I agree. You should always start any meeting with ground rules. If you have to, resort to calling them out after giving them an opportunity to follow the rules. I have seen a great decline in manners generally in the last few years.

Lena - You have my sympathy. Same thing goes on in our little
guild. We have a couple who are sooooo rude and I just don't think they realize it. I'll be following the thread.

I haven't read every response yet but what I've read are excellent suggestions. The one thing I would mention is to be consistent with whatever method you use. Whatever works....keep it up!

I think at the begining of the meeting they need to ask everyone for their complete attention and to please respect other and please not talk during the meeting. Even if they have to do this several meetings maybe they will all get the hang of it. If I was a speaker and everyone kept talking I would just stop my speaking until they were all done. Then I would begin again. After several times of stopping they sometimes get the hint too.

Buy a tazer

See, this is just what I would indeed like to do! I like the way you think.

Having taught school and later, as a trial lawyer, I learned to use my voice much more strongly than in normal conversation and to make eye contact with those listening. Using a weak voice will cause people to lose interest. Move around a bit while talking unless the room is big enough that it is necessary to use a microphone. Even then make eye contact. As for guest speakers the audience needs to be set straight by the program chair. Ours once said that unless one was on the waiting list for a life saving organ transplant, everyone should take out their cell phones and turn them off. Unless one is a CIA agent or a brain surgeon with a patient recently operated on what possible excuse would one have to leave that infernal cell phone on.

Jane

this is why I don't belong an more!!! miss some of the Ladie and other not so much.

At our staff meetings at the school where I teach, the principal takes a couple of minutes to review the meeting norms (no side conversations, start/end on time, etc) which are posted at each table. Each table also has a photograph of Norm from the old tv show Cheers. If someone at your table is breaking the meeting norms, someone will hold up the Norm puppet at the offender. It works wonderfully and meetings run smoothly now.

one of the rules should be NO Phone.