One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week
Remember when you didn’t know how to prepare for a presentation?
I do.
I used to be intimated to present during meetings. In fact, my insecurity made me not even want to attend.
The people you invite to your meetings may feel like I did when I first started my career.
Here’s how to help them prepare for a presentation so they can be more comfortable and contribute more during your meetings.
And I’m going to warn you now. You’re going to have to schedule even more meetings.
Before you get triggered by the idea of having “meetings to prepare for meetings” like so many people do, let me explain.
Why “meetings to prepare for meetings” aren’t bad
Despite what you read on social media having “meetings to prepare for meetings” isn’t always a waste of time.
Of course, it CAN be.
But when people are objective and not just hopping on the all-meetings-are-bad bandwagon, most will agree with my view.
A “meeting to prepare for a meeting” is simply a scheduled time to work with your teammates to execute the third P of the 3Ps for productive, effective meetings, which is Preparation.
Just in case you don’t remember the 3Ps, here they are:
✅ Purpose – Why is this meeting being held?
✅ People – Who needs to be in this meeting to accomplish the Purpose?
✅ Preparation – What work needs to be done prior to the meeting to enable the People to accomplish the Purpose?
Working with another person to enable more People to accomplish the Purpose of an upcoming meeting isn’t wasting time.
It’s taking your role as a meeting leader seriously!
So, when you have a one-on-one meeting with a coworker to help them prepare for a presentation in an upcoming meeting, you’re not holding an unnecessary, wasteful “meeting to prepare for a meeting”.
And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
How’s that for some passion around meetings?
As you know, I can get a little fired up when it comes to meetings – even though it may make people think I’m a little weird!
Here’s another topic I’m passionate about: helping others thrive and flourish in their work and equipping them to be successful.
And that’s what you can do by following these 9 steps to help a teammate prepare for a presentation.
9 Steps to help a coworker prepare for a presentation
Actually, there are 10 steps so I’ll just call this first one Step 0.
Step 0 to help a coworker prepare for a presentation
The first step is to schedule a one-on-one meeting with the person you want to help prepare for a presentation.
You can obviously do this for anyone, but we’ll focus on helping a teammate prepare for a presentation in a meeting you’ll be leading.
The Purpose of the one-on-one meeting should be easy to include in the meeting invitation:
Purpose: Help you prepare for your presentation during [insert upcoming meeting here]
Imagine how encouraging and comforting it will be for the person you’re offering to help.
They know they need to present during your meeting, but they’re feeling insecure because they lack inexperience.
They don’t even know where to start.
And you, the leader of the meeting they’re scared about, are offering to support them.
Even reading the Purpose in your meeting invitation will encourage them and give them an energy boost.
So just by sending a clear, intentional meeting invitation, you’ve already made a positive impact on a coworker’s life.
Now that you’ve taken Step 0 to help a coworker prepare for a presentation, you’re positioned to support your teammate even more.
Steps 1 to 9 to help a coworker prepare for a presentation
Here’s the full list of the 9 steps so you can see the progression.
- Explain how their individual section supports the meeting’s overall Purpose
- Show them who will be in the meeting and why each person is attending
- Review their presentation material for missing or inaccurate content
- Listen as they practice communicating clearly and concisely
- Share questions they may be asked during the meeting
- Help them craft informative, meaningful responses
- Distribute their content before the meeting
- Commit to support and encourage them
- Offer to meet again if they need it
Now let’s dive a little deeper into each step.
✅ Explain how their individual section supports the meeting’s overall Purpose
We all want to know our work is important and that it’s part of a bigger purpose. This is true for each of us at various levels.
For instance, we want to see how our day-to-day tasks contribute to achieving our company’s vision.
The same is true for the People we invite to our meetings.
Each person who attends wants to know how their contribution supports the Purpose of the meeting.
When you help a coworker prepare for a presentation in your meeting, you make this connection for them.
You’re reminding them that they and the work they’re doing are valuable.
✅ Show them who will be in the meeting and why each person is attending
To be an effective communicator you must know your audience so you can craft your message specifically for them.
This is true for all forms of communication in a business: conversations, instant messages, emails, proposals, and on and on.
And of course, presentations during meetings.
As the meeting leader, you intentionally invited each participant for a reason.
You know the message each person needs to hear.
But your coworker who’ll be presenting in your meeting doesn’t have this insight.
Unless you tell them.
So tell them!
✅ Review their presentation material for missing or inaccurate content
When you create a presentation, you’re first telling yourself the story.
As you hear yourself tell the story, you’ll realize you haven’t included all the necessary information.
And as you process and articulate your message as you build PowerPoint slides, you’ll probably recognize that you were wrong about some ideas you had.
You’ll make corrections.
The person you’re helping prepare for a presentation will do this too.
But, just like you, they’ll only have their own perspective.
They need you to help them spot gaps or errors in the story they’re telling.
And there’s always room to improve the aesthetics and details of a presentation.
No matter how many PowerPoint slide decks you’ve created throughout your career, you might miss a typo.
Or your font size will be inconsistent.
Or your graphics will be just SLIGHTLY out of alignment.
Those details aren’t the most important aspects of a presentation.
But they can cause distractions during your meetings for some people (like me!)
So, by helping your coworker prepare for a presentation and fixing the details BEFORE the meeting, you’re increasing productivity for your meeting participants.
✅ Listen as they practice communicating clearly and concisely
How do you get good at something – including presenting during a meeting?
Practice.
Inviting a teammate to give you their presentation before your meeting gives them a psychological safe space to fail and improve.
BEFORE they’re standing in front of their coworkers!
This step is one of the most powerful ways you can help a less-experienced teammate prepare for a presentation.
✅ Share questions they may be asked during the meeting
You know who’ve you’ve invited to your meeting.
And you probably know the questions they’re going to ask you and others who’ll be presenting.
Share that knowledge so the presenter doesn’t get caught off guard.
I’ve been hit with unexpected questions when presenting and found myself fighting internal panic as my mind raced to form a meaningful response.
You know that terrible feeling too I’m sure.
You can’t anticipate every question the person you’re helping prepare for a presentation may get, but you can help them know at least some of them.
Knowing the questions they’ll get will help them but they need more than that.
✅ Help them craft informative, meaningful responses
The person you’re helping prepare for a presentation will need RESPONSES to the questions they’re asked.
This is where you can share some of the best advice I’ve ever received:
“I don’t know, but I’ll get back to you with an answer.” is the best response you can provide when you’re asked a question you can’t answer.
You can encourage your teammate by assuring them that admitting they don’t know something is MUCH better than trying to make up an answer.
Because your attempts to bluff your way through the situation will quickly reveal the reality that you DON’T know what you’re talking about.
I’m speaking from experience on this point!
Obviously, the person you’re helping prepare for a presentation should be able to answer as many questions as they can.
And with your assistance during this one-on-one meeting, they’ll be much more prepared to do that during your meeting.
✅ Distribute their content before the meeting
This step is simple and hopefully part of your normal routine as a meeting leader.
Distribute pre-read material before your meetings.
And be sure to give people enough time to review and process the content.
This equips your meeting participants to be prepared to arrive ready to participate and contribute in a meaningful way.
You’re supporting the person you’re helping to prepare for a presentation in multiple, more subtle ways too.
When you tell them the exact day and time for them to send you their final presentation, you’re helping them focus and act with urgency giving them a deadline.
Because as the saying goes, “Nothing stimulates action like a deadline.”
You’re also showing them how they should lead THEIR meetings too.
✅ Commit to support and encourage them
This step to help your coworker prepare for a presentation is the easiest one of all 9.
I know you’re already planning to do this because you’ve demonstrated your commitment to them by giving them your time in this “meeting to prepare for a meeting”.
They know it too.
But they also need to HEAR you say it to fully believe it.
Simply tell them something like this:
“I know you’re investing a lot of time and thought into preparing for your presentation. That work will pay off in our meeting.
I appreciate you presenting during this meeting even though it’s a little outside your comfort zone.
I’ll be right there beside you to support you and encourage you.
I’m the meeting leader and I’ll manage the situation if anyone tries to distract or derail you while you’re presenting.
You’re going to do great!”
That simple statement will have a greater positive impact than you’ll ever know.
✅ Offer to meet again if they need it
In an ideal world, you’d have one meeting to help your coworker prepare for a presentation and they’d be 100% ready.
But in my experience, that’s not how the real world works.
I often need to check in several times with my mentors as I’m building a slide deck for my meetings.
This will likely be true for the person you’re helping – especially if they don’t have much experience.
If your schedule allows, invite them to schedule more one-on-one meetings with you to continue this work so you can provide them more feedback (and encouragement!)
More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business
This Coaching for Leaders podcast episode is packed with presentation tips for you and the coworker you’re supporting:
🔷 Coaching for Leaders Episode 518: The Way to Make Sense to Others, with Tom Henschel (click here)
You can download the free, printable 3Ps worksheet to make your meetings productive and effective by clicking here.
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That’s All for this Issue
“Meetings to prepare for other meetings” are NOT always a waste of time.
This is especially true when you’re investing your time to help someone prepare for a presentation using these 9 steps.
9 Steps to help a coworker prepare for a presentation
- Explain how their individual section supports the meeting’s overall Purpose
- Show them who will be in the meeting and why each person is attending
- Review their presentation material for missing or inaccurate content
- Listen as they practice communicating clearly and concisely
- Share questions they may be asked during the meeting
- Help them craft informative, meaningful responses
- Distribute their content before the meeting
- Commit to support and encourage them
- Offer to meet again if they need it
When that presentation is during YOUR meeting, the benefits will be for them, you, and everyone who attends your meeting.
That’s an investment worth making!
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence!
Greg
Here are 3 ways I can help you when you’re ready:
- Get more free resources you can use today (Click here to Start)
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