Guide
How to prepare for a meeting in five minutes
You don't need an hour. You need five well-used minutes: who's coming, what was left open and what you want out of it.
The problem: you join the call without context
You go from meeting to meeting, click the link with a minute to spare and spend the first ten minutes remembering what was said last time. With a client, it shows: you ask things they already told you or forget something you promised.
Good preparation is about method, not time. If you always check the same things in the same order, five minutes go a long way. Here's a five-step routine, one minute each, that works for client calls, internal syncs and interviews alike.
How it works with Tessa
- 1
Connect your calendar
Tessa sees your upcoming meetings in Google Calendar (Outlook in beta) and who's attending each one.
- 2
Ten minutes before, your brief
You get, in the app, Slack or as a notification, who's coming, what you discussed last time and what's still open with them.
- 3
Only what you can already see
The brief draws on your email, your minutes, your tasks and shared company memory, never on other people's inboxes.
- 4
Afterwards, the minutes
If Tessa joins to take notes, you get the minutes and each owner's tasks when the call ends.
What you get
- Arrive with contextYou remember what you promised and don't repeat questions.
- Shorter meetingsWith a goal and an agenda, you finish sooner and decide more.
- No digging in five placesEmail, minutes and tasks summarised in one message.
- On your phone tooThe brief reaches you even between appointments.
Minute 1: what is this meeting for?
Write, in one sentence, the outcome you want when it ends. Not the topic (“talk about the project”) but the result (“agree a launch date and who prepares the demo”). If you can't write that sentence, maybe the meeting should be an email.
A few examples of well-written goals: “leave with the quote approved or a list of changes”, “decide whether we hire a second support person”, “get access to the client's systems before Friday”. Notice that each one can be checked at the end: either it happened or it didn't.
Minute 2: who's coming and what do they care about?
Go through the attendee list, especially anyone new.
- Role in the decision: do they decide, influence or execute?
- When you last spoke and how it ended.
- If it's a client: what they've bought, any unpaid invoices or open issues.
Minute 3: what was left open?
Find the minutes or notes from the previous meeting and the latest emails in the thread. Note what you promised and what they promised. Opening with “I said I'd send you X, here it is” changes the tone of any meeting.
For recurring meetings (the weekly team sync, a fortnightly client check-in) this step matters even more: if open items aren't reviewed at the start, a little more piles up each week and the meeting turns into a list of excuses. Always open with last time's tasks.
Minute 4: a three-point agenda
A short agenda you can paste into the invite or read out at the start:
- 1. Quick review of open items from last time (5 min).
- 2. The main topic and the decision to make (15–20 min).
- 3. Next steps: what, who and when (5 min).
Minute 5: your questions and your ideal next step
Write down two or three questions you need answered and what the best next step would be for you (a proposal, a second meeting, a signature). That way you know what to ask for at the end.
If you're running the meeting, keep the last five minutes to go through who does what and by when, out loud. That's when misunderstandings surface (“oh, I thought your side was doing that”), and it saves you a clarification email the next day.
A quick checklist to copy
Paste it into your notes and run through it before any important meeting:
- Goal in one sentence.
- Attendees and their role in the decision.
- Open items from last time (mine and theirs), with status.
- Three-point agenda.
- Two or three key questions.
- The next step I want to propose.
- Link, document or demo open and tested.
How Tessa automates it
Minutes 2 and 3 are the hard ones, because they mean searching email, minutes and tasks. Tessa does them for you: ten minutes before each meeting it sends a brief with who's coming, what was last discussed and what you have open with those people, using only information you can already see.
You keep the part that can't be automated: deciding what you want to achieve.
What Tessa reads for each person stays private, your data is stored in the EU and nothing goes out without your approval.
Frequently asked questions
How long should you spend preparing for a meeting?
For most internal or follow-up meetings, five minutes with a fixed method is enough. A negotiation or major pitch deserves more, but the structure is the same.
What should a meeting agenda include?
The goal, topics in order of importance with rough timings and a final next-steps item. Three points are usually enough.
How do I prepare for a client meeting?
Review your last conversation, what each side promised, the status of their orders or invoices and the next step you want to propose. Arrive with at least one thing from last time already done.
Does Tessa read my colleagues' emails to prepare the brief?
No. The brief only uses what you can already see: your email, your minutes, your tasks and the company's shared memory.
Does it work with Zoom and Teams?
Preparation is based on your calendar, so it works for any meeting. Tessa can join Meet, Zoom and Teams to take notes.
What if the meeting has no agenda?
Ask for one with a short message (“what would you like to get out of Thursday's meeting?”) or propose a three-point agenda yourself. Hardly anyone minds, and the meeting gets better for everyone.
Keep reading
- FeaturesWalk into every meeting knowing what it's aboutTen minutes before each meeting, Tessa tells you who's coming, what you discussed last time and what's still open with them. Try it free.
- FeaturesTessa takes the notes, assigns the work and sends the recapTessa takes notes in your meetings, writes the minutes, assigns each action item to its owner and sends the recap to attendees. Try 14 days free.
- GuidesHow to write meeting minutes: a guide and a template to copyWrite clear meeting minutes: what to include, how to word decisions and action items, plus a ready-to-copy template you can start using today.
- FeaturesIf they go quiet, Tessa remembers for youTell Tessa “follow up if they don't reply in 3 days” and she'll have the reminder drafted in the same thread, ready to send. Start for free.
What does your team look like?
Same AI for both. Where you start is what changes.
Startups
5 to 30 people
Grow without losing the thread
Tasks from email and Slack, follow-ups, sales and investors, without everything landing on the founders.
Companies
30 to 250 people
What gets decided gets done
Minutes and tasks from every meeting, commitments that get followed up and a pulse per team, without watching anyone.
Get a brief for your next meeting ten minutes before it starts. Start free.
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