boringmeeting
I used to be a ’shocker’. I was the immature ratbag that couldn’t control himself when in a meeting or presentation that was mind numbingly BORING. As Joseph Alvarado states in his Blog ‘One Crazy Teacher to Another’, “Reading right from the power-point, talking while sitting down, printing out the handouts, are all a few of things that all presenters need to avoid.” To name just a few! May I also add getting participants to compile info on butchers paper and making self depreciating remarks and excuses. This and more used to drive me to distraction, and I was eventually pulled aside by a boss and asked to control my activities and interruptions.

They were right. No matter how boring and belittling they were in these presentations I had made a choice to be a distraction. I began working on becoming a bit smarter (read mature) during these borefests (new word?). So I have developed the 10 Things To Do in a Boring Meeting to help my colleagues to make it through ’sleepmakers’ and not draw attention to themselves. Anyone that knows me will understand when they see that there are not 10 things, but twelve, and that I have added some dont’s as well (gotta know where the hurdles are, right?) The first two are my favorites, and are possible because of my training in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).

1. Put yourself in a Trance: (self hypnosis) - You can actually speed up time and have the meeting seem to finish in no time at all, and at the same time feel even better than you did before the meeting started.

2. Practice your positive body language: You can really improve your many of the tell tale signs of boredom through thinking about and acting on body language.

3.Make a shopping list:

4. Draw a doodle

5. Plan something: It could be a party, your next lesson….whatever.

6. Start a written conversation This one has saved me from going nuts a few times. One workshop was so bad that my boss joined in!

7. Start that book: you know, the one you have been meaning to write.

8. Ask hard questions: Keep the crap presenter on their toes.

9. Play naughts and crosses: Can be good late in the day.

10. Fart silently and keep a straight face: I am easy to please and have a warped sense of humor. There are those that will not find this funny. It can keep me amused for a while. I had an unspoken competition going in one presentation, but of course didn’t know the other competitor (obviously a pro).

11. Make a Mindmap:Probably not of the content of the meeting, but you never know.

12. Make a list of things to do in a boring meeting: Guess how this post started!

I started a list of DONT’S here:

1. Don’t draw attention to yourself, period. Not if you are working at being a mature participant. These DONT’S are all related to number 1.

#Don’t SMS or have a sms conversation, very rude.

#Don’t talk or whisper

#Don’t huff and sigh

#Don’t fart in a way that draws attention to yourself (this includes giggling) and

#Don’t fall asleep.

When doing a bit of research for this post I came across a couple of interesting articles about meetings. The first is by “Kemaltaba” and their post promotes itself as a list of things to do in a boring meeting. I would suggest they are things to avoid doing in a boring meeting.

The second is a ripper that I have not had the guts to follow. How to Stay Awake at Boring Meetings explains the rules of a particular bingo game, commonly known in my sphere of influence as Wank Word Bingo. If you give it a try let me know the results.

Got any Do’s or Don’ts to add? Maybe you have played this adventurous form of bingo?

Photo from HexBlock