The moment before the meeting
The work is there. The story is still taking shape.
Your team has spent months developing a prototype, testing an approach or solving difficult technical problems. The results sit across reports, slides, demos and conversations with the people closest to the work.
Then the date is set. You have a short meeting with people who have not lived through those months with you. They need to understand the problem, the progress, the evidence and the decision in front of them.
That is a different task from building the product. It takes time to decide what belongs in the room, what needs more proof and what can be left for a later conversation.