Three Lines to Open Any Meeting

Every meeting needs an opening. Most people begin with a long pause and a weak line. You do not need to be clever. You only need three short lines. Line one says why we are here. Line two says what we will cover. Line three says how long it will take.

Thanks for joining, everyone. We are here to pick a launch date for the new app. I will walk through two options, and then we decide together. This should take twenty minutes. Any questions before we start? Good — let us begin with option one.

Read the second sentence again. It names the goal in one line. A goal is not a topic. "Talk about the launch" is a topic. "Pick a launch date" is a goal. People sit differently when they know a decision is coming, and they bring the numbers you asked for.

The third sentence sets the order. It tells people when to speak and when to wait. The last line protects the clock. If you promise twenty minutes and you finish in twenty minutes, people will come to your next meeting on time. That is a small promise with a large effect.

You can swap the words for your own meeting. We are here to do this one thing. I will do step one, and then we do step two. This should take ten minutes. Write the three lines in your notes before you join. Reading them beats thinking on the spot.