How to Write Agendas

Agendas can be useful tools for any business meeting, committee meeting or presentation. They tell people what to expect from a meeting, how long the meeting will last and who will speak during the meeting. They also help limit meetings to their assigned times, and help the speaker stay organized and on topic.

Things You'll Need

• Computer Printer

Instructions

1. Decide on the goal of your meeting. Once you have a meeting goal, break your goal into topics. Place your topics in order down the left hand side of your page, with a space in between them. It's best to write your topics in chronological order if one topic feeds off of another.

2. Decide who will talk about each of your topics. Maybe it will just be you talking about each item, or maybe you will ask other people to present on different topics. It is helpful if you are going to put other people on your agenda to tell them in advance so they have time to prepare what they will say. Write the name of the person speaking about each topic under the topic on the left hand side of the page.

3. Estimate how much time each topic requires. If you are the only one speaking, this should be easy to estimate. If other people will also be speaking, then you might want to check with them to see how long they will need for their assigned topic. Place the time, such as 6-6:15 p.m., on the far-right side of your page on the same line of each topic.

4. Write a brief description for each topic. Next to the person's name who will be presenting, put a dash and write a one- to two-sentence description of what they will discuss. If you are the only one speaking, this should be easy. If other people are speaking, but you are in charge, you may already know what you want them to present and you should be able to write the description. But if you don't know their topics, you may want to ask them before writing a description.

5. After your last topic, make a topic for questions, or wrap-up. Give it a time length and place your name, or the person's name running the meeting, under it. This is the time you are allowing for questions on the meeting or presentation topic.

6. On the far left hand side of the page, underneath the topics and their descriptions, write action steps in bold font. Write numbers 1 through 5 going down the page with a blank line in between each. Place lines going across the whole page next to each number. Action steps are very helpful in committee or business meetings. They allow the attendees to take notes, start a task list or even jot down questions they need to ask.

Tips & Warnings

• It is a good idea to give your attendees a copy of the agenda a couple of days before the meeting so they have time to review it. It is also useful to print and take copies of the agenda to the meeting or presentation to pass out to your attendees.