In this week's newsletter

• 5 ways to partner with AI to level up your meetings
• Q: AI notetakers are out of control in my calls. What should I do?
• Warm-up and check-out questions you can use today
• Relevant reads (+ a TED Talk)
• Your weekly bird break

Making sure AI use improves thinking rather than outsources it has been top of mind for me lately. (Sources inspiring this thinking linked below.)

In my meetings, I'm integrating AI across 5 categories:

1. Admin

AI can be great at some of the tedious and time-consuming logistical details.

Example prompt: “Proofread this pre-read for typos and formatting before I send it to the team.”

Next level: I have an agent that runs every time a new event with other attendees is added to my calendar. It creates a meeting notes record in a database and pre-fills the details (notes from the calendar hold, the date, the attendees). I do the prep that requires thinking, not the admin.

2. Intentional Agenda Design

Chatting with AI can help you plan a strategic warm-up question, pick a facilitation technique for a big group, or sharpen the quality of your meeting objectives.

Example prompt: “I have a project kickoff meeting on Thursday, we have 45 minutes and 10 people. We need to achieve X in this meeting. Help me write clear objectives and design a thoughtful agenda. What additional context do you need from me to do this?” This becomes an iterative conversation, where you write the agenda with assistance - AI doesn’t write the agenda for you.

3. Preparing for Tough Questions

Stumped by the questions you get when you have to meet with the COO? Use AI to help you prepare differently next time.

Example prompt: “I am X and you are the COO of a Z organization. Here’s the memo I’ve prepared for the meeting. What questions will you have? How might I strengthen this memo? Do not edit directly, provide feedback in bullets. Ask clarifying questions if additional context will improve your response. Context: last time I submitted this memo and these were the questions the COO had for me.”

4. Confident Presentations

AI can make it so quick and easy to write up your talking points, slide deck bullets, and that polished memo for the group. The danger? You don’t know them inside and out and that becomes quite clear when you get nervous and lose your place or someone asks a question in your meeting.

Use AI to help you practice instead: Save a version of your presentation and use an AI notetaker and/or video meeting provider to record yourself practicing. Then prompt: “Here are my slides and the talking points I need to hit, the audience is X and the objectives are Y, here’s a transcript of me practicing. What feedback do you have on my presentation?”

Next level: End your chat by saying “summarize context notes for me to share with AI tomorrow when I practice again.”

5. Next Steps

After the meeting, AI can summarize decisions, capture action items, and draft follow-up messages. There are many types of AI notetakers that do this for you (more on that in this week’s Q&A below).

Not using one? Try this: Paste manual notes or dictate your takeaways into an AI tool immediately after your meeting and prompt “summarize key discussion points, takeaways, and next steps and draft a follow-up email for the attendees”

Ask yourself

How else are you already using AI for meetings? Reply and let me know!

Meeting Minute

​Warm-up question​

This question is designed to surface blindspots about AI use for your team: how people could be using it more, errors to watch out for. And for you: how much your colleagues are (or are not) using it.

​Check-out question​

Quick way to ensure action items and accountability is clear before ending the meeting. (Bonus: if you're using an AI notetaker, these will be summarized automatically.)

Q: What should I do about all those meeting note-takers in my meeting?

A: It depends! A few questions to consider as you figure out your approach:

How might AI notetakers affect who speaks up?

A 2026 Read AI study covered in Forbes found that when an AI notetaker is present, the gender imbalance in meeting airtime actually reverses: women contributed 9% more airtime than men relative to their representation. The researchers hypothesize that the AI notetakers made all participants more self-aware of how much they were contributing and relieved women of implicit or explicit note taking responsibilities. AI didn’t fix everything: men still interrupted more and used more dismissive language.

How confidential is the discussion and how might recording affect participation?

Consider how sensitive the discussion is and what risks (if any) a transcript might pose if accessed by someone outside the room. Even if risks are minimal, being recorded could reduce psychological safety and honest participation on some topics. If people aren’t engaging, consider pausing AI use to see if the dynamic changes.

How does use affect your engagement (if at all)?

Case for AI: If you’re leading a discussion or managing breakout rooms, AI transcription lets you stay present and engaged while still capturing decisions and action items for review later. Bonus: reviewing can help you improve your facilitation skills, too!

Consider skipping AI: Have you ever been in a meeting and suddenly found yourself scrolling LinkedIn or replying to Slacks? I have 🫣 Taking manual notes can help maintain focus and active participation.

How will AI notes be used?

Decide whether notes should be shared centrally as a single source of truth for the group, or kept individually by each participant as a personal record.

If the proliferation of AI bots is distracting, consider assigning one person to record/transcribe and then share those AI notes with the full group.

What logistical challenges do these AI notetakers pose to this specific meeting?

If you need to put people in breakout rooms, having lots of AI attendees can make it challenging to execute. This could be a reason to set some limits.

Have attendees been informed there is AI transcription underway?

I am not a lawyer, so please do your own research. My understanding is it’s illegal to record someone without their knowledge in several states in the US, so informing people you’re using AI is not simply a best practice, it’s a must-do.

How are AI notetakers showing up in your work? Helpful or annoying or both? Reply and let me know!

Related Links

​Is AI Making Leaders Lazy? 5 Signs of AI Dependency by Melody Wilding

​​AI Notetakers Change How Much Women Versus Men Talk In Meetings by Michelle Travis

​Study from Anthropic and Study from MIT - studies were small (N of 52 and 54 respectively) preliminary findings suggest there is a risk of cognitive offloading to AI that merits further study

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​TED Talk: How to Stop AI from Killing Your Critical Thinking by Advait Sarkar