How to Use AI to Prep for a Meeting When the Request Is Vague

What this article is for

Sometimes you walk into a meeting and the request behind it is hopelessly fuzzy.

"Just run with it and make it feel right." "Let's get everyone together and decide." "For now, just put something together." "Someone higher up said so." "The deadline is set, but the content isn't."

Go into a meeting like that and the conversation tends to wander all over the place.

This article shows how to use AI to sort out a vague request and turn it into a meeting agenda, a list of things to confirm, and a script for running the meeting.

Why vague meetings are so draining

Vague meetings aren't hard because there's too much to talk about.

What really wears you down is pushing ahead with a pile of open questions like these:

• Nobody has decided what the goal is
• It's unclear who this is for
• Nobody knows who makes the final call
• Who is responsible for what is fuzzy
• Nobody knows who will supply the materials or information
• Only the deadline is fixed
• Quality demands show up only after the work is done

In this state, a meeting usually ends with "well, we talked about it, I guess."

What to gather before you hand it to AI

When you ask AI to help with meeting prep, your notes don't need to be polished.

Just dump what you know and what you don't know, exactly as it is.

Example:

We've been told to make a company introduction video for high school students.
Apparently it will be shown during school visits.
Length: 3 minutes.
They seem to want the morning meeting, the lunch break, and the flow of a workday.
The engineering side wants to include equipment.
The manufacturing side hasn't decided what to include.
There's talk of also including the relay marathon and the robot contest.
Nobody knows who gives the final approval.
Completion date is June 2.

Even a rough dump like this is enough for AI to sort out the key points.

What to ask AI to produce

For meeting prep, these are the outputs worth asking AI for:

• A summary of what we know so far
• A list of open questions
• What we want to decide today
• How to run the meeting
• The first thing to say when you open it
• Who to ask about what
• Likely reactions and how to respond
• A follow-up note to send after the meeting

The most important part is getting clear, up front, on what the meeting is supposed to decide.

The slides to make before the meeting

In a vague meeting, if you only talk, everything slips away.

That's why it works well to prepare a few simple slides and share your screen.

Here's what to put on them.

Slide 1: What we need to confirm today

• Direction of the video
• What must be included
• Materials each department will prepare
• Who gives the final approval
• Deadline for sending materials and deadline for revisions

Slide 2: What we're assuming right now

• Audience
• Where it will be used
• Length
• Expected content
• Open questions

Slide 3: Draft structure

• 0:00-0:15 Company exterior and title
• 0:15-0:40 Morning meeting, the start of the day
• 0:40-1:20 The production floor
• 1:20-1:50 Engineering and equipment
• 1:50-2:10 Lunch break
• 2:10-2:40 Afternoon work
• 2:40-3:00 Wrap-up and a look at company activities

Slide 4: What needs to be decided

• Who gives the final approval
• Who handles the materials
• Deadline for materials
• Deadline for revisions

A sample prompt for AI meeting prep

Please help me prepare for a meeting about the vague request below.

What I'd like you to do:
1. Sort out what has already been decided
2. List the open questions
3. Narrow down what we need to confirm in the meeting to five items
4. Write a script to read aloud at the start
5. Work out the order for assigning tasks and who to ask
6. Write likely reactions and responses
7. Draft a follow-up note to send after the meeting

Conditions:
- Don't phrase anything in a blaming way
- Don't take on unlimited responsibility
- Scale it down to what's realistically doable before the deadline
- Always confirm the final approver, the person in charge of materials, and the deadlines

Summary

If you walk into a vague meeting without any prep, you're easily swept along.

With AI, you can turn a fuzzy request into:

• An agenda
• Things to confirm
• A script for running the meeting
• Division of roles
• Deadlines
• Anticipated Q&A
• A note to send afterward

The point isn't to ask AI to "make me good materials."

It's to have AI break the murky situation down into the items that need deciding.

You'll have an easier time if you find the gaps beforehand than if you try to power through on sheer willpower.

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