How To Prepare For Your First Professional Meeting

When you work from home, it’s easy to think that all of the usual professionalisms that you’re used to go out of the window.

After all, you’re now in the world of freelance. You can work in sweat pants if you want, and you set your own hours – so all of those traditional working customers don’t apply to you any more, right? However, that’s not necessarily the case.

While you are more than welcome to plan your days as you see fit, you will also want to make sure that your home business or freelance work is going well.

And for that, you need to have goals, you’ll want to network, and it also helps for you to go to different meetings too.

Let’s take a look at how you can prepare for that!

Choose The Right Place

To begin with, you’ll want to think about choosing the right place. This is essential. Do you want to be somewhere close by? Or maybe somewhere that you feel comfortable?

A professional meeting space or a casual coffee shop? Work this out first and arrange a date for the right place.

Be At Your Best

Then, you need to look inward at yourself. Are you currently at your best? Or have you been meaning to get new glasses or book that hearing check in?

If so, do this before the meeting. You’ll want to make sure that you’re on top form ready to impress. Even things like getting a new notebook, or doing some research can be a huge help to you to feel prepared.

Have An Agenda

It’s always a great idea to then have an agenda in place.

Do you want to get something specific out of this? Then you need to be sure that you have planned it out. Think about the key talking points or questions you have, and make sure that you cover them off.

Look The Part

From here, you’re then going to want to make sure that you’re able to look the part too.

And this doesn’t mean that you need a brand-new expensive outfit to impress, you just need to feel right. What you wear to a business meeting can be up to you (and be determined by the job you do and the niche you’re in).

Instead, you need to feel comfortable and confident. See this as your power look that makes you feel the part and not just look it!

Relax – Be Yourself!

Finally, you’re then going to want to make sure that you just relax and look to be yourself.

Sure, you may find that you’re a little nervous, or that you’re putting a lot of pressure on this, and that’s natural.

But if you do actually let yourself relax, you’re going to find that you enjoy it more. You’re more likely to just be yourself, actually impress in the meeting, and get what you want out of it.

It’s way easier to get results when you’re comfortable and just diving right into the good stuff!