Thanks for all the tips. They were good ones--especially cutting down on detailed discussions that could/should be taken care of within committee groups. I'll remember this.

Good advice, Critter! As president some "open discussion" topics have turned into major discussions and I've appointed a chair who then gets a few members together to disuss the topic outside of the monthly meeting and reports back at the next meeting. We have a limit to our meetings of one hour. On our agenda I set a time limit for discussion and then we move on.

One additional piece of advice - recognize when "committee work" is being done in a general meeting and cut it off. That is, if the general membership is discussing something like, for example, whether the staff appreciation lunch should be vegetarian, or if the flower bed should be planted with one color flowers, then it's time to stop discussion and send the issue back to committee where it belongs. I've seen perfectly good general meetings get bogged down because the president wanted to let "everyone have their say". Remember that some issues are best left to the committee who needs only report their decisions later.

I know how you feel. I was the newsletter chairperson who had never even spoken at a full PTA meeting before I became PTA president midway through the school year. I felt confident about doing the job and working with the rest of teh board, the parents, and teachers one on one, but the approaching full PTA meeting had me shaking in my boots.

First thing, have an agenda prepared and stick to it.

Second, spread the wealth to the rest of your board. Let each of them handle part of the meeting.

Third, have a giveaway/raffle to break the ice. Its easier to speak to a group after you just gave them something for free.

I didn't worry to much about sticking to parliamentary procedure. I said what needed to be said how I knew how to say it. If our PTA wants someone to run it like the floor of the US Senate then someone else needs to step forward and take over the job as president.

I'm a new PTO president that was an activity chairperson last year (not an executive board member). I'm doing fine right now organizing all the committees for next year and planning new/enhanced activities, but one last thing I haven't given much thought to is running the meetings! Can some of you give me some advice on how you generally run meetings? I have a rough outline established by the previous president but I'm curious as to the basic info that others can offer. Tips are particular subjects like voting (and other issues I might not think of) are also welcome. Thanks!