In short: Build in some interaction roughly every ten minutes. A question, a poll, a chat prompt or a short breakout does the job. Put a five to ten minute break on the agenda every hour and announce it at the start. Name three roles before you begin: a facilitator, a timekeeper and a note taker, even if one person holds two of them.
Online meetings fail in a predictable way. The first ten minutes go well, then people drift, cameras go off and the chat falls quiet. The fix is rarely a better microphone. It is a plan that asks people to do something every few minutes.
The 10-minute rule
Plan some interaction roughly every ten minutes. It can be a question to the room, a poll, a show of hands on screen, a prompt in the chat, or a short discussion in a breakout room. The interaction does not need to be long. It needs to happen.
A quick test: read through your run sheet. If you cannot find a moment of two-way contact across a stretch of ten minutes, add one. Questions that start with who, what, when, where or why get people talking more easily than questions that can be answered with a yes or a no.
Breaks and the agenda
Put the breaks on the agenda, not in the middle of a point. A five to ten minute break every hour is a sensible default for any session of an hour or more. Announce the break when the meeting starts, so people can plan around it, and keep to the time.
Three roles
Give the meeting three roles, even if one person holds two of them:
- A facilitator runs the agenda and decides who speaks next.
- A timekeeper tells the room when each slot is ending.
- A note taker records decisions and actions, and sends them out afterwards.
The facilitator's job is the one people notice least when it is done well. Without it, the loudest voices take the meeting, and the quieter people stop joining in.
Keep it moving
- Open with a simple icebreaker in the chat, such as a one-word answer to a question about the week.
- Use a prop, a slide with a single number, or a quick demo to break up a stretch of talking.
- Read the chat aloud every so often, so people who type can see that their comments count.
- Ask people to switch their cameras on for the part where you need faces, and off for a quiet read.
Mistakes to avoid
- A forty-minute monologue with no question in it.
- Asking "any questions?" at the end and waiting for silence.
- No breaks in a long session, so the last half hour meets a tired room.
- Leaving the roles unnamed, so nobody is sure who should move things on.
If you run meetings from a studio or present to a remote audience, the webinar guide covers how the same structure works when the speaker is on a set. The setup guide for Zoom and Teams covers the light and sound that keep the room able to hear and see you.
Related guides
- Presenting on Zoom and Teams: setup, light, sound
- Being a good audience on camera
- All guides and tools
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
How often should an online meeting have a break?
Put a five to ten minute break on the agenda every hour, and announce it at the start so people can step away without asking.
What is the 10-minute rule for online meetings?
Give people something to do, such as a question, a poll or a chat reply, roughly every ten minutes, so the meeting never becomes one long stretch of listening.
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