Work presentation in large room - tips?

[parrotonmyshoulder]

The session is broken up by opportunities for group discussion, which I imagine may get heated! Does anyone have tips for getting attention back onto me when the group discussion needs to finish? Is it best just to move forward and stand and wait?
Thanks

Doing that will quell maybe 50% of the noise, at which point you can raise your voice a bit and say something g to get the attention of the rest e.g. "OK, so now moving on …" and pause until there is quiet.

Give a clear statement of how long each discussion period will be... and stick to it.

Give a loud "Just one more minute everyone."

Then an authoritative "Thank you." should be enough to stop most. "Thank you" "Ready to move on now .." etc. Stare pointedly at groups still talking.

Be authoritative and stick to time. Don't just stand & wait passively or the chatty ones will take advantage and your timetable will get screwed.

Are you setting a time limit for the group discussion ie 10 mins? In which case you give them a 2mins left heads up by walking round the groups, then simply reclaim the room..”ok everyone, lets share your thoughts” or “now we’re moving onto..”

If it’s less than 10 mins then stay standing at the front go straight to reclaiming the room when time is up.

Thanks, those ideas will work well.
Already less nervous!

Are you going to be moving around each group as they are discussing amongst themselves? I've seen facilitators work around each group so that the last one they speak to is the one nearest the front - brings then naturally back to the front of the room by the time is up IYSWIM

If one group does prove tricky to get to stop, and repeatedly hold you up, then go to them specifically just before you call the general halt. "We will be stopping in one minute. We. Do. Need. To. Stick. To. Time. Thank you"

Tell them the rules at the start.

When you raise your hand, anyone who notices must stop talking and raise their hand too. Same goes if they notice their colleagues hands raised too,

It's very effective.

I agree, lays rules ahead of time

"I know this might be an emotive discussion but it's important we keep to time so that we can all get away on time so at the end I will be (and then state something specific .. what you'll say or do to round it up)