Background

People always say “dress to impress”—but I’m here to tell you, forget what you’re wearing (but make sure you’re wearing something)—how you show up in a meeting leaves a far bigger impression.

One of my past managers once told me that every time you speak, you have the opportunity to leave an impression. And yes, that includes every status update, spec review, and quick Slack huddle. Those micro-moments compound, and whether you realize it or not, you’re shaping how much people trust your work. 

This applies whether you're a PM giving updates, a designer presenting wireframes, an engineer explaining technical decisions, or anyone who regularly needs to communicate their work.

Problem/Opportunity

I used to have a weekly standup meeting with other PMs where we would cover our priorities for the week. I’d always wing it and often miss key details that I’d then need to bring up after the meeting.

When you wing it, naturally, you often end up looking scattered and disorganized. To avoid this, I developed a 5-minute “pre-flight” checklist (get it—because “wing it” 😂 ) to go through before each standup.

Five minutes buys you:

• Automatic trust—prep signals credibility, so people won’t second-guess you.

• Sharper priorities—writing forces you to notice busy-work and instead focuses you on hitting your metrics.

• Happier stakeholders—coworkers get the context they need upfront and don’t have to fish for updates later.

Requirements

My 5-minute pre-flight checklist:

1. Priorities First. Start with your top 1-2 focus areas for the week and explain how they ladder to bigger objectives. 

2. Status Updates. Call out anything that has recently shipped or is in progress. Provide context if others aren't familiar with the work. Share any important KPIs you're tracking, especially if they're moving in unexpected directions.

3. Blockers (with Solutions). Raise your hand early if you can't make progress on something. Mention the dependencies or decisions holding you up and what you've tried to resolve them. Frame blockers as problems to solve.

4. End with Asks. Everyone is now thoroughly impressed by you. You’ve buttered them up. Time to flag any help you need or questions you have.

Do this and you'll never have to do that awkward "um, let me think... what was I working on again?" dance in front of your stakeholders. That’s an Out of Scope Guarantee.

✈️ Try my 5-minute pre-flight checklist at your next stand-up and reply to this email letting me know how it went!

The Meme

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