A Word List for the Meeting Room

The readings lean on a handful of words from club and committee life. Here they are, with the private meaning each one takes on these pages.

Agenda

The list of topics for a gathering. In the readings, the short list of habits you mean to keep this week.

Roll call

Reading out who is present. Here, the drive-home exercise of naming every face that sat in the circle.

Minutes

The written record of what was said and decided. Here, your three lines in a pocket notebook.

Quorum

The smallest number of members needed to hold a valid meeting. Here, a reminder that two people on a porch already count.

The floor

The right to speak at a given moment. Having the floor means others wait; yielding it means you listen and hold your point.

Old business

Items carried over from last time. Here, whatever you promised someone and wrote on line three.

Adjourn

To close the meeting. Here, the moment to open the notebook, before the chairs go back on the rack.