Micro Start XP-10 review

We were very excited as we got this Antigravity Batteries Micro Start XP 10 to review. Actually it is the most powerful jump starter from Antigravity Batteries reaching 18000 milliamps of capacity and 600 peak Amps of boost power. That is the main reason why we expect it to be one of the best on market!

Lots of positive rumors we heard about this multi function mini jump starter. Is it really so good? Definitely with all its characteristics and miscellaneous equipment it is a device worth of reviewing and testing. In age of constant use of gadgets such as smart phones, Laptops, tablet computers and many other devices who are powered by lithium-ion batteries there is undeniable need for portable power supply such as this one.

Micro Start XP-10 – first impression


It is quite impressive fact that so compact multi-function device can contain so much energy. Its main sailing point is to jump start cars but definitely this is a multi-functional device ready to solve all drained lithium-ion battery problems. The truth is that it is a little bit longer than NOCO GB30 but again much smaller than Jump-N-Carry NC660 and weighting only 18 ounces this portable mini jump starter provides up to 600 Peak Amp jump starting ability and huge 18000 milliamps of capacity. Translated to simple language that means it can jump start heavy duty machines even powerful Diesel engines up to 8L.

Micro Start XP-10 (as RAVPOWER CAR JUMP STARTER ) comes inside handy case with a lot of accessories. We were really impressed with all this equipment! So, what do we get inside this sim-leather handy case:
Micro Start XP-10 power unit
Mini detachable jumper clamps
User guide
Black USB cable with 8 different detachable parts used to fit various types of Laptops such as Dell, Apple, HP, Acer and many other who use standard 19V output (Note: It doesn’t work for 16V Apple Laptops)
White USB cable also with different detachable tips used to fit all 5V USB-chargeable devices such as Smart phones, Tablets, iPads, PSPs, iReders and all others who use 5V USB charger
Small 12V black cable used to recharge all devices using this voltage
Standard home charger used to recharge this mini jump starter either with 110v or 220v outlets
Mobile charger who uses cigarette lighter socket as a source of power


With all these different connectors well organized inside of case almost every gadget can be recharged using Micro Start XP-10. This great power kit is offering various options for every person who needs portable source of power. We have to say that with this dive range of equipment XP-10 definitely deserves high place on our list of the best mini jump starters. It is lightweight and so thin jump starter you can put it in your back pocket what makes it very easy to handle and it easily fits in almost every car drawer. However, there is e.g. Micro Start XP-1 for those who want really a tiny one. But of course it all depends of your needs.

We have studied a little his appearance. Housing is made of glossy but durable plastic. On front side of this portable power supply is very bright LED lamp. It has few different modes such as SOS and emergency strobe. As you keep pressing power button these modes will change until flashlight eventually shuts down. Definitely a great additional value for this multi-function mini jump starter. Besides flashlight there are two 5V USB outputs (1A and 2A) and one output used to attach jumper clamps. Alongside with 12V and 19V output and input used to recharge this powerful portable charger, left side contains power button and five LED lamps who indicate how much energy is left inside XP-10. It is very nice design, very thin. Altogether, it has a very nice ergonomic design.
Micro Start XP-10 starts Diesel engines?

When jump starting a vehicle or motorcycle you should fallow a few simple steps. First of all, make sure your problem with starting engine is actually a drained battery problem. The second thing is to carefully read users guide related to this product. Most accidents and unsuccessful attempts happen just because some people ignore safety precaution and don’t know how to jump-start a car. If you are not sure about whole procedure to check out our step by step guide “How to Jump Start a Car”.

As manufacturer climes that Micro Start XP-10 can start Diesel engines, we did test on a 6.0l Dieselengine. This device is the strongest one from Antigravity Batteries and it was kinda expected this powerful mini jump starter will start our drained 12V battery.

The procedure is quite simple. We recharged Micro Start XP-10 in order to receive full power. It took some time but it is better to keep it full charged always; who knows when you will need it. Also it is quite easy to do so as you have a mobile charger so you can plug it in the cigarette lighter place in your car. Anyway, we connected detachable mini clamps and pressed “BOOST” button on clamps! So simple it is! We waited about 20 sec. until finally turned the car key. The engine started at once! No problem at all! Really impressive it jump-started powerful 6.0L Diesel engine especially because we used these massive jump starters for this purpose. However, not just it jump started our car but had enough juice to jump start two more cars, recharged my iPad and we were not even close to draining this pocket-size powerful device.

As we earlier mentioned this mini jump starter is multi-function device. It means it can be used as power bank to recharge most of your gadgets. 18000 milliamps of capacity make this portable power supply a must-have device when you go out for camping or any other place where you can’t recharge your electronics. Actually, it can recharge an iPhone up to seven times and also as it has 2 USB outputs it can charge 2 gadgets at the same time. If you use 2 Amp output you will be able to recharge your cell phone twice as faster than using 1 Amp output. For purposes of this review, we used it in our office and it did a great job by recharging our cell phones and Laptops.

The best trail cameras

Stealth Cam P12

The Stealth Cam P12 is an awesome game camera that also comes in well under $100. The P12 has a good sensor size of 6MP, and a nice 50 foot sensing range to go with it.


The Stealth Cam line is one the easiest on battery usage. You will be extremely happy when you’re not constantly changing out the AA batteries like you do on other cameras.


The P12 takes very good quality photos, and using the 6 shot burst setting is one of my favorite things about the camera. At night it uses an IR flash that is nearly invisible to wildlife, resulting in excellent night shots. The price of the P12 is fantastic, considering the high end features and overall reliability of the camera, making it a best buy for the cheap trail camera segment. Check out my full review of the P12.

Moultrie A-5 Gen 2


This is the popular budget camera from long time manufacturer, Moultrie. I did a full review of the original A5, and the Gen 2 is the updated design that remains an excellent low cost, entry level game camera even as it nears two years old.


It features a 5.0MP camera sensor with a low glow infrared motion sensor. It has an advertised range of 40 feet, but I have found it to be closer to 30 feet in practice. Each photo is time stamped with time and date information as well as the moon phase, which is a nice bonus.


Moultrie listened to their customers and did away with the C cell batteries. The new Moultrie A-5 Gen 2 now operates on 8 standard AA cell batteries and also has a 12V external port if you’d like longer deployments. The AA batteries will last you 6-8 weeks in the field and take 100’s of photographs.

10 Best Trail Cameras under $250-200


This list of premium trail cameras has been updated for this hunting season. We replaced some older models with better or newer ones. These scores are based on aggregated customer ratings from multiple online stores, and forum conversations, combined with our own field experience.


At the $250-$200 and under mark you can get a much more advanced trail camera with more advanced technical features. These 5 cameras are excellent performers in the field, and yet are still attractively priced for serious hunters and avid outdoorsmen.
Moultrie A-20

The new Moultrie A-20 is an upgraded version of the popular A-5 camera. You can still get the A-5 if you want, it’s still highly rated and on our list. The A-20 offers some upgrades in most of the specs. You go up to 12MP from 5MP, faster trigger, and still get 640×480 video for nearly the same price.


The case has been redesigned as is now more compact. The battery compartment still opens with a single solid latch to reveal an 8AA capacity. The case design looks good this year, and smaller is usually better.


Daytime photos show good color range and saturation, if not a little blur when an animal moves past the image sensor. The night illumination is not as powerful as more expensive cameras, but that is to be expected to an extent. Here is a really good review on Amazon that showcases what this cheap little trail cam is capable of.
Stealth Cam P18

The P18 is the third Stealth Cam model in our Top 10, which should not be a surprise, as we feel they produce some of the most reliable trail cameras on the market.


You can get a pretty sweet deal, sometimes if you can find it with a 4GB memory card and an 8 pack of AA batteries bundled with the camera. The P18 is the big brother to the P12, so it has a 7MP image sensor, 10 foot further range, and a slightly faster trigger sensor.


The slightly higher cost for marginal performance increase is why we still rank the P12 ahead of the P18. It should be noted as well, that the P18 has a camo finish, while the P12 is flat grey.

All You Need to Know about Jailbreaking the Amazon Fire Stick

Getting an Amazon Fire Stick with Kodi is among the best methods to improve your TV viewing expertise and have access to top quality material like films, television shows, sports activities, and Pay-Per-View packages. But do you realize that you can have your Amazon Flame Stick jailbroken? By using this task, you'll be able to start your unit and use it to go beyond Amazon’s backyard, explore different information options, and enjoy much more applications and companies.
What is the Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken for sale?
Before having your Amazon Flame Stick revealed, you must first understand what you’re buying. Fundamentally, the Flame Stay can be an HDMI stick that’s centered on Amazon’s Flame OS and it is a low cost but nevertheless effective variation of the Amazon Fire Stick hack  set-top field. It has a dual-core processor and has a 1GB memory and 8GB storage capacity. Just connect it to your TV’s HDMI port, connect it to a Hardware port within your Television or even to a wall store for energy, and connect it up to the net, and you’re good to go.

The Amazon Fire Stick free channels provides you with entry to a wide selection of information services including Netflix, Spotify, BBC I player, and Atmosphere Media in addition to Amazon Prime Instant Video if you’re a Prime participant. You may also perform informal activities onto it, while games which are heavy on artwork aren’t available. Since it is very lightweight, it is possible to consider the Flame Stick anywhere-you-go and revel in your favorite videos and television shows in accommodations, dorms, as well as other locations which have HDTVs.

How can you jailbreak it?
The Amazon Fire Stick hack  is one of the best technological innovations out there, but the truth remains that it limits you to this content that Amazon permits you to enjoy. Thus, if you'd like to have complete control over that which you watch, you must have your Amazon Fire Stay revealed.

Among the greatest approaches do this is always to install Amazon Fire Stick Kodi within your Flame Stay. Amazon Fire Stick with Kodi is a free open-source application that enables you to enjoy services that aren’t provided by the Fire Stick, including films and live TV packages that typically need Cable Television to watch. It also gives you use of add-ons which are created by the Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken with Kodi group and let you access audio and videos.

Don’t worry because adding Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken is easy. Only obtain the most recent edition of the Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken for sale software from their website then utilize the Android SDK or Amazon Fire Stick with Kodi (with a variation for Windows and Mac) to set up Amazon Fire Stick hack into your Hearth Stick.

Could it be authorized?
The short response: Yes, it’s legitimate. Amazon Fire Stick fully loaded is actually a media player and never a press service. It doesn’t make a unique information; fairly, it plays or shows your active content (like images and audio playlists) and provides you access to the third party online service providers. According to its website, Amazon Fire Stick unlocked doesn’t help bootleg movies and other types of duplicate content, which suggests it’s entirely legitimate to install and use.

Child Custody: 25 Stupid Mistakes to Avoid!

1. Don't publish Inappropriate material on Fb, MySpace, internet sites or online-which display that you're an unhealthy parent, use medicines or liquor or elsewhere not working in the best interest of your kid. Remember, one other parent is usually trolling around your Facebook page searching for any angle to assist them to prevail while in the custody feud. A seemingly simple "Facebook friend" may actually be providing information towards the other parent.

2. Do Not Post online Negative or disparaging comments or comments regarding the different parent, the judge, the doctor, the psychologist, the custody evaluator, anybody active in the custody planning, one other supervised child centers or even the other functions family.

3. Don't Blog about your event. You need to fight your case in Court, not on your own blog. These sites irritate judges especially when there's a chance that the youngsters might watch your blog.

4. Don't get a costly merchandise, cars or take a trip if you are proclaiming you-can't afford child-support or you experience young child custody services support contempt motion. The other supervised child visitation services use this to confirm that the contempt is willful and have that you just be imprisoned.

5. Don't use a 500 buck view to your supervised child services hearing. If you cannot manage your supervised child centers you ought not to be acquiring costly items while you are claiming you are broke. Definitely, if you owe supervised child visitation services you ought not to be sporting costly goods in Court.

7. Don't produce foolish fights in supervised child centers. Please observe my guide concerning building stupid fights in RI family Court. These reasons destroy your credibility, waste precious Judge resources and usually irk the judges.

8. Do not Coach your youngster to consider your side. This generally backfires since most youngsters are not capable of playing. The first thing is the custody evaluator, supervised child services do is ask the supervised visitation services who they talked to regarding the case. Your youngster isn't your buddy or your confidante concerning the supervised child services procedures or perhaps the RI Custody Situation. Coaching supervised visitation centers could be mentally damaging and confusing to supervised child visitation services.

9. Don't ship one other guardian incorrect or harmful texts, e-mails, or voice messages that usually will undoubtedly be proven to the judge. This foolish texting is ludicrous and is a simple way to get rid of you RI Infant Custody situation. You want the judge to perceive you while the better guardian, as well as the realistic individual and these emails, don't help your situation!

10. Don't deliver substance or alcohol induced text messages

11. Do not make adverse responses or remarks concerning the additional guardian within the presence of the kid. Here is the most popular oversight that parents produce in child visitation services. These comments can be very harmful to your youngster. In addition, they exhibit the judge that you do not value your child custody services.

12. Do not produce threats, or work inappropriately around the telephone towards the other parent. Suppose that all you claim will be taped because several parents record another parent.

13. Don't Use Illegal Drugs. Anytime throughout the child visitation services, you're subject to being drug-tested. A confident drug test may destroy your odds to dominate in your custody event and might bring about supervised visitation.

14. Do not venture out binge drinking the night before your examination by the custody evaluator. Yes, one customer really did this.

15. Don't get involved in personal feuds, create accusations or work rudely towards the people who affect choices for you personally. You need these folks to respect you and empathize with you on a particular level.

Trashing the people who're powerful in selecting your event can be a truly bad idea. This especially contains Psychiatrists, Researchers and the person who supervises your appointments. In one single situation, a female and her husband slammed down their fist, became enraged and began yelling at the psychologist.

16. Don't create wrong letters to your kid in regards to the Custody Event. People really do this. I can not make this stuff up.

17. Don't reject court ordered visitation or don't pay child visitation centers support per Judge orders. This just allows you to look terrible and certainly will adjust the emphasis of the child visitation centers event. In case you are unhappy with visitation then you should file a to change the visitation.

18. Do not create a notification towards the judge or call the judge. Yes, some of my customers have linked this before. Child visitation centers may suggest your situation for the judge. It's incorrect to create a correspondence to the judge.

19. Don't arrive at Court overdosed on prescription drugs.

20. Do not fail to show up for your different parents watched visit without a good reason and without calling Household Services and the other parent. (Except there is a restraining order)

21. Do not add the kid or get the visitation centers a part of a brand new boyfriend or girlfriend particularly person who includes a legal history or previous day heritage.

22. Do not have overnight visitors of the alternative sex as the supervised visitation centers near me are a house. The Custody case is complicated enough and there's no need to get other folks active in the event.

23. Do not buy the kid a massive present your day before or even the day of his meeting with the judge. This looks like bribery into a judge. However, gamesmanship is a great idea. There is nothing wrong using a trip to the leisure park the afternoon ahead of the meeting with the judge. Gamesmanship is ok. Bribery is not ok.

24. Don't abandon the state without informing another guardian of where you stand to proceed so when you'll be returning. You should offer contact Information.

25. Don't have necessary heated battles with all the other parent. Walk away from these negative scenarios and tell your attorney. These confrontations often bring about visitation centers or issues safety from misuse.

Even though the confrontation isn't real and somewhat harmless, the other parent may strike it out of portion and utilize it to obtain an unfair gain by using a restraining order or instituting Criminal charges

RENOGY 100W

One of the most considered upgrades for RVing is solar power. Before we started full time RVing in our 29′ motorhome, we lived out of it for two months. Four of those weeks were spent dry camping to better understand our energy consumption. After the four week, we decided on two main upgrades: 1) solar power to recharge the RV house batteries 2) upgraded house batteries to capture solar energy. The main reason we wanted solar power was to off-set generator usage.

Roof mounted system vs. Portable unit. With a roof mounted system, the cost was around $5,000 with installation. With a portable unit, the cost was between $280-$800 without the additional cost of installation. Unsure if a roof mounted system would be suitable for us, we decided to purchase a portable unit. There are several manufactures of portable solar units on the market. With cost being a major factor in our decision making, we opted for the Renogy portable suitcase. This is our initial RENOGY 100W portable solar panel review, check the update section at the end of this post.

What We Like:

Solar panels work well. The portable unit consists of two 50w panels that provide 5.4 amps/hour or more in full sun. On a cloudy day we get between 1 to 3 amps/hour. This is typically enough to maintain the systems in our motorhome and provide a trickle charge for the two 6v house batteries. We still need to run the generator on days we don’t get enough solar power.

Inexpensive compared to other portable solar panels. The Renogy unit was about half of what a 120w portable unit sold for by other manufacturers. We have the option to buy two 100w portable units for the same price as a 120w unit. Two panels would allow us to hook one unit up to each house battery for more solar power.

Small enough to store in RV. The portable unit folds in half, small enough to store in the rear bay. It’s also compact enough that we can leave it inside the RV.

Set up is fairly easy. To connect the unit, take it out of the carrying case, unfold it, extend the legs and attach the alligator clips to the battery terminals. Only one person required for setup and breakdown. There is no installation or additional costs associated with using the solar panels.

Charge controller is accessible and easy to read. The 10 amp charge controller is mounted to the back of one of the panels on a hinge and secured with a strip of velcro. It’s simple to check the controller and the LCD panel is easy to read. The controller provides a general diagnostic such as the level of charge coming in, the state of charge for the battery.

Portable. If we sell the RV, we can take the unit with us – it’s not tied to the RV the way a roof mounted system would be.

What We Don’t Like:

Quality control. Our first unit had to be returned because a screw holding one of the legs had stripped the threads in the mounting bracket. The panel was scratched in various places and looked as if it had been previously used or snuck past quality assurance. We were able to exchange the unit for another one without any issues through Amazon. The second unit arrived in good condition, but there were similar scratches around the panels.

Flimsy. All the screws holding the legs together were loose and had to be tightened. The screws were steel and the mounts they were screwed into were aluminum. This meant the screws could not be tightened down much or they would strip out the threads. The frame and legs of the unit appeared to be flimsy, but have held up well.

Cheap parts. The velcro that holds the charge controller to the panel fell off the first day it was in the sun. The heat of the sun melted the adhesive backing. It seems like corners were cut to reduce the price of the unit, but considering the panel is made to be in the sun, the velcro should hold.

Charge controller is not waterproof. The panels are 100% waterproof, but the charge controller is not. This means if there is any chance of rain and we want to leave the RV, we can’t leave the panel out without risk damaging the controller. We also can’t leave the unit out overnight to catch the morning sun if there is a chance of rain.

Cable length. The cables for the unit are 10’ long. Depending on which way the shadows are cast, we can’t always move the panel into the sun. We try our best to park in the optimal direction for solar power, but that’s not always possible depending on where we are.

Overall:

Although we have several complaints about the Renogy 100w portable solar suitcase, it does work well. This suitcase is good for those looking to supplement energy usage in a small RV and don’t want to pay the higher cost of other units.

Update:

Since writing the review, we’ve been able to camp at a few places where we got sun all day. One of those places was the free camping spot in Tucson, Arizona. To our surprise, the Renogy solar suitcase was able to fully charge the batteries each day with the fans running and turning the inverter on to watch the Packers play. We were very happy with the performance of the panel.

As of January 2017, the 100 watt portable solar suitcase we purchased is no longer available. Renogy has a 60 watt portable solar suitcase similar to the one we purchased and a new 100 watt Eclipse Monocrystalline Solar Suitcase.

If you found this review helpful and plan to purchase the Renogy portable solar unit, please consider ordering through our Amazon affiliate link. There is no additional fee for the buyer and in return we receive a small percentage of the sale. Thanks for your support! We really appreciate it.

Disclosure: We paid for the product in this review and this review represents our own opinions.

3 Digital Marketing Lessons From a Lawyer Focused on the High Seas

Around 1975, attorney Charles Lipcon had a legal partner who unexpectedly decided to retire from the practice of law. Despite his own success as a lawyer, Lipcon then faced a dilemma: build a new practice on his own or rethink his car.

Lipcon wasn’t ready to stop practicing law, so he decided to build his own practice. But starting over wasn’t an easy road: While he had already established his legal reputation, he needed to rebuild his client base and keep pace with the changing world of digital marketing.


That's exactly what he did. Today, Lipcon is a partner at Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, where he handles personal injury and wrongful death claims and is routinely quoted on major news sites about his legal specialty, cruise line safety; he's even launched an app for passengers injured on a cruise ship. And, in an interview, he offered three lessons he's learned from his use of digital marketing to differentiate his law firm in a crowded marketplace.

1. Put real thought into your thought leadership.

Thought leadership may be hailed as the new strategy for corporate growth, but if your own thought leadership lacks substance, it will fall short. Whether you’re a lawyer like Lipcon or a small business marketing whiz, it’s not enough to just share your expertise with the world. Effective thought leadership shows rather than tells, provides rather than promotes and displays substantive depth rather than breadth. In short, it offers value to your audience and starts a two-way conversation, not a never-ending soliloquy.

Unsure how to get started? Hone in on your area of expertise and consider what value you can provide, Lipcon advises. With more than 40 years of experience handling tough cases like cruise line sexual assault, he understands how challenging these cases can be for victims. He’s published articles on what to do if you’re a victim, as well as a book on how travelers can stay safe on a cruise.

“When you’re aboard a cruise ship, you’re thinking about vacation, not being a victim of violence,” Lipcon says. “Our firm’s thought leadership initiatives were born out of a genuine desire to help people enjoy their travels and stay safe on the high seas.”

2. Analyze, evaluate and pivot.

From branded apps to live-streaming video on social media, Lipcon said, don’t be afraid to experiment with new digital marketing tactics. Just be sure to always monitor your results by tracking key marketing metrics.

For example, each digital marketing campaign Lipcon’s law firm creates uses a different phone number. “This makes it easy to track results, so we can identify quickly which strategies are falling short and realign resources to focus on what does work,” Lipcon says. “We try to monitor the results of different approaches and then put more resources into those that work.”

3. Manage your online reputation.

With the rise of websites and online research, social media and review sites have become the new word-of-mouth marketing. One reason reviews are so important? Today’s savvy consumers know that it’s easy to create a slick website making big promises. But would-be customers want to know what other people are candidly saying about their experience.

“A website can look great, but the attorney may have little-or-no experience in the advertised area of expertise,” Lipcon says. “Many clients don’t know the difference and wind up with lawyers who don’t measure up to the promises of their website.”

While there’s no guarantee that information on review sites is accurate, today’s consumers are conditioned to checking everything from Google to Yelp before making a new purchasing decision; and selecting a lawyer is no different, Lipcon says. Even though you cannot directly control the quality or quantity of your business’s reviews, these reviews play an increasingly important role in generating referral traffic to your website.

Start by keeping tabs on your online profile and review sites, Lipcon says. Next, proactively reach out to dissatisfied customers to understand their concerns and take steps to correct any problems. Satisfaction counts. A satisfied customer will share his or her experience with four to six people, on average. When they're dissatisfied, that number explodes to nine to 15 people, according to LinkedIn Pulse. Take steps as soon as possible to correct a problem and limit the impact of negative feedback.
Bottom line

As Lipcon says, “At the end of the day, doing the best we can for our clients becomes our best marketing strategy.” Whether you’re creating a new app for your business or writing a thought leadership article, consider how the content you’re creating will benefit your customers. That will be a win-win for customers and your business.

The Best Way to Run a Business Meeting

Meeting etiquette is key to good business, as face-time allows for clear communication and effective decision making. But all too often, meetings run longer than they should and fail to keep attendees engaged.

Whether you're meeting with partners, vendors or employees, showcase your boardroom brilliance with these meeting musts.

Determine the objective. A clear goal will set the tone for the meeting and determine its direction. Your goal should be specific and measurable. If you're expecting attendees to brainstorm, ask each participant to arrive with a list of ideas.


Ask yourself if a meeting is actually necessary. Meetings can be expensive. To calculate the precise cost, multiply the hourly wage of each person present by the length of the gathering. If your objective can be met through e-mail, conference call, Skype, or even a quick one-on-one discussion, skip the meeting altogether.


Invite decision-makers. The most effective meetings involve stakeholders to ensure decisions can be made immediately. If a key decision-maker is unavailable, ask a subordinate to attend. Ideally, this person will be able to speak for their supervisor, and--at the very least--take notes and report back.

Stand up. Routine meetings designed to touch base with employees and discuss status reports can usually be accomplished in 15 minutes or less. You'll be more likely to keep the meeting short and to the point if everyone remains standing.

Schedule strategically. If you want each meeting participant to be fully engaged, avoid Monday mornings, when everyone is catching up on e-mail. Also avoid Friday afternoons, when employees are busy wrapping up the week and looking forward to the weekend. Schedule meetings on a day and time when participants are most likely to engage.

Set a time limit and stick to it. Meetings that drag on for hours cause attendees to lose patience and focus. Attention spans are short, and time is valuable. The most productive meetings start on time and end on time.

Prioritize the agenda. Don't leave the most important topics for last. To ensure that the highest priority objectives are met, discuss the most pertinent issues first. That way, if someone needs to step away or leave the meeting early, you'll still have accomplished your main goals.

Stick to the agenda. The agenda is an outline--a framework--to keep everyone on topic and to maintain the meeting's flow. The agenda should be kept to one page and should not include anything other than main topics of conversation. Sidebar conversations waste valuable time. If participants insist on talking out of turn, step in and suggest that they talk after the meeting or schedule a separate discussion. Then segue immediately back to the topic at hand.

Deliver concepts through stories. When you present a group with key concepts or new ideas, especially models that are difficult to understand, explain why they should care. Frame the issue with a quick story and use examples.

Wrap it up clearly. At the end of the meeting, quickly reiterate any decisions, deadlines, and clarify any follow-up action required. All meeting participants should understand exactly what is expected of them. Schedule any follow-up meetings immediately.