Important meetings will not be a success unless you are prepared. Preparing for such meetings will often take a great deal of time, but putting aside such time will more often than not pay dividends.
Firstly, you need to be sure you know exactly what points need to be put across from your side. However, it is not enough to simply have a prepared speech ready to go. You also need to make sure that any objections or questions can be easily fielded, so be sure you look at any proposals or pitches from all angles to make sure you are one step ahead. Even those very adept at thinking on their feet may not be able to act in the best way when put on the spot and having a certain amount of empathy and being able to see how outsiders will see the information you are presenting is going to be integral.
Should a meeting be taking place on your premises – at your offices for example – it is also important that you prepare by ensuring that you have the right meeting furniture. Whilst you may well have plenty of places for people to sit, the right meeting room furniture is about a lot more than just giving people somewhere to be seated.
Instead, the layout of the meeting furniture is going to be extremely important and if everyone is not able to be equally involved in the meeting due to being pushed to the back or not being able to see, then either those in your company or those visiting will feel less able to put across what they might need to. The right meeting room furniture should therefore be very flexible and allow you to create an environment that is comfortable (without being overly comfortable) whilst still making sure each individual is as able to be seen and heard as the rest.