3 things to do when youre unprepared for a meeting

3 things to do when youre unprepared for a meeting3 things to do when youre unprepared for a meetingWhetherbei a last-minute meeting pops up halfway through the day, or you simply forgot about one until two minutes before its scheduled to start, being unprepared for one can be a startling feeling.Here are three tips to use when you find yourself in this situation.Think about these three questions ahead of timeAfter writing about being caught unprepared in a meeting with the vice president of her company - and then, how she got back on her feet at the moment with a managers help - career coach and writer Abby Wolfe writes about these questions in The Muse.She explains why you should pose these specific questions to yourself before every work meeting1) Whats my role?2) What do I need to bring?3) What do I want to get out of it?Boiling things down to these three topics can help you get ahead.Figure out who youre meeting withAuthorKevin Daum writes in Inc. that you should research the attendees in an article about how productive people prepare for meetings.There is no real excuse today for not knowing the people with whom you are meeting. Whether its a one on one or a conference table of 10, you should have some idea of who is at the table. Get a list of attendees and Google each one. Check out their Linkedin profile and perhaps even look at them on Facebook to understand who they are and what they bring to the conversation. The time spent up front will not only save time on introductions, but it will give you powerful insights should conflict occur, he writes.Do this if you werent paying attention in the meetingThis can be really embarrassing, but luckily, there are ways to save face.Doing things like preparing for what could happen during the meeting as much as possible, politely saying that you dont have anything else to add (if you dont), and talking about what you do know can really come in handy.