I have been reading Close the Deal: 120 Checklists for Sales Success
Here's the list (text in bold blue is copied verbatim from pages 39-41, while my additions and paraphrasings are in regular black):
Read the agenda - before the meeting - and use it to help you prepare.
Arrive on time. I always plan to arrive five to ten minutes early, and bring along something to work on while I wait.
Position yourself to contribute - where you can see and hear the maximum number of participants.
Question anything you don't understand.
Contribute actively. Listen, question, and speak when you have something to add. Don't save your most helpful comments for later coffee room chat - bring them out during the meeting. Just be careful to listen at least as much as you talk - don't monopolize the meeting.
Be concise. Get to the point.
Stick to the agenda. Don't go off the agenda to air your latest grievance, for example.
Build on the present discussion. Connect your thoughts to those that have gone before. If you can't add to the conversation, just listen carefully. This one is a bit like commenting on blogs - the best comments are those that add to the author's original thoughts, rather than just agreeing.
Fix the future, not the past. Stay focused on what to do about "it," not on who is to blame for "it" in the first place.
Challenge shoddy thinking. Without attacking the person, surface your disagreements or concerns with assumptions and conclusions.
Stay cool under fire. Avoid meeting anger with anger.
Contribute in between meetings. Prepare based on the agenda before the meeting. After the meeting, do what you promised to do.
Avoid the seven deadly sins of meeting participation, all of which have to do with putting your private needs ahead of those of the team.
