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The way you set up your meetings has an impact on your group's motivation. If you set up your meetings with the officers up front at a table, facing the members seated in classroom-type rows, you have one of the least motivating set-ups possible. I recommend you try something different.
If you use the "officers at a table up front" set-up, you probably don't even know why. It's just the way most organizations have always done it. But, that sort of set-up instantly creates a division between the officers and the members, and contributes nothing to the motivation of your group. I also think that the "officers at a table up front" set-up is too much like the classrooms our members sit in all day, and that doesn't exactly cultivate high energy for an evening meeting. This set-up says, "We are the officers. We are more important than you (see our table?). You will be listening to us for the next hour."
So, try this instead. Set your group up in a circular set-up. If your group is large, do two concentric circles. Have your officers spread themselves out across the circle.
This accomplishes a couple of goals. There is no longer a "back of the room" where slackers can chat and cause disruptions. Your officers are integrated into the regular membership, which establishes more of a team feeling.
Whenever you, as the leader of the meeting, are speaking, stand and move to the center of the circle, moving your gaze around the circle. As different members speak during the meeting, ask them to stand. The focus of everyone's eyes will be moving around the room during your meeting, which is more dynamic and will keep people better engaged.
Try it once, and fiddle with it. But, trust me, you won't lose authority by tearing yourself away from that sacred table up front, and your members will feel like they are better included.
