5 Free
Apps for Mastering Your Next Meeting
No-hassle
scheduling, inside info on attendees, easy-as-pie conference calls, and more.
Despite
technological advancement after technological advancement, we still haven’t
been able to completely kill off meetings. They’re resilient, like fax
machines.
Don’t
fight it. Instead, check out these apps, which can make your next meeting less
. . . meeting-like.
Meekan (Android, iOS) not only hooks into the most popular
calendar services, but it will also pinpoint everyone’s open time slots in
order to schedule meetings when it’s most convenient. Setting meetings up
entails little more than entering invitee email addresses, it takes time zones
into account, and there’s a natural-language component that lets you enter
things like "Breakfast with John on Tuesday morning."
If
you find yourself walking into a meeting with people you’ve never met, give Charlie
(iOS, Web) a try. A few minutes
before your meeting is supposed to start, the app will surface relevant info
about attendees, pulling data in from hundreds of available sources—social
apps, news articles, and more. Consider it a system for automated one-pagers
that you can use to your advantage.
UberConference (Android, iOS, Web) is a dead-simple way to set up a conference call. There
are no cumbersome pins for the organizer to grapple with, meeting attendees can
see quick social bios of whoever is speaking, and calls can be recorded for
later playback. The free version offers an unlimited number of conferences with
up to 10 callers at a time.
4. Make presentations pop.
Prezi (Android, iOS, Web) helps you create engaging, cloud-synched presentations
that you can access from all sorts of devices. Companion mobile apps let you
practice your presentations while you’re on your way to your meeting, and
control your presentations on the big screen once you’re there. You can even
stream your presentations to remote attendees who can’t make meetings in
person.
Microsoft’s
free OneNote app (Android, iOS, Windows Phone) is a note-taker on steroids that lets you
type, handwrite, audio-record, snap photos, and more. Notes are saved and
synched across devices, with different formats available—checklists, research,
meetings, lectures—based on what you’re looking to do. There’s a great
whiteboard photo-snapping feature that even works from off-angles to capture
everyone’s scribbling as well.
Bonus App!
Need an excuse to split? Try Fake Call & SMS (Android). You can set the app to call you on demand, or at a preset time. Feign a look of embarrassment, whisper, "Excuse me! I have to take this!" and out the door you go.
By
Doug Aamoth
http://www.fastcompany.com/3047308/app-economy/5-free-apps-for-mastering-your-next-meeting?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=6&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=06132
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