Your meetings last for 2 or more hours...YIKES!
What the heck are these people debating?
Ask for a motion to accept the minutes and for someone to second the minutes and then you can say "Let the record show the minutes were accepted".
I always make up an agenda for our meetings. Officer Reports, Old Business, New Business, Miscellaneous Business, Teacher Laison comments, Principal's comments, & lastly the open portion of the meeting where people can ask questions or make comments. Everyone gets a simple copy of the agenda and I have a detailed agenda where I note all the items I want to discuss and what I want to say about them. Making an agenda will help you remember all the things you want to say and this will help you especially if you are nervous.
If a topic is being debated and taking too long you can control it by either taking a vote on the issue or tabeling it for the next meeting if it does not need to be decided that evening. I would only let a debate go on for so long and then I would call to either vote on it or table it. Otherwise people can just beat a dead horse and just keep having the same conversation and arguments over and over and over.
I have to chair this months meeting and I've never done it before. In the past its been the president. I'm very shy and don't like speaking in front of people. My question is...I call the meeting to order, we review our minutes, we make our motions..what do I say after they make thier second motion to accept something? How do I move the meeting along when people what to debate things? Our meetings typically go 2 or more hours. I want this to be a shorter meeting. thanks for your help.
