A face-to-face meeting can be a powerful way of influencing other people, as well as an opportunity for you to listen to their point of view.

You need to make the best possible use of any meeting. 

View this information as a British Sign Language (BSL) video with subtitles below.

Prepare yourself

• What do you want to get out of the meeting?
• Who are you meeting?
• What are your main points?
• What questions do you want to ask?
• How will you remember everything you want to say?
• What questions are people likely to ask you?
• Is communication support arranged?
• How will you get to and from the meeting?

Participate effectively

• Keep to time
• Actively listen and speak
• Respect what others say
• Keep to the point
• Be honest
• Be polite
• Ask to be kept informed of progress
• Say thank you

Follow-up

• Keep any promises you made
• Write a letter to say thank you and summarise action points
• If necessary, contact the person again to check that they are doing what they said they would

Tips

• Set one or two clear goals before the meeting
• Keep a record of who you met, when, what was discussed and what each person promised to do 

Contact us if you need further information.

British Sign Language (BSL) version with subtitles