What is an important meeting to you?

An important meeting is one that has a lot riding on it. It is a meeting that really matters.

You might say, well every meeting should matter, and you would be right. But, some meetings matter more than others.

Let’s take a look at why. There are many meetings that we could choose to not attend, speak to someone later, get brought up to date and we would be no worse for the experience.

Then there are those meetings that have taken time to arrange, they are of potential great value to those people who are attending, and most of all there is some promise or perceived benefit if everything goes well.

It is this latter group of meetings that we need to focus on. They are the deal making meetings. The career making (or breaking) meetings. Reputations and careers can be on the line. So yes, they matter. They matter a lot.

You could say that we only fully appreciate the enormity of this observation with experience.

I have been involved with many such meetings, especially in my sales and marketing days. They were the ones that initially kept me up at night. Then, with more experience, they were the meetings I got up early to prepare for. I became an expert in preparing for meetings. It was what I was known for.

Why? Because with the preparation, the results came. One good result after another. When you are in sales, deals are what keep you in a job, build your reputation, get you promoted into a senior accounts job.

In marketing, where I also spent several years, meetings were often with internal stakeholders, for example main boards. They may only come around every few months, but they needed intense preparation.

Then in more recent years, as the business owner of Hargreaves Marketing Ltd, I have spent many hours helping clients prepare for important meetings with their customers, suppliers and employees.

Having the ability to recognise when a meeting is really important is key. When we have this ability something happens in our minds. Then, the professional within us starts up and kicks into gear. We get on a roll, then there is no stopping us. We have decided that meeting will be a success and with excellent preparation and some luck, more often than not, that is exactly what it is.

So why am I writing this post? Well for many years I worked with what I knew, and had more than reasonable success. I could have settled for what I knew but I didn’t. I decided to learn more about many things relating to communication and presentations. As any lifelong learner will tell you, one book is never enough. Nor is the next one, or the one after that. There is never an end point. The learning never stops.

Learners also like to share what they know, to pass on knowledge and information that can help people avoid mistakes and guide them on the right path.

If you would like some help preparing for your next important meeting, please make contact with me.

Adrian Hargreaves is a communications coach and MD of Hargreaves Marketing Ltd.