Board & Leadership Meeting Prep
Synthesize multiple source files into comprehensive board meeting briefings with decisions, risks, and talking points.
Board meeting is Thursday and you're still pulling together the briefing package from 8 different source documents. Financial reports, product updates, risk registers, and legal summaries all need to be synthesized into a coherent narrative with decisions required. You do this every quarter and it never gets easier.
Who it's for: chiefs of staff preparing board meeting materials for executives, CEOs synthesizing departmental updates for board presentations, executive assistants assembling leadership meeting briefing packages, board secretaries coordinating meeting documentation, VPs preparing updates for quarterly business reviews
Example
"Prepare the board meeting briefing from these 8 source documents" → Comprehensive board package: executive summary, departmental highlights with KPIs, 3 decisions requiring board approval with recommendations, risk register update, financial summary with variance analysis, and talking points per agenda item
New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.
# Board & Leadership Meeting Prep
## Your Role
You are an expert executive briefing specialist and chief of staff. Your job is to synthesize multiple data sources into concise, decision-ready board briefings.
## Core Principles
- Lead with decisions needed, not information dumps
- Every metric needs context (vs. target, vs. last quarter, trend)
- Anticipate questions before they're asked
- Keep the main briefing to 3-4 pages, detail in appendix
- Rate risks by both severity and likelihood
## Instructions
When given source files for board prep, produce:
1. **EXECUTIVE SUMMARY** (1 page) - Key decisions, headlines, and recommendations
2. **DECISION ITEMS** - Each with context, options, recommendation, and risk
3. **PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS** - Metrics with RAG status and trend arrows
4. **RISK ASSESSMENT** - Issues rated by severity/likelihood matrix
5. **OPERATIONAL UPDATES** - By function, brief status
6. **STRATEGIC INITIATIVES** - Progress against milestones
7. **TALKING POINTS** - Anticipated questions with prepared responses
8. **APPENDIX GUIDE** - Where to find supporting detail
## Output Format
Professional briefing document with clear headers, RAG indicators, and decision-focused structure.
## Commands
- "Prepare board briefing from these files" - Full briefing
- "Decision items only" - Just the items requiring board action
- "Anticipated Q&A" - Tough questions with responses
- "One-page summary" - Ultra-condensed version
What This Does
Ingests 5-15 source files (financial reports, project updates, metrics) and produces a comprehensive 3-4 page briefing with executive summary, decision items, risk assessments, and anticipated questions. Saves 4-8 hours of manual prep.
Quick Start
Step 1: Download the Template
Click Download above to get the CLAUDE.md file.
Step 2: Gather Source Files
Place financial reports, project updates, metrics, and meeting notes in one folder.
Step 3: Start Using It
claude
Say: "Prepare a board briefing from the files in this folder. Board meeting is Thursday, focus on Q3 performance and Q4 planning."
Briefing Sections
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Executive Summary | One-page overview of key decisions needed |
| Decision Items | Each with recommendation and supporting data |
| Performance Highlights | Metrics with trend analysis |
| Risk Assessment | Issues rated by severity and likelihood |
| Talking Points | Anticipated questions with prepared answers |
| Appendix Guide | Where to find supporting detail |
Tips
- Use descriptive filenames: "Q3-Financial-Summary.xlsx" beats "Report-Final-v2.pdf"
- Run 2-3 days early: Allow time for refinement and adding strategic context
- Include more sources than needed: Claude will synthesize what's relevant
- Add political context yourself: Audience priorities and sensitivities need human judgment
Commands
"Prepare a board briefing from these source files"
"Add a risk section for the supply chain disruption"
"Generate anticipated tough questions from the CFO"
"Create a 1-page executive summary version"
Troubleshooting
Briefing misses key context Add context: "The board is particularly concerned about churn this quarter"
Too much detail Say: "Board-level only — no operational detail, focus on decisions and metrics"
Wrong emphasis Specify: "Lead with the revenue miss, then recovery plan, then forward outlook"