How to Prepare Before Attending a Meeting

1. How to Prepare Before Attending A Meeting Being well-prepared is key to ensuring successful business meetings. Meetings are recorded & transcribed with the support of general transcription services. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810 MOS Legal Transcription Company 8596 E. 101st Street, Suite H Tulsa, OK 74133

2. Meetings and presentations are habitual in any business organization and are important opportunities for communication and exchange of ideas. Recording meetings and transcribing them preferably with the support of general transcription servicesis essential as a means of ready reference when needed at a later time or to review the proceedings. Accurate recording of meetings is useful as it includes decisions taken, ideas, deadlines and milestones among other things. When making a presentation or when talking at a meeting, attendees make judgments regarding your professionalism, competence, and experience. This is why the impression you make is of great value. You need to be knowledgeable regarding the rules of engagement so that you know how to think clearly and be well-prepared. This would also ensure that you don’t waste your time and energy being nervous and getting worked up, but instead spend that time more constructively thinking about the issues that are relevant. If the meeting is one with your clients, one of the most important things to do is learn everything you can about each of them. This is essential because each client is unique with distinctive needs. You also need to pick up subtle cues from the participants, and the underlying reactions or conversations they may be having. How can you do that? Annie McKee, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of How to Be Happy at Work, says that it is important to understand the needs, hopes, dreams, and motivations of other people. This helps to build trust among others; it is necessary to also keep an eye on how people are responding to you. She recommends certain useful tips one should keep in mind. Observing others: Watching people closely and paying attention to what they say ▪ is important. When you enter the room, take a quick look at all other participants like who is sitting next to you, who is smiling, who is standing, who is sitting etc. The next step is to watch their body language, facial expressions, and postures, as well as quick micro expressions (such as fleeting smiles, raised eyebrows, or even tiny frowns”.) Being vigilant will provide you with the information you need to interpret the group dynamics. Be careful while talking: Do not talk too much and listen to what others are ▪ saying. Whether it is a large or small group, listen to each participant and look out for non-verbal cues. When the conversation is more intimate, then make others feel that they are also being heard. When you talk, position yourself in such a way that others do not interfere in your conversation. Once a person has finished talking, paraphrase what they said to make them feel that they are given attention. Asking open-ended questions like what, when, how, why, etc helps to understand what is going on in the meeting room. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810

3. Verify your hypotheses: After observing everyone, consider multiple hypotheses. ▪ Once you have understood what is going on in the meeting room, check your inferences. Though you can be open to what you are seeing or sensing, do not fall for any confirmation bias. Discuss with others what you have observed. Put your perception into practice: In case things are getting heated up, then take ▪ the opportunity to shift the emotional reality of the room. McKee recommends using humor or empathizing with the group. Sometimes the person can be a senior or one sitting closest to you. In such cases, look for positive signals and try to lighten the mood. Other tips: Know who all are attending the meeting and memorize the names and titles of ▪ the participants and address them directly during the meeting. Brush up all the topics that are current and relevant for the meeting. ▪ Get acquainted with all the people attending the meetings, and also with the ▪ latest trends and issues. Meetings are a great way to make informed decisions for your organization. Therefore, recording all important facts and decisions made during a meeting is also essential. If yours is a legal organization for example, reliable legal transcription serviceswould be a great option to have your recorded meetings accurately transcribed. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810