This document discusses responsibilities of leaders and participants in group discussions and presentations. For leaders, it recommends establishing an agenda, starting meetings on time, clarifying the purpose, encouraging participation, and taking breaks every hour. For participants, it suggests preparing, arriving on time, actively engaging in discussions, exhibiting positive body language, not dominating conversations, and staying on topic. It also describes symposiums as a series of brief speeches on a topic and panel discussions as a team conversing on a topic led by a moderator.

1. Speaking in Groups
 Responsibilities of leaders
 Responsibilities of participants
 Team presentations

2. Responsibilities of Leaders
1. Establish an agenda

3. Responsibilities of Leaders
Establish an agenda
• It is a list of items that need to be covered in a
meeting.
• When there is no agenda, groups often waste
time on irrelevant matters.

4. Responsibilities of Leaders
Establish an agenda
• As leader decide in advantage what issues
should be discussed.
• Then write out an agenda. Ranking items from
most important to less important.
• Make sure that group members receive the
agenda well before the meeting, so that they can
be prepared.

5. Responsibilities of Leaders
2. Start the meeting on time

6. Responsibilities of Leaders
Start the meeting on time
• Do not wait for delay people. This is a mistake for
two reasons:
• You are being discourteous to those who were
punctual.
• You are setting a bad precedent for future
meetings.
• If the people who arrived on time see you wait
latecomers, they will perceive you as a leader
who starts meetings late. So they probably will
arrive late for the next meeting.

7. Responsibilities of Leaders
3. Make sure all participants
knows the purpose of the
meeting

8. Responsibilities of Leaders
Make sure all participants
knows the purpose of the
meeting
• Even if have circulated an agenda in advance, you
should still review the purpose of the meeting.
• Some participants may not have read the agenda
carefully or correctly.
• Others may have forgotten what it contained.
• Make sure everyone knows the task that the group
faces.

9. Responsibilities of Leaders
4. Encourage participation

10. Responsibilities of Leaders
• In some groups the leader does all the talks. This is
a waste of time.
• When you are the leader, guide the discussion, but
do not dominated.
• Encourage the free flow of ideas from all members
of the group.
• Group-created decisions are usually better than
leader-dictated decisions. People tend to
support what they have helped create.
Encourage participation

11. Responsibilities of Leaders
5. Never exceed one hour without a break

12. Responsibilities of Leaders
Never exceed one hour
without a break
• Most small-group meetings should last no longer than one
hour.
• Anything longer should cause fatigue and a drop off in the
groups effectiveness.

13. Responsibilities of Participants
1. Prepare for every meeting

14. Responsibilities of Participants
Prepare for every meeting
• Find out in advance what is going to be discussed
at the meeting and then decide what contributions
you can make.
Do whatever research, background reading that
may be necessary to make you well-informed.

15. Responsibilities of Participants
2. Arrive on time

16. Responsibilities of Participants
Meetings cannot work effectively if some
participants straggle in late.
Make sure to arrive a bit early; this will give you a
chance to chat informally with the other participants
and create a mood of friendliness.
Arrive on time

17. Responsibilities of Participants
3. Participate in group discussion

18. Responsibilities of Participants
Participate in group
discussion
Do not sit back and let the others do the work.
Join the discussion and contribute your ideas and
opinions.
You can enter the discussion by asking questions.

19. Responsibilities of Participants
4. Exhibit positive nonverbal behavior

20. Responsibilities of Participants
Exhibit positive
nonverbal behavior
• Nonverbal cues, such as:
• Clothes
• Facial expression
• Posture
• Eye contact
speak as powerfully as words.
• In a meeting, avoid slumping in your chair. Instead, sit in an alert but relaxed
posture that shows you are both confortable and confident.

21. Responsibilities of Participants
5. Do not monopolize the meeting

22. Responsibilities of Participants
• Give others a fair chance to state their views.
Do not monopolize
the meeting.

23. Responsibilities of Participants
6. Stick to the point

24. Responsibilities of Participants
Stick to the point
• A common problem in meetings is for participants to
stray off the subject and get bogged down in
irrelevant matters.
• Before speaking, ask your self if what you plan to
say is truly related to the purpose of the meeting.

25. Team Presentations
Team Presentations

26. Team Presentations
Team
Presentations
• While most group work is done private, there are
some occasions when a team makes a
presentation to an audience.
• Two popular forms of team presentations are:
• The Symposium and The Panel Discussion.

27. Team Presentations
Symposium & Panel Discussion

28. Team Presentations
• SYMPOSIUM:
• A Symposium is a series of brief speeches on a common
topic, each usually discussing a different aspect of the topic.
• In some cases, the speaker might be members of a problem-
solving group who present their ideas and conclusions to a larger
group.
• PANEL DISCUSSION:
• In a panel discussion, a team converses on a topic in front of an
audience. A panel is usually made up of three to eight team
members and is led by a moderator.

29. THANK YOU!
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The
most certain way to success is always to try just
one more time.”
Thomas A. Edison