One of the skills a businessman should possess is having the intuition for opportunities and increasing success rates of a meeting. Therefore, any businessman knows exactly how important it is to remember to take a few specific items to a meeting.

You might be flustered while deciding what should be on your checklist before any meeting, so we have compiled a list for you with the top items which you should definitely bring no matter what type of business meeting you are going to.

1.   Go Old School: Bring a Notepad
Remember to tuck in a notepad and pen before you are on your way out. Taking notes physically while someone is speaking reflects your interest in their words and is admired rather than thought of as disrespectful.

Second, even if you are doing the same thing but on a digital medium, tapping away on your keyboard while someone is talking might show disrespect. Furthermore, it is also quite loud and can bother others.

2.   But Don’t Leave Out Your Laptop or Tablet
Take a portable computer with you such as a laptop or tablet. At any point in the meeting, you could be asked to go through the information you have researched and saved on your laptop or tablet, so it is good to keep them in hand just in case.

Furthermore, technology serves many different purposes, so it can help with things like making a PowerPoint presentation last minute or bringing out data out from your hub of information.

3.   Pack Important Devices
Certain devices, according to the nature of the meeting, will be essential to keep in your bag. For example, for any kind of meeting, you will need to take your phone with you. It is basically a handheld computer and will come in handy.

Another example is the TI-89 graphing calculator. Depending on the type of meeting, you might need this for last-minute revision of your data or to show the other members of the meeting how you came to your conclusion practically. Check out this TI-89 review to understand its full functionalities.

4.   Wear a Watch
You already have your phone in your pocket, about three other devices, and a wall clock in the conference room, so why would you need a wristwatch? Other than a watch’s basic functions, they have a lot of advantages.

Firstly, wearing accessories or good clothes impact your confidence and mood. So when you are wearing your favorite watch, confidence will come to you naturally, and in a meeting, confidence is the key.

Secondly, it looks unprofessional when you are fidgeting with different devices or if your eyes keep wandering to the wall. It might even show your clients that you are bored and uninterested. However, wearing a watch will help you conveniently look at the time discreetly as long as you aren’t looking at it every two seconds.

Lastly, the business world runs on the clock, and the maintenance of time is important. Having a watch will help you easily manage time and decide how much time to spend on each part of a presentation without making it look like you are rushing through things by looking at the clock repeatedly.

5.   Notes and Cue Cards are Important
As a human, it is natural to forget to go through some things but this mistake might cost your business. Therefore, you should keep cue cards or notes with keywords to help remind you of every point or question you should be discussing in your meeting.

6.   Bring Copies of Handouts
During your meeting, it is likely that you will have to present a range of data to your clients or anyone else attending said meeting. In order to have a successful meeting, your focus should be on the analysis of the data rather than the data itself.

When presenting the graphs and numbers to your client, that is all it might end up being: figures which you are speeding through. Therefore, you should have enough copies of handouts to give to everyone in the conference room.
This will help everyone focus on your conclusions and analysis rather than just the numbers as they will have a better understanding of them.

7. Bring Your Team
If you are presenting your business, do not go alone. Bring other qualified members of your business and share the responsibilities, whether to record the meeting or to help present a proposal.

The people you bring are a great reflection of the skill set your business works with. Therefore, bringing the right, impressive people will prove to be advantageous.

8.   Complimentary Gifts, Why Not?
Ordering complimentary gifts with your logo on it can be costly; however, it is a great way to make sure people remember you. Both you and your client might lose each other’s business cards among the many both of you receive every day.

However, when you give a complimentary gift with your logo on it, it serves as an object the client will remember you through. So even if they lose your card, they can always look back at those items and recall the name of your company.

9.   Take a Stack of Your Business Cards
Take enough business cards to give to everyone participating in the meeting because you never know when unforeseen opportunities might pop up, and it is always good to give them some way to contact you.

Nowadays, just as every aspect of life, even the business card-exchanging etiquette has also become digitalized. There are numerous apps through which you can exchange contact information and business profiles, such as LinkedIn.

Final Thoughts
Most certainly, these are not the only important things to take to a meeting, but they are few of the absolute essentials.

All in all, a meeting is more than just a presentation of your proposal, and every action and detail matters. Even the smallest action could help you land big business opportunities. Therefore, hopefully, this list will help you when you plan to head out for your next meeting.