Peak performance for important meetings

How do you perform at your peak for important meetings? Have you ever struggled with sleeping through the night the morning before a big pitch? Did your meeting get completely derailed 5 minutes in? Many folks including myself struggle with performance anxiety.

Similar to how the best athletes achieve peak performance during championship games, it takes careful, deliberate, preparation to perform your best during meetings that matter. 

Throughout my life, whenever I told my father I had an important meeting coming up, he would ask me one question: “Did you prepare?”

Preparation for big meetings begin weeks prior:

• Confirm and conduct background research on all attendees

• Understand incentivizes and power dynamics (e.g. who are the folks in the room, and what part of the decision are they responsible for?)

• Circulate agenda to the other party, confirm this addresses all topics they are interested in

• Ensure proper folks from your team are there or dialed in to address concerns on any topic

• Conduct background research on companies. Focus on understanding pain points

• Grab dinner with the other team the night before, or the night after the meeting. Critical for building relationships. 

• Prepare any presentation materials and ensure topics above are covered

Day before travel:

• Exercise until you sweat! Critical to refreshing the mind, and getting a good night of rest. 

• Watch what you eat! Recent studies show the state of our gut significantly influences our mood and brain. 

• Shut off! Save your mental energy for the meeting itself, not the evening before. Try and do something relaxing before bed, _not_ related to the subject of the meeting. 

• Meditate! This is an area I am still in early days of exploring. But it has been helpful.  

• Sleep! Rest is critical. 

If you are traveling:

• Dress for success! Never want to be under-dressed when visiting a partner. When partners visit at HQ, it is OK to wear less formal clothes vs. partner. Conservatism never hurts. 

• Dress for the flight! Wear something super comfortable. It may get cold, so jackets or hoodies can come in handy. Check the temperature of the location you are going to. 

• Book the same hotel chain! Body is much more comfortable in “familiar” surroundings (e.g. same type of bed & pillows in Westin regardless of which country it is in)

• Water! Buy a huge bottle of water before your flight to travels. Dehydration is a real killer.   

• Watch what you eat! May need to buy food before getting on the plane. 

• Stretch! Get an aisle seat and stretch 2-3x during the flight. Reduces chances of physical pain developing. 

• Music! Wireless pods or earphones, if music helps you to relax. 

• Extra charge! Nothing sucks more than running out of phone battery right before you want to show that latest demo….

• Lotion, medications, etc! My skin often dries up in the plane or other cities. Packing the right lotion has often meant the difference between a good or bad meeting. 

Morning of meeting:

• Exercise! In any way possible. Could be as minimal as walking around outside for 15 minutes. 

• Eat a huge breakfast! Chug water. Caffeine up. Food may not be up to par at meeting location. 

• Review presentation and notes! Focus on ensuring the 3 things you want to communicate are crystal clear. 

• Meet with your team! Make sure everyone understands role and responsibilities. 

• Get to meeting location 15 minutes early! Uber is often times un-reliable. Being late is very embarrassing and not respectful. Sometimes, arriving early means you can catch an exec.

• Internet! Try and figure this out before meeting starts. 

During the meet: 

• Listen!!! So many times are we caught in presenting all the materials that we forget to listen to feedback. Write down important feedback. 

• Smile. Relax. Be confident. Breathe. Bring energy and passion. Go through your materials! You are there for are there for a reason. Everyone’s time is valuable, including your own. 

• Minimize checking your phone!  Look at the partners when they are making key points, and nod, when you agree. Ask thoughtful questions when you disagree or need clarity.  

• Check the clock every 15 minutes. Are you heading the right direction? How much time is left? 

• Build rapport. Spend time during breaks meeting folks (vs. answering emails). So much of business is about finding common missions, interests, building relationships. Good humans finding other good humans to make the world better.

How do you prepare for meetings? Do you have any pro-tips? Would love to hear from you!