Getting comfortable as chair

[Phil D]

As mentioned in some earlier posts, I'm a presiding officer for an assembly (a union chapter). I enjoy the sweeping mandate one enjoys by being the only person who volunteered for the position and spending the $20 for a copy of RONR.

This is less a specific rules question and more of a general advice question--how do you get more comfortable with, better at, more fluid with running the meetings? I have a membership who is not tremendously well-versed in RONR, so I wind up having to do a lot of "smoothing" to turn members' ideas into a workable motion. But even without that, I feel like I have the damnedest time accurately reciting a member's motion back to them in the motion, compounded when we get into some of the more complicated practices like amending amendments and so forth. At our last meeting, I really felt like I was just trudging through the muck going through the litany of voting on a secondary amendment, primary amendment, and main motion.

[George Mervosh]

"If a motion is offered in a wording that is not clear or that requires smoothing before it can be recorded in the minutes, it is the duty of the chair to see that the motion is put into suitable form—preserving the content to the satisfaction of the mover—before the question is stated. The chair must never admit a motion that the secretary would have to paraphrase for the record. The chair—either on his own initiative or at the secretary's request—can require any main motion (10), amendment (12), or instructions to a committee to be in writing before he states the question."  RONR (12th ed.), 4:18

Reading 47:14-19 is helpful along with 47:7-8.  But it just takes some patience and practice and you will be fine.  Many I know got dragged into it like yourself.

[Atul Kapur]

On 5/19/2022 at 2:54 PM, Phil D said:

At our last meeting, I really felt like I was just trudging through the muck

It can seem tedious or boring, both for you and the delegates, but the more important error would be to go too fast and either (a) have members be confused as to what is being discussed or voted on, or (b) feel like things are being "railroaded" without adequate opportunity to consider.

With time, the language becomes second nature.

There are workshops that you can take to get more comfortable. You may wish to have a parliamentarian to assist, at least for the first few meetings.