As chairman of a meeting, to consciously set the atmosphere the first 5 seconds of any group-encounter are your tool. (1) The fact that you're early/on time/too late, (2) the way you look and (3) anything you say will fix 90 % of the outcome of that meeting.

For example, you wish to pass some of your proposals without discussion:

(1) Entering 10 minutes late , (2) dressed in a hawaiian shirt, bottle of sunburn lotion in your breastpocket, a pair of sunglasses casually on your hair, you say (3): "Top of the morning everybody, what a lovely day. Why don't we all take the rest of the day off after this meeting? Spent some time with our loved ones for a change, what d' you say?"

or: you're determined not to discuss a certain proposal on the agenda:

(1) Coming in before everybody else, (2) wearing your sharpest suit, the proposal concerned spread out in front of you, pen in your right hand , you say (while the others trickle in) (3): " I seem to be the only one taking this meeting seriously while some of you seem to think they're still in nursery school. Before anything else, I wish to discuss with you your attitudes and lack of self-discipline. The proposal, scheduled for today's agenda, deserves our fullest professional attention and that's seems to be exactly the problem around here."

(Jacco Mokveld)