Chairing Meetings and Communicating as an Effective Chairperson

Committees, management teams and boards across African organisations lose hours to meetings that drift, repeat themselves or reach no clear outcome. The chairperson sets the tone and controls that outcome through how they communicate. This course develops the practical skills to prepare, run and close meetings that stay focused, include every voice and produce clear decisions.

What you will be able to do

Prepare an agenda that keeps a meeting purposeful and on time.
Open, steer and close discussion using clear chairing language.
Draw out quieter members while managing those who dominate.
Summarise discussion and confirm decisions and action owners.
Handle conflict and heated exchanges calmly and fairly.
Ensure minutes and follow up accurately reflect what was agreed.

Course outline

01The Chairperson's Role and Responsibilities
02Preparing a Focused Agenda
03Opening and Steering Discussion
04Managing Participation and Airtime
05Handling Conflict in the Room
06Summarising and Confirming Decisions
07Linking Minutes to Action Follow Up
08Chairing Practice and Feedback

Who should attend

This course is aimed at chairpersons, committee leaders, supervisors and managers who run meetings, as well as those preparing to take on a chairing role.

Dates, venues and fees

Dates	Venue	Days	Fee
17 to 18 Aug 2026	Nairobi	2	US$1,100
24 to 25 Aug 2026	Durban	2	R10,000
31 Aug to 1 Sep 2026	Johannesburg	2	R10,000
14 to 15 Sep 2026	Mauritius	2	US$1,100
21 to 22 Sep 2026	Dubai	2	US$1,100
28 to 29 Sep 2026	Lagos	2	US$1,100
5 to 6 Oct 2026	Harare	2	US$1,100
12 to 13 Oct 2026	Kampala	2	US$1,100
19 to 20 Oct 2026	Dar es Salaam	2	US$1,100
26 to 27 Oct 2026	Pretoria	2	R10,000
2 to 3 Nov 2026	Cape Town	2	R10,000
16 to 17 Nov 2026	Online	2	US$900
23 to 24 Nov 2026	Mozambique	2	US$1,100
30 Nov to 1 Dec 2026	Cairo	2	US$1,100
7 to 8 Dec 2026	Accra	2	US$1,100
14 to 15 Dec 2026	Lusaka	2	US$1,100
21 to 22 Dec 2026	Kigali	2	US$1,100

Fees are per delegate. South African venues are priced in rand; other locations and online in US dollars. Fees exclude 15% VAT where applicable. Group bookings of three or more delegates from the same organisation qualify for a reduced rate; contact us for a quotation.

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Training a whole team?

We can run Chairing Meetings and Communicating as an Effective Chairperson privately for your team, on your dates and built around your own systems. Group delivery is usually more cost effective from about six delegates.

Run this in-house