Life
People Are Sharing What They Say When They're Unprepared For A Meeting & It's Actually Genius
We've all had this moment: it's a Friday afternoon and you're 45 minutes into your hour-long team meeting. From the corner of your eye you can spot a hint of sunshine and blue sky from outside the window, while you remain trapped on the other side of the concrete wall, held hostage. You can practically taste the sweet freedom of the weekend, so much so that you completely zone out for the last 15 minutes. You come to, just as your manager is asking your opinion. On what? You're not entirely sure. But don't worry, Twitter has you covered: users have taken to the social media platform to share how they handle a meeting when they have absolutely nothing to add.
I've been there more than once. I remember sitting in my first ever production meeting, and having absolutely no clue what anyone was talking about. I felt completely out of place: I kept trying to follow the conversation and getting side tracked. Without realizing it, my mind dozed off, until I was abruptly yanked out of my daze by a superior, asking for my two cents. Unsure what we were even discussing, I cleared my throat, mustered up all of my confidence, and declared, "That could potentially be problematic." It worked like a charm.
Check out the following tweets for more pro-tips on how to recover in a meeting — if they don't help you out, they'll at the very least make you laugh.
1Balance is Key
This is such a generic phrase that there's like a 70 percent chance it'll relate in some way.
2The Classic Follow Up
Follow up questions are a great way to divert the attention away from yourself. Nice!
3Baby Got Back-Tracking
Yes, let's take a step back so I can actually figure out what's going on right now.
5Action, Not Reaction
Wait a second — I don't even know what an action point is, and like, I'm ready to promote you. That was so convincing.
10Absolutely Positively
I've also found that "completely" and "totally" can also be effective.
11Paper Planes
"Oh don't mind me! Just studying this super complex graph, definitely not making a grocery list."
12Morally Righteous
Such as: integrity, purpose, and paying very little attention.
14Who Knows What Will Happen In The Future?
This answer says: I'm cool, I'm flexible, I go with the flow, I pay attention.
15If All Else Fails, State The Obvious
Clearly, we need a plan. Done!
So the next time you ignore your Sunday scaries and go into Monday totally unprepared, don't freak out — just fake it 'till you make it. Borrow one of these super smart phrases and impress in front of your entire office. Who knows, maybe square + circle = promotion and early raise!
