Open social meetings with 'What I'd love to talk about today is...' to nudge a catch-up toward something meaningful.
Remember your last "we should catch up!" coffee? Ten minutes on traffic, ten on weather, and suddenly you both had to leave. At work we'd never run a meeting without a purpose, yet outside the office we drop all structure and hope for the best. A few years back a couple's "bar agenda" for a night out went viral, and people split between "genius" and "psychotic." They were onto something. After the pleasantries, name what you'd like to talk about. It gives the conversation a direction, a gentle nudge toward something meaningful.
Late one Thursday my calendar pinged: Meeting with Joe. Ugh. Instead of cancelling or slogging through, I did a quick self check-in. Two things: I'd lost track of what the meeting was for, and I was exhausted. So I reread our emails to remember the why, joined from my phone, and told Joe I'd been on camera all day and needed to move around. He joined in, and we had a fantastic conversation. (Joe's name has been changed for his protection.)
"What I'd love to talk about today is how you're thinking about AI in your business."
"What I'd love to talk about today is that book you mentioned last time."
Before a vague meeting: "I want to make sure we make good use of our time. Do you have an idea of what you'd like to cover to make this meeting as valuable as possible?"