Q&A: How do I Participate Better in Meetings?

Morgan Steele
May 16
5 min read

Updated: Aug 4

My boss tells me I need to be more visible and speak up more in meetings. I never know what to say. How do I actually act on this feedback without talking for the sake of talking?

As an introvert who likes to listen before speaking, I’ve been there! Unfortunately for those who prefer async work, meetings are a key part of professional life, and making meaningful contributions can enhance your visibility, credibility, and career growth. Fortunately, contributing meaningfully is a skill anyone can learn, even if it feels uncomfortable at first.

Below are five powerful ways to engage in meetings, along with guidance on when to use them and potential pitfalls to avoid. These tactics range in sophistication; some can be used on your first day at work, while others require a little more experience and credibility.

1. Ask a Question

Asking thoughtful questions demonstrates engagement, curiosity, and a desire to understand the topic better. This approach is helpful whenever you need clarification, want to deepen your understanding, or help others think critically about the subject.

A good question is on-topic and relevant to most people in the room. Some examples of effective questions:

Clarifying terms, like “What does [xyz] mean?”
Clarifying purpose with questions like “What is the expected result of this project?” or “How will this deliverable be used?”
Uncovering important information, such as “Who is the target audience for this work?” or “What have we learned from previous work on this project?”
Defining roles, including “Which team is delivering xyz?” or “Who are the key stakeholders for this project?”

⚠️ Warning: don’t ask dumb questions. Yes, outside of the classroom, there is such a thing as a dumb question. Questions can harm your credibility if they are off-topic, have already been answered, or ask about something everyone else knows the answer to (on this last one, you should still find the answer, but do so on your own or one-on-one with a colleague).

To avoid this, be sure to complete any required meeting prep or reading, listen actively, and take notes to help you track the conversation if you need to.

2. Highlight a Risk

Identifying potential obstacles or downsides to a plan ensures that the team considers potential pitfalls before proceeding. When you foresee potential issues that haven’t been discussed, especially if they could impact the success of a project, you have a responsibility to speak up.

If your team is planning an ambitious software launch, you might say, “One risk I see is that our development team is already stretched thin. How can we ensure they have the resources to meet this deadline?”

⚠️ Warning: make sure your criticism is constructive only. If you only focus on risks without offering solutions, you might be perceived as overly negative or not a problem solver. Instead, pair your concern with a constructive idea for mitigating the risk.

3. Facilitate the Conversation

Taking on the role of guiding the conversation ensures meetings stay productive and on track. This works well if no one is ‘owning’ the meeting and a facilitator is needed to guide the discussion forward. If you work with the meeting owner, you can also offer to facilitate in advance.

At the beginning. of the meeting, you might say, “Can I write down an agenda for us? What topics do we need to discuss, or what decisions need to be made?”

Then, if a discussion is going off-topic, you could say, “This is a great discussion, but should we table this point for later and refocus on our primary agenda?”

⚠️ Warning: make sure you’re not taking over if there is a clear meeting owner or facilitator. If you interrupt the wrong person or take too much control, it may come off as dismissive or overstepping. This role is only effective if it’s clear that organization and facilitation is missing.

4. Synthesize Information

Summarizing key points from a discussion helps the team stay aligned and move forward efficiently. This works well when a conversation becomes scattered, repetitive, or complex, and the group needs clarity to move forward.

After a lengthy debate, you might say, “It sounds like we all agree that Option A is the best path forward, but we need to address concerns about cost and feasibility before finalizing the decision.”

⚠️ Warning: make sure your synthesis is holistic. Summarizing inaccurately or leaving out key perspectives can misrepresent the discussion and ruffle feathers. Make sure to confirm your synthesis with the group before assuming consensus.

5. Recommend a Course of Action

Making a recommendation about what the team should do can show initiative and critical thinking. This works well when decisions need to be made and you have enough information to offer a thoughtful, well-supported suggestion.

If you have a strong opinion about what the team should do, make sure your language is clear. This might sound like “I suggest we…” or “I think we should do [x].”

⚠️ Warning: don’t make unsupported recommendations. Making recommendations without sufficient knowledge or support from data can weaken your credibility.

If you don’t have confidence that the team should move forward in a particular direction, offer it as a possible idea instead, which might start with softer language like, “What if we…” or “Have we considered…”

These techniques vary from beginner to advanced participation. Beginner-level tactics can be used successfully on your first day in a new role. Advanced tactics require more expertise, prep, or credibility with the other meeting stakeholders.

Asking questions is something you can implement right away, even if you’re new to the project, team, or company. In fact, you’re expected to ask questions! You’re also more likely to be forgiven for “dumb questions” earlier in your tenure.

Highlighting a risk is a little more sophisticated. It requires that you have a solid grasp of the relevant material, whether that is a project plan, product launch, or customer understanding. As soon as you have done some hands-on work, this option opens up for you.

Facilitation is an intermediate technique. If you feel comfortable keeping people on track when they veer off, then you're ready to facilitate.

Synthesizing information is an upper-intermediate technique, better used when you know each of the stakeholders well and have deep enough knowledge of the relevant material to be able to parse what is important and what is not to synthesize.

Finally, making a recommendation is the most advanced. It requires you to have a deep understanding of the topic at hand, and others need to trust that you have that deep understanding.

As you progress in your career and your tenure at an organization, you can start to unlock more advanced techniques!