Do you make agenda's for your meetings? That helps a great deal. In addition to the agenda I make my self notes as a guideline. I am not good at public speaking at all. Do you use Robert's Rules? Next time the sec starts in tell her she is out of order. Don't expect to be an expert right off the bat. It takes a while get the hang of things. I bet you are doing much better than you think you are.

Well you need to take charge then. You have to be assertive and take control of the meeting. Before your next meeting sit down and think about the things you want to discuss and what you want to accomplish. This will help you to control the meeting. Feel free to even create an agenda that you can hand out to them to follow. If time passes and you still cannot seem to be the one in control of the meeting then you should speak to the secretary. Ultimately no one can walk all over you unless you let them.

I am a first time P.T.O president and am feeling like I really don't know anything about running a P.T.O. I feel like the rest of the board is unsure about me also.It seems as I speak noone leasons.The secretary pretty much runs the meetings.What would you do if you were in my shoes? (these meeting are just for the board so far.School has not yet started)