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Episode #64 - Before the Agenda: How Our State Shapes the Meeting
14/10/2026
Thinking Better Together | Reflections from Talk to Your Meeting Doctors #64
We spend considerable time preparing for a meeting: the agenda, the presentation, the questions, the participant list.
We pay less attention to how we enter.
Have we had time to recover from the previous conversation? Are we distracted, tired or carrying a concern that has nothing to do with the task ahead? And what happens when the person leading the meeting arrives in a hurry, already impatient for an answer?
These questions became the centre of our latest Talk to Your Meeting Doctors conversation. With Martin Duffy unable to join our September episode, Keith Jones stepped in as guest co-host. Together, we welcomed Keith Dickey, founder of YouMind, to explore personalised neuroacoustics and the human conditions behind organisational performance.
Sometimes, preparation means rest
One of Keith Dickey's most memorable examples involved an executive who had been awake for 36 hours and wanted help focusing for an important meeting.
In his example, the most useful intervention was a nap.
It reveals a challenge in how we approach performance. We often begin by asking how to get more from someone, before asking what that person needs to participate well.
For those of us who design and facilitate meetings, this opens up practical questions. Is the timing reasonable? Have people had a break? Are we asking for careful judgement after hours of uninterrupted discussion?
A well-designed agenda still depends on people having the capacity to engage with it.
What does the facilitator bring into the room?
Keith Jones asked a question that shifted our conversation towards its strongest theme:
What do organisations misunderstand about human performance?
Keith Dickey's response centred on co-regulation: how people influence one another's emotional and physiological states. He argued that organisations should pay more attention to their leaders' state and the people running their meetings.
The conversation included scientific explanations that deserve further examination. But it also raised a question we can explore directly in our own practice:
How might my way of arriving influence other people's willingness to contribute?
Consider the pace of our opening words, how we respond to uncertainty, or what we do when someone challenges the direction of the conversation. Each gives participants information about the space they are entering.
Preparing to facilitate includes noticing these habits in ourselves.
Sound, experience and evidence
Keith Dickey described YouMind's approach to personalised sound and shared the experience that drew him into this work.
His account prompted an engaging discussion about attention, relaxation and the integration of technology into everyday routines.
It also leaves us with useful questions for a future conversation: Which effects have been demonstrated? Under what conditions? How do we distinguish personal experience from evidence that applies more widely?
For meeting practitioners, the immediate opportunity is to examine how we prepare the conditions for participation—and how we assess any tool proposed to support that work.
A small practice before your next meeting
Before opening your next meeting, give yourself a brief pause.
Notice your pace. Consider what you are carrying from the previous task. Ask what the group needs from you in these first few minutes.
Then make room for others to arrive. A simple check-in, a moment to read the opening question, or a clear explanation of the purpose may help people orient themselves.
Pay attention to what follows. Who speaks? Who hesitates? Does the group need more time before moving towards a decision?
These observations are part of architecting collaboration.
The agenda tells us what we intend to discuss. Our preparation helps create the conditions in which that discussion can become useful.
What helps you arrive ready to think with others—and what changes when you do?
Watch Talk to Your Meeting Doctors #64, with Paul Nunesdea, guest co-host Keith Jones and Keith Dickey of YouMind. Share your reflections in the comments.