Larry Chiang has a rule for the minutes before any big meeting: gather every piece of material first, then read it before you sit down. That is the “P” in his five-step prep framework, PQRST: Preview, Question, Read, Summarize, Test. Preview is the collection step, pulling together every deck, memo, contract draft, or agenda tied to the room you are about to enter.
Larry’s point is blunt: you cannot prepare for what you have not gathered yet. Sales reps and founders lose leverage in the first five minutes because they are still finding the right page while the other side is already talking numbers. A full preview means nothing arrives as a surprise once you are sitting across the table.
This step is not about reading every word closely, since that part comes later, in the R step. Preview is about completeness: knowing everything that exists before you decide what matters.
In the video below, Larry walks through how he builds this stack before a meeting and what he refuses to walk in without. The habit sounds small, but it is the difference between reacting to a room and running it.
Preview is also where Larry’s prep habit meets his broader belief in showing up calm and ready, not talented and improvising. Get the material first, because everything else in PQRST depends on it.
Details: Watch Larry walk through PQRST
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