Meetings and discussions

If you are attending a meeting, you will receive an agenda. The agenda lets you know in advance what the subjects for discussion are. You should prepare for meetings by considering what you want to say on the subject.

Many people feel that they can just turn up, and voice their opinions spontaneously. This works for some people, but some meetings and discussions go off at tangents, and it’s easy for points to be missed out. If you’ve prepared notes, then it’s easy for you to help to bring the discussion back to the issues.

Also, notes help you to remember what you want to say. Some meetings and discussions become quite noisy and heated, and it’s easy in such circumstances to forget what you wanted to say.

You can also take notes during meetings and discussions. This is really useful when someone says something that you feel you must respond to. By writing down what was said, you can easily refer back to it when it's your turn to talk.