I think a lot of confusion comes from meetings with no agenda/context. The organizer should be required to include a reasonable context for what is going to be

I think a lot of confusion comes from meetings with no agenda/context. The organizer should be required to include a reasonable context for what is going to be discussed and decided in the meeting. I’ve only worked in one company where this was widely adhered to and it was amazing (meetings often declined without agenda on invitation). Before and since, I often just have no idea what I’m walking into and tend to think of my best questions after it’s ended. If I had some time to view the agenda, pre-read the materials (slide deck, etc), and collect some base level thoughts before having 2 slides per minute of content shoved in front of me; then I’d be better prepared to participate IN the meeting. As my career has matured, I’ve just become better at making sure I’m up to speed and understand (at least conceptually) the topics at hand. I also build relationships with everyone such that I can have sidebar conversations and seek clarity on things when needed outside the meeting. Also, have become pretty good at just filtering/ignoring the stuff that’s not important (to me).