pre-reads are risky business
This article was recorded for the storytelling with data podcast. If you prefer to consume your SWD insights in audio form, listen here or on your podcast platform of choice.
This could be a hot take, but I’m not a fan of pre-reads and will respectfully decline most requests to share content before a meeting.
Before I elaborate on why, let’s start by exploring what pre-reads are, why they often fail, and some more effective alternatives.
What is a pre-read?
A pre-read is reading material sent to all future attendees before a meeting or presentation. Reviewing content in advance gives people an opportunity to think of better questions and actively participate in discussion, ultimately leading to a more effective meeting.
In theory, pre-reads sound useful, but in practice they usually just create more challenges.
Why don’t pre-reads work as planned?
For pre-reads to succeed, the meeting organizer needs to create both content to present—usually slides—AND summarized content to share ahead of time. It’s rare to have enough time to properly prepare for a meeting without adding another deliverable into the mix. Attendees also need to have enough time and willingness to read through materials before a meeting. In a typical business setting, this just doesn’t happen.
Let’s look at what often happens instead.
The same file is shared and presented at a meeting.
When the person leading the meeting doesn't have time to create separate pre-read and presentation materials, they'll often use a single file for both needs. This could take a couple of forms.
The organizer could send the entire presentation deck (as is). The problem is that slides are visual aids that support a presenter and aren’t intended to make sense without someone to narrate them. If the pre-read isn't clear, it won't have the desired impact of better questions and conversations at the meeting.
I'll also point out that most slide decks are more than one or two pages long. Opening a multi-page document, especially one with 10-plus pages, is daunting and could result in someone skipping the pre-read altogether.The organizer could modify the shared slide deck with additional context for easier reading. While this makes for a more effective pre-read, it simultaneously makes for a less effective presentation, and thus a less effective meeting. Overly busy and wordy slides compete for attention with the presenter as audiences will read instead of listen.
Instead of slides, the organizer could create one detailed document to be read, and then either present the document at the meeting or simply talk about the content without any visual aids. In the first scenario, the impact is the same as above; the audience tries to read and listen simultaneously. The latter scenario stands the best chance to be successful; however, it requires the presenter to know their stuff well enough and be charismatic enough to carry a meeting without any visual prompts.
The critical point here is that people consume information differently while listening in a meeting versus reading at their desks. Therefore, the materials used to support these means should also vary, and this takes time that many don’t have. People also don’t like having to rehash the same materials both independently and while gathering in a meeting, so if audience’s come to expect the same file, they may just decide to wait for the meeting.
That’s the biggest challenge with pre-reads. Even when designed thoughtfully, their success depends on others.
Only a portion of the invitees look at the pre-read.
Most people are busy, and don’t want to do homework before a meeting. The majority won’t give any thought to what will be discussed until minutes before the starting time.
This creates the mixed audience challenge where a large portion of attendees arrive unprepared, while the remaining portion is ready to discuss the topic at hand. Should you start at the beginning or jump into the discussion? Whether you cater the discussion to either the group that did the reading or the one that didn’t, the other group will lose attention and patience.
After experiencing all of these outcomes too many times, I’ve come to the conclusion that pre-reads are too risky. I’d rather spend my time creating more concise presentation materials and practicing how I’ll deliver the information and facilitate discussion.
What do you do when asked for a pre-read?
Just because I don’t approve of pre-reads, doesn’t mean others have stopped asking. Here are a couple of ways I handle these requests.
Get clarity on why they need a pre-read
Whenever asked for content in advance, I’ll do my best to understand why someone wants a pre-read. More often than not, the ask to share slides in advance isn’t a request for a pre-read. Instead someone wants to sign-off on the content before a meeting, understand the agenda, or they want confirmation that they will have something to reference.
In the first two scenarios, I’ll comply—happy to receive some feedback or share a quick agenda. In the latter instance, I’ll offer to send my slides after the meeting instead of before and explain that the slides are sparse so they won’t make sense until I can provide more context in the meeting. In my experience many are willing to wait, and once someone has attended the meeting they will have enough context to make sense of the deck.
Send the executive summary slide as the pre-read
If it’s clear that attendees need a pre-read and I can’t convince them otherwise, then I’ll send only the executive summary slide, not the slide deck. It’s worth noting that I create an executive summary slide for every presentation as part of my process to get clear and concise on the purpose. If you don’t do this, then you’ll have a bit more work to do, but it’s not an excessive amount since you can repurpose content from the presentation. Check out this article for a guide on how to do this and templates to use.
Pre-reads are tough because so much of their success depends on others. If you have additional thoughts or anecdotes to share on this topic, let us know in the comments below.