Meeting Prep

meeting-prep

Anchor: Prep for the meeting you intend to have, not the one on the invite.

When to use

Use this skill when the user needs a structured briefing before a meeting. Works for:

• A stakeholder meeting with real decisions on the line.
• A one-on-one that has a hard conversation inside it.
• A cross-functional sync where alignment is uncertain.
• A sales, partner, or investor meeting where the opening move matters.

Do not use when:

• The user is producing the day's agenda. Use agenda-synthesis.
• The user is writing post-meeting notes. That is a documentation task.
• The meeting has no stakes. Not every meeting is worth prepping.

Voice rules (apply to all outputs)

• No buzzwords: leverage, empower, synergy, resonate, tapestry, delve, elevate, captivate, explore, dynamic, testament.
• No em dashes.
• No filler openings.
• Decision-oriented over descriptive.
• High-context, no overexplaining.
• Standard sentence case for formal outputs.
• ES outputs match the register of the handbook: direct, self-aware, no reverence for process, comfortable naming failure.
• EN outputs use direct US business register. Do not soften bluntness into corporate-speak.
• Language switches based on audience, not author.

Bilingual handling

• ES. Rioplatense register. Vos over tú. Keep standard terms in English: one-on-one, stakeholder, pushback, escalation, agenda, follow-up, buy-in, alignment, talking points.
• EN. Direct US business register. A briefing is not a pitch; do not write toward the meeting as if persuading it already.
• Names of people and titles appear in the language they are used internally.

Method

Step 1. Name the outcome

A meeting without a named outcome is a meeting that spends the attendees' time and produces nothing.

Pick one primary outcome:

• Decision. A specific decision made, by whom, with what evidence on hand.
• Alignment. A shared view of a situation, even if no decision is made.
• Information transfer. The user learns something concrete or teaches something concrete.
• Relationship. Trust, rapport, context exchange, with no transactional output needed.

A briefing that cannot name one is a briefing that has not asked the right question of the user.

Step 2. Map the stakeholders

One subsection per person in the room. Include:

• Name and role.
• What they want from this meeting. Their interest.
• What they fear. The failure mode they are guarding against.
• What they know. Context they bring.
• What they do not know. Context they are missing.
• Their typical move. How this person usually behaves in meetings like this.

Do not map people who will not speak.

Step 3. Pull the history

A fast compression of what has already been said or decided.

• Prior meetings on this topic. Date, outcome, link to notes.
• Prior commitments made by any of the stakeholders.
• Recent messages or threads that shape the meeting.
• Any open action items owed by someone in the room.

If the user is about to ask for something that a stakeholder already declined, that needs to show up here.

Step 4. Anticipate objections

Three to five likely objections or hard questions. For each:

• The objection. In the words the objector will use.
• The fear underneath. What the objection is protecting.
• The response. Direct, short, honest.

An objection that cannot be answered is a signal to revise the meeting's goal, not to hope it does not come up.

Step 5. Plan the opening move

The first 60 seconds set the meeting. Write the opening move as a short script or as three beats:

• Frame. What this meeting is about, stated by the user.
• Signal of respect for time. Duration, scope, what is and is not on the table.
• Ask or handoff. What is being asked of the group, or who speaks next.

Do not open with small talk beyond a single sentence.

Step 6. Prepare materials

Only if they will be read or used.

• One-pager, chart, or memo.
• Pre-read shared in advance.
• Live artifact, such as a document shown or a dashboard opened during the meeting.

No material beats a bad material. If the user cannot name how the artifact helps the outcome, do not prepare it.

Step 7. Plan the exits

A meeting can go sideways. Write exits:

• Too long. What gets cut.
• Off-topic. How to redirect.
• Emotional or hostile. How to hold the room or end the meeting.
• Stalled decision. What the fallback ask is if the primary decision is not reached.

Step 8. Plan the after

The meeting does not end with the meeting.

• Notes. Who writes them, who they go to, by when.
• Actions. Who owns each, by when.
• Follow-up with absent stakeholders. What they are told, by whom.

Templates

• templates/en/meeting-brief.md: briefing for a group meeting.
• templates/en/one-on-one-brief.md: briefing for a one-on-one.
• templates/es/meeting-brief.md: brief para una reunión grupal.
• templates/es/one-on-one-brief.md: brief para un uno a uno.

Related skills

• agenda-synthesis: use it when producing the day or week plan across meetings, not prepping one.
• documentation-extraction: use it after the meeting to turn notes into a durable doc.
• ticket-triage: use it when the meeting is a backlog review and you need dispositions, not a brief.

Anti-patterns

This skill must never produce:

• A briefing without a named outcome.
• A stakeholder map that covers people who will not speak.
• A list of "talking points" with no stakeholder interests attached.
• Objection handling that relies on deflection rather than a direct answer.
• A briefing longer than the meeting.
• A plan that has no exits.
• A briefing that reads as a script to read aloud.

Checklist before delivery

• Outcome is named and is one of decision, alignment, information, relationship.
• Every speaking stakeholder has interest, fear, context, typical move.
• History is pulled and relevant prior commitments are named.
• Three to five likely objections are drafted with direct answers.
• Opening move is three beats or a short script.
• Materials listed are actually needed.
• Exits are planned for long, off-topic, hostile, and stalled.
• After-meeting plan covers notes, actions, and absent stakeholders.
• No buzzwords from the voice rules appear.