JUNEC

Love the duct tape suggestion - would love to be a fly on the wall......

However, you might want to casually mention to the offenders about how "rude some people are when talking while someone else is"- they might get the point and no one will be offended

cheryl rearick

Ditto! That's pretty much why I stopped going to Guild meetings; i.e, rude, non-stop talkers. There were a couple, in particular, who could not be reined in despite using most of the techniques suggested here. If anything, it made it worse. For example, one woman liked to "hold court" with all her buddies and, if you stopped the meeting to ask them to stop, the Queen just talked louder so everyone could hang on her every word. I felt sorry especially for those who would be showing their hard work, only to have to holler over the rude members. Such a shame.[/quote]

A person like that usually NEEDS attention for one reason or another. I would have stopped the meeting and not said one word. It may take some min. for them to know all eyes are on them... when they stoppped chatting simply say thank you.. resume meeting, if it happened again do the same thing. the chatting lady may want to talk but soon her friends would probably not like the meeting stopped with all eyes on them... words unspoken mean a chatter cannot justifie.. IF you say something to her she can be the whipped puppy. By not saying she cannot justifie her actions. Am I making sense?

cheryl rearick

[quote=Just Me...]I used to completely stop talking and look at the ones talking over me. When they shut up, I would start again. I would also make a comment when opening up the meeting to the effect...."Ladies, please mind our manners. The faster you let me get through this by giving me your attention, the quicker we get to the goodies and show n tell."



YES, this is what I was trying to explain... it works... yes it works.

NJ Quilter

I was Prez of our local (fire company) Ladies Auxiliary for more years than I can remember. We always had a couple of consistent 'problem children'. It was a known fact that our social time was post meeting. We didn't typically have outside speakers but either board members or general members discussing an issue. When the side conversations would get out of hand I would simply speak over everyone and say 'Ladies...no one can hear what is being said by X. Everyone will have an opportunity to voice their viewpoint before the subject is closed'. It usually got the message across. I also, always made it a point that EVERYONE's voice was heard. But you also need to keep the conversations on track. When you get the inevitable members who have a tendancy to 'wander' when they speak, bring them back to the topic at hand with a gentle reminder that the points they have just made are the subject for a different discussion. Good luck with you new post. Having sort of walked in your shoes....

Lena1952

Thanks to all. With such good suggestions, something is bound to work. If not, the duct tape was my first thought:-) My post does not begin until July. I will let you know what works and report back so others can successfully get their own guilds in order.

sewingsuz

When i went to the school for awards for grandson recently, the principal did not have to say a thing, she would just stop talking on the mikerphone and look up and they all would get very quiet. You could try it. These women need to learn their manners.

bjnicholson

My old boss, when things were getting out of hand, would say "OK, people. One meeting here, please." Usually worked quite well.

LivelyLady

LOL!! Liking your way of thinking :thumbup:

patchsamkim

Maybe you could write an article for your guild newsletter on polite behavior at a meeting...especially when there is a speaker...some of the suggestions mentioned here could be included...and if you want to make it humorous, you could include the duct tape suggestion.

Good luck with your new position!

pab58

I like some of the suggestions you have been given. I find that so often these days rudeness seems to be the norm -- EVERYWHERE!!! :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :evil: :cry: Whatever happened to using proper etiquette -- and common sense?? :roll: