I have started sharing this graphic with everyone I know, and I bring it up in meetings when I can. W.A.I.T.- Why am I Talking? It’s important to self reflect on what we want to say and why we want to say it. And usually, I can turn this into a point of humor because we all know that guy that talks to much and causes meetings to go waaaaayyy longer and more off topic than they’re intended to.

Often, in meetings full of extroverts, people tend to want to talk a lot. Is it relevant? Is what you’re saying bringing value to the conversation?

Make sure you have an agenda published (and that it’s disseminated prior to the meeting), keep sidebars at a minimum, ensure the meeting lead is keeping the agenda on track, and don’t let it go longer than 60 minutes.

Everyone posted some great points, thanks!