The Expert: Stacey Hanke

Q: What’s the best way to prepare for a meeting?
A: Put a simple agenda together and send it out 24 hours in advance. Having that agenda is common sense. You won’t get off track.

Q: How can you tell if you’re talking too much?
A: If no one is interacting with you and you get that blank stare. Family and friends will always tell you the truth, so practice with them and say “Tell me when I’m going too long.” Record yourself speaking. It’s hard for us to judge on our own. We almost have to hear it through the ears of our listeners.

Q: How do you capture your listeners’ attention?
A: You want to start on time and end on time. I limit my meetings to 30 minutes because if I’m saying too much, I know I’ve lost the interest of my audience. My goal is to end two minutes early so I leave time for questions and interaction. If I go over the 30 minutes, I’m disrespecting the listeners.

Q: With so many meetings on conference calls or Skype, how can you effectively run a meeting if you’re not in the same room as your listeners?
A: I interact even more during virtual calls – I go over the top. Focus on speaking in short, bullet point sentences. Pausing in between key parts allows you to stay on track. It allows you to adapt to what’s going on in front of you.

Q: How do you limit modern distractions like checking your phone?
A: Whenever I start a meeting, I tell everyone to take the next minute to shoot off that email, text, tweet, whatever and I’ll make sure I respect your time. If you do have to check your phone during the meeting, take it out in the hallway and come back when you’re ready. It’s not just about respecting your own time – you have to think about the rest of your audience as well.

Stacey Hanke is an executive coach, mentor and CEO of Stacey Hanke Inc., a network of C-suite advisors. Hanke has delivered presentations for clients such as Coca-Cola, FedEx, Kohl’s, General Mills, Blue Cross and the United States Army. She is also the author of Influence Redefined: Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday.