Body language has a great impact
Use appropriate body language and make sure you maintain eye contact with others. This fosters trust. To create a rapport with other participants at a meeting, it is recommended you adapt your own body language to that of your listeners.
Don’t talk over others
When two or even more persons are speaking at the same time, no one can be heard properly. Yet still this can happen – especially when emotions are running high. Nonetheless, the fact remains that talking over others is extremely unproductive.
If someone interrupts you, don’t start a fight because of it. Simply let them say what they want and be sure to react to the points they have raised. However, you still need to get your own points across, so if anyone tries to interrupt again, respectfully insist they let you finish first. This advice comes from the business2community.com website.
Sometimes it is good to change the subject for a while
Unusually long business meetings may suddenly become dull. If you sense that happening, you might try moving away completely from the current topic. Initiating a different discussion will reengage those present. Of course, you should bear in mind the need to return to the original topic later. But after a refreshing break, this will not be perceived as quite so annoying.
Always summarise and repeat key points
This applies to any kind of communication. We tend to think that what we are saying is being well received by our audience but, in reality, most people are actually quite poor listeners. Of course, you cannot make them listen better but you can help them by summarising the key points of your speech. So after making your point, always reiterate the key pieces of information.
-jk-