Vic Sol · Decision DeskEditable template · 15 min to use
Committee prep: three points and three objections
For anyone walking into a meeting where they need a concrete outcome and would rather hear the objections in their head the night before than in the room.
When to use it
You are asking for an approval, a budget or a pause and you have 30 minutes on the agenda.
Last time you left the meeting with "good feedback" and no decision.
You know who will object and you still do not have a one-line answer for that person.
The sheet
Outcome I need when I walk out: [one sentence: "the committee approves X by date Y"]
Pre-read (three lines, sent 24 hours before):
[Where we are today, with a number.]
[What changed, or what is lost if we do not decide.]
[What will be decided in the meeting.]
Timed agenda (illustrative for 30 minutes):
Minute
Block
Who
0
Why we are here and what gets decided today
You
3
Context in two minutes, figures only
You
6
The options and your recommendation
You
12
Discussion and objections
Committee
24
Decision, owner and date
Everyone
30
End
My three points (in spoken language, the way you would say them):
[Strongest first: the fact or number nobody can argue with.]
[Name the obvious objection yourself before they do.]
[The ask: the concrete thing you want approved, with a date.]
The three objections:
Objection
Who will raise it
My one-line answer
[Illustrative: "We tried something like this and it did not work."]
[Name or role]
[Illustrative: "That was a different process; the data we have today is different."]
How to fill it in 15 minutes
Write the outcome you need first. If it does not fit in one sentence, you are not ready for the meeting.
Write the pre-read. Three lines anyone understands without you in the room.
Build the agenda from the end: reserve the last six minutes for the decision and fit the rest around it.
Say the three points out loud before writing them. If they sound like a presentation, rewrite them.
For each person on the committee, ask yourself what genuinely worries them. That is where the objections and who raises them come from.
The most common mistake: preparing twelve points "just in case". With twelve points there is no ask; with three, the committee knows what you are asking for.
The line that is almost always missing
The agenda row that says "decision". Almost every agenda ends in "discussion" and the discussion eats the time. If the decision has no minutes reserved and nobody to close it, the meeting ends with "let's keep looking at it".
Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution. This sheet structures a conversation; it is not legal, financial or audit advice.
Open the .docx in Word (or the .xlsx in Excel) or print it before the meeting.
Fill the fields with the team; leave the blanks visible, they are the discussion.
Close with one owner, one date and one next action. Nothing else.
Prompt
Generate this sheet for your case
Paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini together with your proposal, process or policy. It reproduces the sheet with your data and flags what is missing.
Act as an executive adviser who has prepared hundreds of managers for demanding committees, who knows that a meeting without an ask ends in another meeting, and who prefers three points said well to twelve slides.
Context I am giving you:
- Meeting: [date, length in minutes, type of committee]
- Who will be there and what each one cares about: [name or role · their priority or concern]
- Topic in one sentence: [ ]
- Outcome I need when I walk out: [concrete: approve X by date Y]
- What I already have: [figures, alternatives, earlier conversations]
- Document I will present: [paste memo or proposal, or write "none"]
What I need: a prep packet with exactly these four parts:
1. A three-line pre-read, maximum 30 words each: where we are with a number, what changed, what gets decided.
2. A timed agenda that adds up to the exact meeting length, with the last six minutes reserved for decision, owner and date.
3. My three points in spoken language, in this order: the strongest fact; the obvious objection named by me; the ask with a date. Write them the way I would say them out loud, not as bullets.
4. Three objections, each with who will raise it (based on what they care about) and a one-line answer I can give without reading.
Output format: four headings; the agenda and the objections as tables. Maximum 400 words. No introduction.
Rules:
- Do not invent figures or past results. Where data is missing, write [DATA PENDING] and tell me how to get it before the meeting.
- Answers to objections cannot be evasive or promise anything not in the context.
- If the outcome I am asking for does not fit in one sentence or cannot be answered yes or no, tell me before preparing anything.
- If critical information is missing, ask me at most 3 questions before answering.
- Answer in plain, direct business English, with no sales adjectives.
What to check in the answer:
Do the three points sound like something you would say out loud, or did they turn back into slide titles?
Does each objection have a specific person or role, or did it settle for "someone might ask"?
Does the agenda reserve minutes to decide, or does it end in "discussion" and "wrap-up"?
Vic Sol