How to Prepare for a Meeting (What Actually Works in 2026)

The Real Problem with Meeting Preparation

I used to spend 30 minutes preparing for every client call. I'd review past emails, scan their LinkedIn, re-read old notes, and build a mental list of talking points.

Then I'd get on the call and forget half of it the moment someone asked an unexpected question.

The preparation wasn't the problem. The problem was that preparation happened before the call—and I needed help during the call, when the pressure hit.

I'm Iván, co-founder at Convo. I run 10-15 client meetings per week. After hundreds of calls, I've learned what actually matters in meeting prep—and more importantly, when to stop preparing and trust yourself.

What Most Prep Advice Gets Wrong

Google "how to prepare for a meeting" and you'll find the same generic advice: review the agenda, know your goals, prepare questions.

That advice isn't wrong. It's just incomplete.

Here's what it misses:

Preparation has diminishing returns. The first 5 minutes of prep cover 80% of the value. The next 25 minutes? Maybe 15% more. At some point, you're just anxious-scrolling through old emails hoping to feel ready.

You can't prepare for everything. Meetings go off-script. Someone raises an objection you didn't expect. A new stakeholder joins. The real skill isn't knowing every answer—it's handling uncertainty gracefully.

Over-preparation creates rigidity. When you've scripted your talking points too tightly, you stop listening. You're waiting for your turn to say the thing you prepared instead of responding to what's actually happening.

The best preparation isn't about knowing more. It's about being present enough to use what you know.

What Actually Matters (The 80/20 of Meeting Prep)

After tracking my own prep habits across hundreds of calls, here's what consistently made a difference—and what didn't.

The 5-Minute Prep That Works

1. Know the one thing that matters

Before any meeting, I ask myself: What's the one outcome that makes this meeting successful?

Not three outcomes. One.

For a sales call, it might be "understand their timeline." For a project sync, it might be "align on next week's priorities." For a difficult conversation, it might be "leave with a clear next step."

If I get that one thing, the meeting succeeded. Everything else is bonus.

2. Review the last interaction

What did we discuss last time? What did they commit to? What did I commit to?

This takes 2 minutes if you have good notes. It prevents the embarrassing moment where you ask about something they already answered, or forget a promise you made.

3. Prepare one good question

Not five questions. One. A question that shows you've thought about their situation and moves the conversation forward.

"Last time you mentioned the Q2 deadline was tight—has anything changed?" is better than a generic "How's the project going?"

That's it. Three things: one goal, last context, one question. Takes 5 minutes.

What I Stopped Doing

Deep LinkedIn research. Knowing someone went to Stanford or likes hiking rarely helps. It feels productive but adds little.

Detailed talking point scripts. They make me sound rehearsed and prevent genuine listening.

Preparing for every possible objection. I'd rather handle three objections naturally than recite twelve scripted responses.

Reviewing every past email. If I don't remember it, it probably wasn't important. And if it was, they'll remind me.

The Preparation Checklist (Copy This)

Here's the exact checklist I use before important meetings:

Step	Time	What to Do
Define success	30 sec	Write down the ONE outcome that matters
Review context	2 min	Skim last meeting notes or recent emails
Check commitments	1 min	What did you promise? What did they promise?
Prepare one question	1 min	Something specific that moves things forward
Test your setup	30 sec	Audio, video, screen share ready

Total: 5 minutes. For 90% of meetings, this is enough.

For High-Stakes Meetings

If it's a big client pitch, board presentation, or career-defining conversation, I add:

Know your numbers. If someone asks about metrics, revenue, or timelines, don't fumble.
Anticipate the hard question. There's usually one question you're hoping they won't ask. Prepare for that one.
Have a fallback. If things go sideways, what's your graceful exit? "Let me think about that and follow up" is always acceptable.

The Real Problem: Preparation Expires When the Meeting Starts

Here's what I realized after years of over-preparing: the moment the meeting starts, you're on your own.

All that context you reviewed? You'll forget half of it when someone asks something unexpected.

That question you prepared? They might answer it before you ask.

The talking points you scripted? They'll feel forced if the conversation goes a different direction.

Preparation gets you to the starting line. But it doesn't run the race for you.

This is why I built Convo the way I did. Instead of trying to cram everything into my head before the call, Convo keeps context available during the call—running locally on your Mac, without any bot joining:

Before the meeting starts, it shows me what we discussed last time with this person
During the call, it captures decisions and action items in real-time
When I freeze on a tough question, it suggests responses I can adapt

I still do my 5-minute prep. But I stopped trying to memorize everything because I know Convo has my back when it matters.

Meeting Prep by Meeting Type

Not all meetings need the same preparation. Here's how I adjust:

Client Calls

Prep focus: Their context, not yours.

What's happening in their world? What problems are they facing? What did they care about last time?

Clients don't want to hear your agenda. They want to feel understood. Preparation should help you listen better, not talk more.

For important client relationships, I keep a running document of key context: their priorities, pain points, stakeholders, and any commitments made. Good meeting minutes make this easy—you're not recreating context from memory each time.

Internal Team Meetings

Prep focus: Decisions needed.

What actually needs to be decided in this meeting? If nothing needs a decision, does the meeting need to happen at all?

I now block calendar time aggressively. Too many meetings destroy productivity. Better to prepare well for fewer meetings than show up unprepared for many.

Job Interviews

Prep focus: Stories, not facts.

Interviewers remember stories, not bullet points. Prepare 3-4 specific examples from your experience that demonstrate the skills they're looking for.

And prepare questions that show genuine curiosity—not questions designed to impress.

Presentations

Prep focus: The opening and the close.

Audiences remember how you started and how you finished. Nail those, and they'll forgive a rough middle.

Rehearse your first 30 seconds until it's automatic. That momentum carries you through.

Virtual Meeting Preparation

Remote meetings have their own preparation requirements. I've learned these the hard way.

Technical Setup (Do This Once)

Most virtual meeting disasters are preventable. Set these up before your next call and forget about them:

Audio. External microphone or quality headphones beat laptop mics. Test once, use forever. Bad audio makes you seem unprepared even when you're not.

Video. Camera at eye level, light source in front of you (not behind). A ring light costs $30 and makes every call look more professional.

Background. Clean, uncluttered, not distracting. Virtual backgrounds work but can glitch—a real clean space is better.

Backup plan. Know how to dial in by phone if video fails. Have the meeting link accessible on your phone.

Platform-Specific Prep

Each platform has quirks worth knowing:

Zoom: Test screen sharing before important presentations. Know where the "Share Computer Audio" checkbox is if you're showing a video.

Google Meet: Chrome works best. Check that your camera/mic permissions are enabled. Meet can be finicky about detecting devices.

Microsoft Teams: If you're joining as a guest, allow extra time—the browser experience is clunkier than the app. Download Teams if you have recurring meetings there.

The meta-lesson: technical issues signal unpreparedness. Spending 5 minutes on setup prevents the "can you hear me now?" dance that wastes everyone's time.

Virtual Meeting Etiquette

Preparation includes knowing the unwritten rules:

Mute by default. Unmute when speaking. Background noise is the #1 virtual meeting annoyance.
Camera on for important meetings. It signals engagement. Off is fine for large all-hands or casual syncs.
Look at the camera, not the screen. This creates eye contact. Hard to do, worth practicing.
Close other tabs and apps. Notification sounds and visual distractions are obvious on video.

Small things, but they compound. Someone who handles virtual meetings smoothly seems more competent than someone who doesn't—even if their actual expertise is identical.

Common Meeting Preparation Mistakes

After observing hundreds of meetings (my own and others'), these mistakes come up repeatedly:

Mistake 1: Preparing What to Say, Not What to Ask

Meetings aren't presentations. The best-prepared people come with questions, not speeches.

Questions show engagement. They create dialogue. They surface information you couldn't have prepared for.

If your prep is all "what I want to tell them," flip it: "what do I need to learn from them?"

Mistake 2: Not Clarifying the Meeting Purpose

"Quick sync" means different things to different people. Before accepting any meeting, I now ask: "What specifically do we need to accomplish?"

If the organizer can't answer that, the meeting probably shouldn't happen—or needs a clearer agenda first.

Mistake 3: Over-Researching, Under-Thinking

It's easy to spend an hour reading about someone's company, their LinkedIn, their recent press.

It's harder to spend 10 minutes thinking: what does this person actually need from me? What's the one thing I can do to make this meeting valuable for them?

Research feels productive. Thinking is productive.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Your Energy

I used to schedule important meetings whenever the slot was open. Now I protect my high-energy hours.

If you're a morning person, don't schedule your most important client call at 4 PM when you're running on fumes. Preparation includes setting yourself up physically and mentally, not just informationally.

Mistake 5: No Post-Meeting Plan

Preparation isn't complete until you've thought about what happens after.

Who sends the recap? When do action items get assigned? What's the next touchpoint?

Deciding this before the meeting means you can close with clear next steps instead of the vague "let's follow up sometime."

What to Do When You're Underprepared

Sometimes you get pulled into a meeting with zero prep time. It happens.

Here's how to handle it:

Ask a clarifying question early. "Before we dive in, can you help me understand what you're hoping to get out of this?" buys you time and shows you care about their goals.

Take notes visibly. Writing things down makes you look engaged and gives you processing time.

Say "let me think about that." It's always better than a rambling, unprepared answer. Nobody expects instant expertise on everything.

Follow up promptly. If you couldn't answer something in the meeting, send a thoughtful response within 24 hours. Preparation after the fact still counts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far in advance should I prepare for a meeting? For routine meetings, 5 minutes before is fine. For high-stakes meetings (big clients, presentations, interviews), prepare the night before so it has time to settle. But don't over-prepare—diminishing returns kick in fast.

What if I don't have an agenda? Ask for one. A quick "What are we hoping to cover?" message shows professionalism and helps everyone prepare. If the organizer can't articulate an agenda, the meeting probably shouldn't happen.

How do I prepare for a meeting about something I don't understand? Be honest about your knowledge gaps and prepare questions, not answers. "I'm still learning about X—can you walk me through how it connects to Y?" is better than pretending expertise you don't have.

Should I prepare differently for virtual vs in-person meetings? The content preparation is the same. But virtual meetings need technical prep: test your audio, check your background, close distracting tabs. Nothing derails a meeting like "can you hear me now?" for the first five minutes. See the virtual meeting preparation section above for platform-specific tips.

Are there tools that help with meeting preparation? Traditional AI note-takers like Otter or Fireflies focus on documentation after meetings. For preparation and in-meeting support, Convo shows you context from past conversations before the call starts and provides suggestions during the meeting itself.

What's the biggest meeting preparation mistake? Over-preparing to the point of rigidity. If you've scripted everything you want to say, you'll stop listening to what others are actually saying. Preparation should make you more present, not less.