examine the specific responsibilities of an effective chairperson: preparing a purposeful agenda, opening the meeting clearly, keeping discussions on track, drawing out contributions from quieter participants, managing difficult behaviour and closing each item with a definite decision or action.
Every meeting should have a clear, specific purpose. We show you how to define meeting goals using precise language that specifies what the meeting must achieve, how progress will be measured and what a successful outcome looks like. When the goal is defined clearly, it becomes much easier to keep the discussion relevant and reach a definite conclusion.
Vague language is one of the most common causes of unproductive meetings. When different people interpret the same word differently, the discussion goes in circles and no real progress is made. We teach you how to define your key terms at the start of any discussion and how to use specific, unambiguous language that carries only one possible meaning.
Many meetings fail not because participants disagree but because they have no structured process for reaching a decision. We introduce practical decision-making frameworks, including the decision matrix and the wrong-box right-box model, that help groups evaluate options logically and commit to a definite course of action rather than leaving the meeting in a state of comfortable ambiguity.
Accurate minutes are the record of what was agreed and who is responsible for each action. We cover what should and should not be included in meeting notes, how to record decisions and action points clearly, and how to ensure that the minutes drive follow-through rather than simply recording what was said.
PM

Afternoon Session • Managing delegates, handling objections and positive communication

Move from meeting principles into the more demanding territory of managing people. You will develop practical tools for handling difficult delegates, responding to objections, using voice and body language effectively and closing every meeting with a concrete action plan.

Not all meeting participants are cooperative or engaged. We examine the most common difficult meeting behaviours, including the dominator who talks over others, the cynic who questions everything, the silent participant who contributes nothing and the aggressor who creates tension, and give you practical strategies for managing each without losing control of the room.
Objections and challenges are a natural part of any meeting, but they can derail discussions if not handled well. We introduce a six-step framework for responding to objections in a way that acknowledges the speaker's concern, addresses the substance of the objection and keeps the meeting moving forward without conflict or loss of direction.
A diagnostic tool that allows you to evaluate the quality of any meeting against a set of objective criteria. You will use this questionnaire to assess real meetings from your own experience, identify specific weaknesses and prioritise the improvements most likely to have the greatest immediate impact on your meeting effectiveness.
Your voice is one of your most powerful tools as a chair or contributor. The pace, pitch, volume and tone of your voice all carry meaning and influence how your message is received. We show you how to use your voice to project authority and calm, signal the end of a discussion, encourage a quieter participant to speak or gently de-escalate a tense exchange.
Non-verbal communication often carries more weight than words, particularly in emotionally charged situations. We cover posture, eye contact, gesture and positioning in the meeting room, and show you how to ensure your body language reinforces your role as an effective leader and communicator rather than undermining it.
The afternoon closes with a structured review of the full day's content. Each delegate completes a personal action plan identifying the specific changes they will implement in their next meeting and the broader improvements they will make to how meetings are run in their organisation. The post-course portal and three months of free telephone coaching support ongoing implementation.

Availability and Pricing

Delivery Options

Choose the delivery format that best fits your schedule and team.

All options deliver the same high-quality content.

Online Live Training

£350 +VAT

per delegate

Interactive live sessions delivered via Teams using our superior green-screen technology.

  • Same content as face-to-face
  • Learn from home or office
  • Delivered via MS Teams
  • Laptop or tablet with webcam
View Online Dates

Bespoke In-House

£2250+VAT

per training day

We come to you. Training delivered at your premises, tailored to your team's specific needs.

  • Your premises or online
  • Tailored to your organisation
  • Dates to suit your schedule
  • We can train in your timezone
Proposal PDF Request Callback

All Our Training Includes

Full 1 day of expert training delivered by an experienced trainer
CPD-endorsed course: 6 CPD training hours (plus 2-3 additional hours via post-course online learning)
Full digital interactive course notes
Official training certificate
Access to free additional training material via our post-course portal
3 months of free telephone coaching while you implement your learning

Questions? Call 020 3856 3037 or 01452 856091

Upcoming Dates

Next Available Course Dates

View All Course Dates

No upcoming dates are currently listed.
Please get in touch to enquire about availability.

Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions

Course FAQs

You can book directly online via our course dates page, call us on 020 3856 3037, or make an enquiry and we will call you back. We accept payment by BACS, cheque or credit card. Once booked, you will receive a confirmation email with full joining instructions.
Yes. We can deliver this course exclusively for your team at your premises or online, on dates to suit you. Bespoke in-house training is priced per day rather than per delegate, making it cost-effective for groups of four or more. We can also tailor the content to address your organisation's specific challenges.
An effective meeting shares six common attributes: it is well chaired, well organised, well prepared, well attended, well recorded and highly productive. In practical terms, this means it has a clear purpose, a focused agenda, an engaged and managed group of attendees, accurate minutes and a set of definite actions or decisions that participants follow through on afterwards. When any of these elements is missing, meetings tend to overrun, go off-track or produce no meaningful outcome. Our communication skills training covers the clear, precise language that underpins well-managed meetings.
Running a meeting effectively comes down to five disciplines: (1) prepare a purposeful agenda that specifies what the meeting must achieve; (2) open with a clear statement of purpose so every attendee knows what is expected; (3) keep discussions on track by directing the group back to the agenda whenever they drift; (4) manage delegates assertively, ensuring all voices are heard and difficult behaviour is addressed promptly; (5) close every agenda item with a definite decision or action point, not an open-ended agreement to revisit. Effective meeting management is a learnable skill: this course gives you a complete toolkit to develop it.
The chair controls a meeting by: opening it with a clear statement of purpose; using the agenda to direct each discussion and signal when it is time to move on; actively managing contributions so that all voices are heard and no individual dominates; dealing swiftly but professionally with disruptive or off-topic behaviour; and closing each agenda item with a definite decision or action point before moving to the next. Control is maintained through clear structure, confident communication and the willingness to intervene when the discussion drifts. If conflict between delegates arises, the techniques from our conflict management training apply directly.
An effective meeting agenda should include: the meeting purpose (a single sentence describing what the meeting must achieve); a numbered list of agenda items in priority order; the time allocation for each item; the name of the person leading each discussion; and any pre-reading or preparation delegates need to complete in advance. Circulate the agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting so attendees can prepare properly. Avoid overloading the agenda: a meeting with five well-managed items achieves more than one with fifteen items that are only half discussed. On this course you will learn a practical agenda-writing process you can use immediately.
Yes, the training is highly interactive. Sessions include group discussions, exercises, case studies and individual action planning. The trainer actively teaches expert content rather than simply facilitating discussion, so delegates leave with structured knowledge they can apply immediately. The style is engaging and practical throughout.
Daily meetings can be highly effective when they are short, focused and purposeful, such as a ten-minute team stand-up to share priorities and identify blockers. They become counterproductive when they are poorly structured, overlong or lack a clear outcome. The principles taught on this meeting management course apply equally to daily check-ins and longer, more formal meetings: clarity of purpose, a tight agenda, disciplined time-keeping and definite action points are what determine whether any meeting, daily or otherwise, is worth holding.
Delegates come from a wide range of roles and industries. Many are managers and team leaders who chair regular team meetings and want to run them more efficiently. Others are project managers dealing with large cross-functional groups, or professionals who attend a high volume of meetings and want to contribute more effectively. What all delegates share is a recognition that meetings are consuming significant time and that improving the quality of those meetings will have a direct and measurable impact on their productivity and their team's performance.
Open courses run from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. Delegates are welcome to arrive from 8:45 am; tea and coffee are available from that time. The course includes mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks plus a lunch break.

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On This Page

  1. 1 Course Overview
  2. 2 Key Skills
  3. 3 Who Should Attend
  4. 4 Course Agenda
  5. 5 Delivery Options
  6. 6 Upcoming Dates
  7. 7 FAQs

Book This Course

Online Live Training £350 +VAT
Bespoke In-House £2250 +VAT/day
Book Open Course Enquire About In-House

Questions? Call us on

020 3856 3037
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Customer Reviews

What Delegates Say About This Course

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Read Our Customer Reviews
★★★★★

"The course had good structure and pace. Useful consolidation of topics which we can put into context within the company's culture and meetings. The trainer was clear and attentive and tailored the discussions to our needs and additional questions."

John Pelan

Coloplast Ltd

★★★★★

"The course included really interesting concepts and models to apply and support my meetings when working with different stakeholders. "

Kane Moore

Coloplast Ltd

★★★★★

"This course was great. The live online presentation was like a face to face class session. Interactive notes were easy to follow and complete. The diagrams were very useful and enhanced the presentation. The trainer's examples were helpful and he was very clear in the content. He performed well to get participants to interact. "

Valerie Lieberman

Mondelez

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Ready to Run Better Meetings?

Enrol on our next open course, book a live online training session, or speak to us about tailored in-house delivery for your team.

Book Open Course Enquire about In-House

Or speak to a member of our team directly:

020 3856 3037 01452 856091