How to Prepare for the Biggest Meeting of Your Life

We did it.

Hey, it’s Marie Forleo. And you are watching MarieTV, the place to be if you want a business and life you love, and this is Q&A Tuesday. Today’s question comes from Jenna, and Jenna writes, “I have a meeting with a very well-known company that is my dream partner. It’s all very exciting, and I’m thrilled to get the meeting, but I’m freaking out a little bit because I don’t know how to prepare. They have an event every year that would put me in front of millions of their subscribers, who are my target audience. I think it would be an amazing opportunity, so my main objective is to solidify a speaking spot at their next event. Besides that, do I just go with the flow? Should I prepare anything formal? I’m feeling self-conscious because everything on my site is not as polished as I would like. Any advice or suggestions to really hit a home run at the biggest meeting of my life?” Yes, girl, we got you covered.

Big meetings like this, especially when you want something really bad, can get us all shaking in our boots. The good news here is that there’s some simple things you can do to make sure you knock this meeting right out of the park. First and most important… But seriously, here’s your seven point checklist for before, during, and after your big meeting.

Before the meeting. Number one, you’ve got to do your research. Use the Google, find out what this company has been up to, look on their social media pages, do they have any great press written up about them lately? And use your network. Do you have any friends that work there? Or friends of friends who might happen to know somebody? The whole key here is that you want to get to know them in a way that’s going to surprise them. Number two, you want to create ways to add value. So don’t go into that meeting trying to prove how great you are, you want to focus all of your effort on what you can bring to the table to benefit the company. So just make a list of all the ways that you feel like you could add value to this organization, and even better, write down your ideas or whip up a fancy little PDF and bring it into the meeting. That kind of preparation is impressive and it’s rare.

During the meeting. Number three, you want to lead with your heart. Go in there and be generous and be enthusiastic. Share how this company has inspired you, champion them and what they’re up to. You got to remember, even people that work at big companies, they want to be heard, they want to be acknowledged, and they want to be appreciated for who they are and what they do. Number four, be present and really listen. So first of all, make sure you go into the meeting and your cell phone is turned off. Then really listen and hear what they have to say from their point of view, don’t interrupt them. When you are in a meeting with that kind of energy and presence, you’re going to create results that you can’t even predict.

After the meeting. Number five, send a thank you note. Handwritten notes are so unexpected and really memorable these days, so make sure you do it, it will leave a great impression. Number six, you got to follow up. So if there are any open loops, make sure you follow up in a timely manner, via email or a phone call. Number seven, and this really is the most important, you have to detach and trust. I know so many of us can go into big meetings thinking that one meeting or one relationship is really going to make our career, and the clouds are going to part and trumpets are going to sound and that’s it, we are off to success land. But it rarely happens. You have to remember, nothing is really going to make or break your career, especially not just one meeting. So when you’ve done your best and you’ve done all these other steps, you got to leave and really detach and let go and trust the universe. When you get back home, get re-engaged in your core business and trust that if something’s supposed to come about, it absolutely will.

The key to hitting a home run in any meeting is to make it about what you can give versus what you can get. I’m telling you, if you go into any meeting and think, “Give, give, give,” it’s going to be amazing. And in fact, our friend Russell Simmons has an awesome quote, and yes, it’s a tweetable. “Good givers are great getters.” That’s how you’re really going to shine and impress the pants right off them. That’s right, make them pantsless, pantsless. Jenna, that is my A to your Q. Now, go knock them dead at your meeting and let us know how it goes.

Now, I would love to hear from you. What was the biggest meeting you’ve ever had in your life? Did you impress them? Did you leave them pantsless? Would you go back in time and change anything with a big meeting that you’ve been through? I want to hear about it, leave me a comment and let me know. In case you haven’t heard, the best stuff always happens after the episode, over at marieforleo.com. Like this video, then subscribe and share it with your friends. And if you want even more great resources to have a business and a life that you love, come on over to marieforleo.com and make sure you sign up for email updates. Why? Because sometimes I give you personal insights that I only share on my email updates with my subscribers, that’s why you want to be one. Yes, you do.

Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams, the world needs that special thing that only you have. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time on MarieTV.

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Pantsless, pantsless. I always have nightmares about being pantsless, do you guys? I’m always the one that’s pantsless. Do you know what I mean? I have a top on, I’m walking around and I’m like, “I have no pants on, not even undies.”

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