Getting input/feedback from key stakeholders before the meeting is a great idea. Unfortunately, you will occasionally run into people who either "don't have tim

Getting input/feedback from key stakeholders before the meeting is a great idea. Unfortunately, you will occasionally run into people who either "don't have time" to review materials before a meeting, or who deliberately hold something back to use against you in the meeting (you'll also run into people who say they've reviewed stuff in advance, but then suddenly "realize" something in the meeting). Establishing the ground rules in advance (so that everyone knows that stakeholders had time to review the materials) can help - sometimes people are reluctant to admit that they didn't review in advance. Unfortunately, there's no sure way to avoid a surprise, and sometimes people legitimately identify a concern during the meeting. When that happens, the key thing is to make sure that there is a clear action plan for dealing with the issue. You want to make sure that people walk out of the room knowing how the issue/question is being resolved, and what the deadline is. If not, you will probably find that you have to have the meeting all over again.