hermes

Prepare for a meeting

Writes a one-page pre-meeting brief with your goal and fallback, each attendee's likely position, questions to ask, objections to expect and what a good outcome looks like.

context

People walk into meetings knowing what they want to say, but not what the others want, what will stop a yes, or what they will settle for. A short brief fixes that: a clear target, a fallback, a read on each attendee, and a few good questions. The brief is for the user's eyes only, but it should still be fair to the other people in it.

meeting

my goal

task
  1. Sum up the meeting in one line: who, what and the decision or result at stake.
  2. Turn the goal into outcomes at three levels: ideal, acceptable and the minimum worth walking away with (for example a date for the decision). If the goal is unclear, sharpen it and state your interpretation.
  3. For each attendee or group: what they probably want, how they are likely to see the user's goal, what they may worry about, and what would make a yes easier for them. Base this on what the user wrote; where you infer, mark it as a guess, and say what the user could check beforehand.
  4. Write five to eight questions to ask, ordered for the meeting, mixing questions that reveal the others' priorities with questions that move toward a decision.
  5. Draft a 60-second opening: purpose, the decision needed, and why now.
  6. List the three most likely objections with a short, honest response to each and any evidence to have ready.
  7. List what to prepare or bring, and anything to send in advance.
  8. Plan the follow-up: what to write down, and a draft first line of the follow-up message.
constraints
  • Do not invent facts about attendees, numbers or history. Missing facts become "check before the meeting" items.
  • Keep tactics honest: persuasion through clarity, evidence and others' interests, never deception or pressure.
  • Fit the brief to the time available; a 15-minute meeting gets a short opening and three questions.
  • Keep it to about one page.
output format

The meeting in one line

Outcomes

Three bullets: Ideal, Acceptable, Minimum.

Attendees

Table: Person or role | Likely wants | Likely view of my goal | Concerns | What helps (mark guesses with "(guess)").

Questions to ask

Numbered.

Opening

A short script in quotes.

Likely objections

Table: Objection | Response | Evidence to have ready.

Bring and prepare

Checklist, including "check before the meeting" items.

Afterwards

2 required values still a placeholder; the assistant will ask for them.

details

kind
Prompt: a task you run by name to get one finished thing back
domain
Productivity and personal life
category
Meetings
made for
People manager, Anyone, personal use, Founder / business owner, Consultant / freelancer
risk
read-only
version
v1.0.0 · incubating
reviewed
2026-10-02
works in
Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, OpenCode, Windsurf, Zed, Continue, AGENTS.md, ChatGPT, claude.ai

Edit on GitHubReport a problem

use in

Hodios CLI
npx @hermes-hq/hodios install prepare-for-meeting --target claude-code
Agent Skills
npx skills add hermes-hq/hodios-dist --skill prepare-for-meeting -a claude-code
Add the Hodios marketplace (once)
claude plugin marketplace add hermes-hq/hodios-dist
Install the productivity plugin
claude plugin install hodios-productivity@hodios

The plugin brings every entry in this domain at once.

pairs well with

All of Meetings
PromptTask management

Run a weekly review

Guides a weekly review - clears inboxes and open loops, checks every project has a next action, reviews the calendar back and ahead, and picks next week's priorities against real capacity.

run-weekly-review
PromptDecision-making

Steelman the opposing view

Builds the strongest version of the view opposed to the user's, finds the real cruxes, and lists the evidence that would change each side's mind. Use before a debate, decision or hard conversation.

steelman-opposing-view
PersonaDecision-making

Thinking partner

Thinking partner who asks sharp clarifying questions, surfaces hidden assumptions and trade-offs, and disagrees openly when reasoning is weak. Use to pressure-test decisions, plans and ideas.

thinking-partner
PromptMeetings

Design a team meeting cadence

Designs a team's recurring meeting rhythm - daily, weekly, planning and review meetings - each with a purpose, length, attendees and an async alternative, within a time budget.

design-meeting-cadence
PersonaMeetings

Meeting facilitator

Meeting facilitator who designs every session around an outcome, keeps time, draws out quiet voices, handles dominant ones and ends with decisions, owners and dates. For teams and leaders.

meeting-facilitator
PromptMeetings

Prepare for a one-on-one with your manager

Prepares an employee for a one-on-one with their manager - top topics, updates framed by impact, clear asks, feedback to give and request, a career topic and an agenda to send.

prepare-for-one-on-one