Board meeting preparation - how to come prepared for the big meeting
Board meetings, official hearings, executive reviews. They all share one thing: hundreds of pages of pre-read materials and little time to digest them before the important moment. Here is what I have learned helps in preparing effectively
The pre-read problem
It's Wednesday evening. Your inbox has just received the materials for Friday's Board meeting. You open the folder. 247 pages. Strategic review. Financial deep-dive where even the appendix has an appendix. Three investment proposals with eye watering costs. Market analysis. Regulatory update. All marked “please review before the meeting”.
You have two choices. Option A: Skim through everything Thursday night, show up Friday morning with vague impressions and hope nobody asks you a direct question. And if they ask, shoot from the hip based on your expertise. Option B: Actually prepare properly and show up ready to add value.
I've been in both positions - first as the junior consultant desperately trying to get a Partner ready for a client meeting, and as the Partner trying to make sense of pre-reads while traveling between projects. And later as the Partner preparing senior executives for important executive and Board meetings, and sitting in decision making bodies myself.
The difference between good preparation and bad preparation is not time spent. It's method.
Let me share some thoughts on how to preparing for high-stakes meetings where being unprepared is not an option.
Step 1: Define your perspective before reading anything
This is the most counterintuitive but most important step. Before you open a single document, write down what YOU think matters based on the agenda, participants and wider context.
What this looks like:
What decisions should be made in this meeting?
What's my role? (Approval, advice, oversight, execution?)
What are the 3-5 key questions I need answered?
What facts would change my view?
What are the typical pitfalls in situations like this?
What does my experience tell me to watch out for?
I learned this the hard way. I would dive straight into the materials. I'd read everything the authors wanted me to read, in the order they wanted me to read it, accepting their framing of the issues. Then I'd show up to meetings with other decision makers and we would go through the track laid out by the preparer. People might object to specific details, but the train would proceed on the tracks as that was where all the pre-read materials and informations allowed it to go so deviating it would lead to uncharted jungles.
Later I realised this is dangerous and can cause me to focus on the wrong things despite knowing othervise.
Take a fictional example of a proposed acquisition. 180 pages of pre-read focused on strategic rationale and market opportunity. Beautiful slides. Compelling narrative. Backups line up, numbers look good and everyone would think “this makes sense.”
But the smart executive would stop to ask themselves: What do I actually need to know to evaluate an acquisition? Integration risks. Cultural fit. Key person dependencies. Exit options if it goes wrong. Regulatory clearance timeline. Alternative uses of the capital.
More often than not, all that would not be in the pre-read, especially if the facts would go against the narrative. If you only read and analyse what is in the pre-read, you will have little intelligent things to say. A colleague who had spent 10 minutes writing down his key questions before reading systematically would be able to identify the gaps and take lead in the discussion. He looks prepared, others look like they just read the ales pitch.
Write down your perspective first. It takes 10 minutes. It saves you from being stuck in the frame by whoever wrote the materials.
Step 2: Skim through everything, mapping to your own framework
Now you can open the documents. But don't read them yet, skim them.
The skimming process:
Go through each document quickly
Note which sections address your key questions
Flag where new important points emerge that you hadn't thought of
Mark obvious gaps (“they talk about revenue projections but not cost assumptions”)
Don't get sucked into details yet
I use a simple tracker while skimming. Two columns: “My key questions” (from Step 1) and “What are the facts”. As I skim, I note down with a few words the facts and where to find them (e.g., page number)
This serves two purposes. First, it tells you where to focus your detailed reading. If one of your key questions isn't addressed anywhere in 247 pages of materials, that's a red flag worth raising before the meeting.
Second, it reveals the gaps in your own thinking. Sometimes the pre-read materials surface issues you hadn't considered. Great - add those to your list. But only after you've mapped your original questions first.
Once I was involved in an operating model transformation for a retail client, where we started with a strategy review. My initial questions were about market share and competitive positioning. While skimming the pre-read, I noticed repeated references to “supply chain constraints” buried in the appendices. That wasn't on my radar, but clearly it mattered. I added it to my list and made sure to read those sections carefully and start to form a perspective on the topic.
If I'd just read linearly from page 1, I would have missed that pattern entirely. Skimming with a framework while being curious about what doesn't fit it lets you see the forest.
Step 3: Synthesise by point, starting with your questions
Now comes the real work. For each key point - starting with YOUR questions, not theirs - create a short synthesis.
The synthesis should cover:
The question: What am I trying to understand?
What the materials say: Key facts, data, claims (with page references)
What this tells me: My interpretation and “so what”
What's missing: Gaps, unstated assumptions, missing data
Questions to raise: Specific asks for the meeting
This requires some brain time. But it's the difference between being prepared and just being present.
Let me give you a concrete example. For a Board meeting on a proposed market entry, lets assume one of your questions was “What's the realistic timeline to profitability?”
Break-even at month 18 is aggressive and depends entirely on hitting 40% share
No sensitivity analysis provided
Setup phase seems optimistic based on our previous market entries (took 9-12 months)
What's missing:
What happens if we only hit 20% share? 30%?
What are the assumptions behind the 6-month setup? (Regulatory approvals? Hiring? Systems?)
What's the cash requirement if things take longer?
Questions to raise:
“The 18-month break-even assumes 40% market share. What's our break-even point at 25% share?”
“The setup phase is 6 months. Our last three market entries took 9-12 months. What's different this time?”
See how different this is from just highlighting the slides? You've done the thinking. You know what you believe, what you're uncertain about, and what you need to ask. That's preparation.
Do this for each of your key points. Yes, it's work.
Step 4: Make targeted asks for missing information
If you have time before the meeting (and you should create time), send targeted requests for specific information.
This step separates the amateurs from the professionals. Amateurs show up and ask broad questions like “Can you tell us more about the risks?” Professionals send specific requests 24-48 hours before:
“Reviewing the market entry proposal, I noticed the break-even analysis assumes 40% market share by month 12. Could you please share:
Break-even timeline at 25% and 30% share scenarios
The detailed assumptions behind the 6-month setup phase (regulatory, hiring, systems)
Cash flow impact if setup takes 9-12 months instead
This would help me evaluate the downside scenarios more thoroughly. Happy to discuss on the call if easier than sending in advance.”
Notice the structure:
Context (what you're reviewing)
Specific asks (numbered, clear)
Why you're asking (evaluation of downside)
Flexibility (happy to discuss live)
This does three things. First, you might actually get the information before the meeting, making the discussion much more productive. Second, you signal that you've done the work and are asking informed questions, which also ensures people pay attention to preparation in the future. Third, you give the presenters a chance to prepare better answers rather than being caught off-guard.
The key is being targeted. Don't ask for “more detail on everything.” Don't ask for things that are already in the materials (that just shows you didn't read them). Ask for specific gaps that matter to the decision.
I've seen Board members who do this well. They send 3-4 precise questions two days before the meeting. The management team scrambles to get good answers. The meeting quality goes up 10x because everyone's discussing substance, not waiting for people to read slides aloud.
Avoid broad asks. Be surgical.
Step 5: Rehearse your 60-second interventions
You've done all this work. Now you need to be able to deploy it in the moment. Board meetings move fast. Executive reviews move fast. If you can't make your point in under a minute, you've lost the room.
At McKinsey we used the Situation-Complication-Resolution (SCR) framework religiously. It works.
For each point you want to make, structure it:
Situation: What's the context? (10 seconds)
Complication: What's the problem or question? (15 seconds)
Resolution: What's your view or what needs to happen? (20 seconds)
Ask: What are you looking for from the group? (15 seconds)
Example from that market entry discussion:
“Situation: We're looking at an 18-month break-even for the market entry. Complication: This assumes we hit 40% market share by month 12, which is higher than we achieved in our last three launches. And the materials don't show what happens if we're at 25-30% instead. Resolution: I think we need to see the downside scenarios before we commit. Ask: Can we get break-even analysis at 25% and 30% share, and discuss whether we're comfortable with those timelines?”
That's 45 seconds. Clear. Pointed. Actionable.
Contrast this with the unprepared version: “Um, I had a question about the timeline... it seems optimistic? Like, I'm not sure about some of the assumptions... maybe we should discuss the risks more?”
One of these gets taken seriously. The other gets a polite nod and the meeting moves on.
Alternative framework: Key facts and key assumptions. What do we know? What are we assuming? Which assumptions does the decision depend on most? Which are we most uncertain about?
Same market entry example: “The decision depends on three assumptions: 40% market share by month 12, 6-month setup, and stable pricing. We have good data on pricing. We're guessing on share and setup timeline. I'd want to de-risk those two before committing.”
35 seconds. Gets to the heart of it.
The difference between a prepared contributor and someone who just read the materials is that the prepared person can synthesize on the fly. That takes rehearsal.
What this looks like in practice
Let's add up the time for a typical 200-page Board pre-read:
Step 1 (Define your perspective): 15 minutes
Step 2 (Skim materials): 45 minutes
Step 3 (Synthesize 5 key points): 2 hours
Step 4 (Send targeted asks): 20 minutes
Step 5 (Rehearse interventions): 30 minutes
Total: About 4 hours of preparation
That's more than most people spend. But here's the thing - those other people aren't bringing their full potential to the meeting. They're attending.
If you're on a Board, or you're a senior executive, or you're advising on important decisions, “just attending” is not good enough. Four hours of preparation for a three-hour meeting that shapes a multi-million decision is worth it.
And honestly, with the right tools, Steps 2-3 should be faster. This is why we built Skimle - upload those 200 pages, let AI categorize the content by your key questions as well as suggest it's own categories, and then explore all relevant facts organized by topic instead of scattered across documents. What used to take hours of manual note-taking can take minutes of reviewing AI-organized content.
But the thinking can't be automated. Step 1 (your perspective) and Step 5 (rehearsing your story) are all you. That's where the value comes from.
The credibility compounding effect
Here's what happens when you prepare this way consistently.
First meeting: You ask sharp questions. People notice you actually read the materials.
Third meeting: Your questions are anticipated. Management prepares better because they know you'll ask.
Tenth meeting: You've built a reputation. When you speak, people listen. Your 60-second intervention can shift the entire discussion.
This compounds. The best Board members I worked with didn't speak often, but when they did, the room went quiet. That's not charisma. That's credibility earned through hundreds of hours of silent preparation.
The worst Board members talked a lot but said little. Everyone could tell they'd skimmed the deck on the taxi ride over. They asked questions that were already answered on page 73. They raised concerns that missed the actual risks. They were technically present but added zero value.
Don't be that person.
If you want to try an AI-assisted approach to analyzing large document sets and organizing them by your key questions, try Skimle for free. It's built for executives, board members, and advisors who need to make sense of hundreds of pages before high-stakes meetings.
