Vanessa Van Edwards delivers a short YouTube talk advising better meeting openings. She criticizes common wasteful phrasing (notably 'we're going to wait while everyone logs on'), urges hosts to use the first minutes productively rather than idle waiting, and recommends beginning team calls with purposeful rapport—warm or competent but intentionally productive.
Here are my least favorite words at the beginning of a meeting. Are you ready? When I hear these words, I want to crumple to the floor and go to sleep. We're going to wait while everyone logs on. Oh, no. It's like telling everyone your time isn't valuable. My time isn't valuable. We're going to do nothing for the next few minutes except worry and check our email. One is I want you to work as much as you possibly can to make those first few minutes productive. Another way of being productive is also to have productive rapport. Every single team call, we start with something good. And so whatever that means for you, just make. Make it productive. That can be warm. That can be competent. I just want it to be purposeful.
