Prepare talking points and questions from meeting evidence

A budget meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Five emails and a spreadsheet tell different parts of the story. Thiago turns them into a short speaking brief, then asks for a 30-second opening.

What you’ll learn

Prepare three talking points, two useful questions, and the decisions needed, while tracing important claims to the supplied meeting materials.

Before you start

Gather the meeting invitation, email discussion, and relevant spreadsheet. Make sure you can identify the reporting period and what each amount represents.

1. Gather the relevant material

Collect the invitation, permitted email context, notes, and the current attachments. Identify the meeting’s purpose and what you are responsible for. Keep file dates and versions clear, particularly when several spreadsheets may describe different periods.

2. Ask for a short meeting brief

Following the description’s prompt, request three talking points, two questions to ask, and any decisions you should come prepared to make. Require use of only the supplied sources and mark missing information as not provided. Ask for source references for important numbers and statements.

3. Check every numerical concern

If the assistant flags a budget issue, inspect the underlying cells, units, formulas, and relevant period. Recalculate it with an appropriate calculation tool. Distinguish an inconsistency requiring investigation from a confirmed error, and avoid converting a possible variance into a claimed saving.

4. Rehearse the opening

Ask for a thirty-second opening based only on the checked findings. State the decision needed and the unresolved question. Keep source files available in the meeting so you can explain the reasoning and capture corrections before distributing the final brief.

Practice exercise — Follow the number back to the sheet

In the recording, five emails accompany an 80-row spending sheet covering six projects. The response highlights data migration even though the discussion centers on other concerns. Ask for three talking points, two questions, and decisions to prepare for. For each financial claim, identify the project, the budget column, the forecast column, and the rows included. Recalculate the difference before using it in your opener.

Check your result

A proposed 15% reallocation belongs in the decisions list until an authorized person approves it. If the brief mixes a project variance with the total portfolio variance, label both levels and rerun the calculation separately.

Reuse the creator’s prompt

These instructions come from the creator’s published video description. Replace the example material with information you are allowed to share.

I have a meeting coming up. I need to be prepared.

Here is everything I have — emails, attachments, notes,
anything relevant. Use only what is provided.

[PASTE EVERYTHING HERE. Upload files directly.]

Give me:
1. Three talking points
2. Two questions I should ask
3. Any decisions I need to come prepared to make

Rules:
- Use only what I gave you. Do not invent information.
- If something is unclear or missing, say "unclear" or "not provided."
- Keep it short and practical.