Meeting Preparation

Prepares you for meetings by gathering context from your Obsidian vault, enriching it with research, and creating comprehensive meeting materials. Generates internal prep notes for attendees and external-facing agendas for meetings.

Quick Start

When asked to prepare for a meeting:

1. Understand meeting context: Gather meeting details and objectives
2. Search vault: Find related project notes, previous meetings, specs
3. Read relevant notes: Extract key context and background
4. Enrich with research: Add insights and additional context
5. Create prep note: Internal background document for attendees
6. Create agenda: External-facing meeting structure
7. Link resources: Connect all documents appropriately

Meeting Prep Workflow

Step 1: Gather meeting details

Collect essential information:

Meeting basics:

• Topic/Title
• Date and time
• Duration
• Location (physical/virtual)

Participants:

• Internal attendees
• External participants (clients, partners)
• Meeting owner/facilitator

Meeting purpose:

• Decision-making
• Status update
• Brainstorming
• Planning session
• Customer demo
• Problem-solving
• Knowledge sharing

Context:

• Related project or initiative
• Background/history
• Key topics to cover
• Desired outcomes

Step 2: Search vault for context

Project-related search:

# Find project notes
find /path/to/vault/projects -name "*project-name*"

# Search project folder
grep -r "relevant term" /path/to/vault/projects/project-name/

Previous meetings:

# Find meeting notes
find /path/to/vault/meetings -name "*topic*" -o -name "*project*"

# Recent meetings
find /path/to/vault/meetings -name "*.md" -mtime -30

Specifications and designs:

# Find specs
grep -l "type: specification" /path/to/vault/**/*.md

# Find designs
find /path/to/vault -path "*/designs/*" -name "*.md"

Tasks and issues:

# Find related tasks
grep -l "project: \[\[project-name\]\]" /path/to/vault/tasks/*.md

# Find open issues
grep -l "status: open" /path/to/vault/**/*.md | grep -i "issue\|bug"

Decision records:

# Find decisions
grep -l "type: decision" /path/to/vault/**/*.md

# Recent decisions for project
grep -l "project.*project-name" /path/to/vault/decisions/*.md

Dataview query:

TABLE type, updated, tags
FROM "projects" OR "meetings" OR "specs"
WHERE contains(file.name, "project-name")
   OR contains(tags, "#project-tag")
SORT updated DESC
LIMIT 20

Step 3: Read and extract context

For each relevant note:

# Read note
cat /path/to/vault/path/to/note.md

Extract:

• Project status: Current state and progress
• Recent updates: What changed recently
• Decisions made: Past decisions affecting meeting
• Open questions: Unresolved issues
• Action items: Outstanding tasks
• Background: Historical context
• Stakeholder info: Relevant people and roles

Organize information by relevance and importance.

Step 4: Enrich with additional research

Add context:

• Industry best practices
• Technical background
• Competitive landscape
• Relevant frameworks or methodologies

Anticipate questions:

• What might participants ask?
• What context might be missing?
• What decisions need background?

Identify discussion points:

• Topics needing alignment
• Areas of potential disagreement
• Opportunities for input

Step 5: Create internal prep note

Generate background document for internal attendees:

touch /path/to/vault/meetings/prep/meeting-name-prep.md

Prep note structure:

---
type: meeting-prep
meeting: "[[meetings/meeting-name]]"
date: YYYY-MM-DD
project: "[[projects/project-name]]"
attendees:
  - "[[people/person-1]]"
  - "[[people/person-2]]"
tags:
  - meeting-prep
  - PROJECT-TAG
visibility: internal
---

# Meeting Prep: [Meeting Name]

> [!info] Meeting Details
> **Date**: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
> **Duration**: X hours
> **Location**: [Where/Link]
> **Attendees**: [[person-1]], [[person-2]]

## Purpose
Clear statement of meeting objectives.

## Background

### Project Context
Current state and relevant history.
- Status: [description]
- Recent changes: [what's new]
- Related: [[project-note]], [[spec-note]]

### Previous Discussions
Summary of relevant prior meetings.
- [[previous-meeting-1]]: Key outcomes
- [[previous-meeting-2]]: Decisions made

### Key Decisions
Important decisions affecting this meeting.
- [[decision-1]]: What was decided and why
- [[decision-2]]: Impact and implications

## Current Situation

### What's Working Well
Positive developments and progress.

### Challenges
Current obstacles and issues.
- Challenge 1: [[related-task]]
- Challenge 2: [[related-issue]]

### Open Questions
Unresolved issues needing discussion.
1. Question 1
2. Question 2

## Key Discussion Topics

### Topic 1: [Name]
**Context**: Background and why this matters
**Current state**: Where things stand
**Options**: Potential approaches
**Our position**: Recommended direction

### Topic 2: [Name]
[Continue for each major topic]

## Data & Metrics
Relevant numbers and trends.
- Metric 1: Current value (trend)
- Metric 2: Current value (trend)

## Stakeholder Perspectives

### Internal Team
- View 1: [[person-1]]'s perspective
- View 2: [[person-2]]'s perspective

### External Participants
- Client needs and concerns
- Partner requirements

## Potential Objections
Anticipated concerns and responses.

## Goals for This Meeting
What we want to achieve.
- [ ] Goal 1
- [ ] Goal 2
- [ ] Goal 3

## Materials to Reference
- [[spec-document]]
- [[design-mockups]]
- [[data-report]]

## Follow-Up Considerations
Potential next steps and actions.

## Quick Reference
Critical facts and figures for easy access.

See reference/prep-note-template.md for full template.

Step 6: Create meeting agenda

Generate external-facing agenda document:

touch /path/to/vault/meetings/agenda/meeting-name-agenda.md

Agenda structure:

---
type: meeting-agenda
date: YYYY-MM-DD
project: "[[projects/project-name]]"
duration: X hours
attendees:
  - "[[people/internal-1]]"
  - "External Person Name"
tags:
  - agenda
  - PROJECT-TAG
visibility: external
---

# Meeting Agenda: [Meeting Name]

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
**Duration**: X hours
**Location**: [Where/Video link]

## Attendees
- Internal: [[person-1]], [[person-2]]
- External: Name 1, Name 2

## Meeting Objectives
1. Objective 1
2. Objective 2
3. Objective 3

## Agenda

### 1. Welcome & Introductions (5 min)
- Brief introductions
- Meeting objectives overview

### 2. Topic 1: [Name] (20 min)
**Objective**: What we want to accomplish
**Discussion points**:
- Point 1
- Point 2
- Point 3

**Desired outcome**: Decision/alignment on X

### 3. Topic 2: [Name] (15 min)
[Continue for each topic with time allocations]

### 4. Topic 3: [Name] (20 min)
...

### 5. Action Items & Next Steps (10 min)
- Summarize decisions
- Assign action items
- Schedule follow-up

## Background Materials
- [[Reference document 1]]
- [[Reference document 2]]

## Parking Lot
Topics for future discussion if time doesn't permit.

---

## Post-Meeting
Meeting notes: [[meetings/meeting-name-notes]]
Action items: [[tasks/meeting-name-actions]]

See reference/agenda-template.md for full template.

Step 7: Link and organize

Create meeting folder:

meetings/
└── meeting-name/
    ├── prep.md          # Internal prep note
    ├── agenda.md        # External agenda
    └── notes.md         # Post-meeting notes (placeholder)

Link from project:

## Upcoming Meetings
- [[meetings/meeting-name/agenda]] - YYYY-MM-DD

Link in prep note and agenda:

## Related
- Prep notes: [[meetings/meeting-name/prep]]
- Agenda: [[meetings/meeting-name/agenda]]
- Project: [[projects/project-name]]
- Spec: [[specs/feature-spec]]

Meeting Types and Approaches

Decision Meeting

Focus: Options, trade-offs, recommendation Prep: Research alternatives, gather data, prepare analysis

Status Update

Focus: Progress, blockers, timeline Prep: Collect metrics, identify issues, note changes

Brainstorming

Focus: Ideas, possibilities, creativity Prep: Relevant examples, constraints, desired outcomes

Planning Session

Focus: Timeline, resources, milestones Prep: Current state, dependencies, capacity

Customer Demo

Focus: Features, value, feedback Prep: Demo script, talking points, Q&A prep

Problem-Solving

Focus: Issue, root cause, solutions Prep: Problem analysis, attempted solutions, data

Search Strategies

By Time Period

# Recent notes (last 30 days)
find /path/to/vault -name "*.md" -mtime -30

# Notes from specific month
find /path/to/vault -name "2025-10*.md"

By Participant

# Notes mentioning specific person
grep -r "\[\[people/person-name\]\]" /path/to/vault/

By Topic

# Multi-keyword search
grep -r "keyword1" /path/to/vault/ | grep "keyword2"

By Project

# All project-related content
find /path/to/vault/projects/project-name -name "*.md"
grep -r "project:.*project-name" /path/to/vault/

Best Practices

1. Prepare early: Don't wait until last minute
2. Be comprehensive: Gather all relevant context
3. Distinguish internal/external: Separate prep from agenda
4. Time-box topics: Allocate realistic time slots
5. Anticipate questions: Think ahead about what might be asked
6. Link extensively: Connect to all relevant notes
7. Update regularly: Keep prep notes current as context changes
8. Follow up: Connect to post-meeting notes and actions

Prep Note vs Agenda

Internal Prep Note:

• Comprehensive background
• Internal perspectives and strategy
• Detailed context and history
• Potential objections and responses
• Confidential information
• Talking points and recommendations

External Agenda:

• High-level structure
• Discussion topics only
• Time allocations
• Meeting objectives
• Professional tone
• Appropriate level of detail

Post-Meeting Integration

After meeting, link prep to outcomes:

## Meeting Outcome
Actual meeting notes: [[meetings/meeting-name/notes]]

### Decisions Made
- Decision 1: [[decisions/decision-name]]
- Decision 2: [Description]

### Action Items Created
- [[tasks/action-1]]
- [[tasks/action-2]]

### Follow-Up Required
- [ ] Schedule follow-up meeting
- [ ] Update project plan
- [ ] Communicate to team

Dataview Queries

Upcoming meetings:

TABLE date, project, attendees
FROM "meetings"
WHERE type = "meeting-agenda"
  AND date >= date(today)
SORT date ASC

Recent prep work:

LIST
FROM "meetings"
WHERE type = "meeting-prep"
SORT file.mtime DESC
LIMIT 10

Meetings by project:

TABLE date, type
FROM "meetings"
WHERE contains(string(project), "project-name")
SORT date DESC

Common Issues

"Can't find relevant context":

• Broaden search terms
• Check related project folders
• Search by tags
• Ask participants for key docs

"Too much information":

• Prioritize most recent and relevant
• Focus on key decisions and changes
• Summarize rather than include everything

"Participants from different contexts":

• Create layered prep (basics to advanced)
• Provide glossary of terms
• Include background section

"External participants need context":

• Keep agenda appropriate for audience
• Link to public-facing docs only
• Provide necessary background without revealing internal info

Scripts

scripts/find_meeting_context.py: Automated context gathering scripts/generate_agenda.py: Generate agenda from template scripts/meeting_summary.py: Summarize related notes scripts/extract_action_items.py: Pull action items from notes

Examples

See examples/ for complete workflows:

• examples/decision-meeting-prep.md
• examples/status-update-prep.md
• examples/client-demo-prep.md