Gnet Coffee Chat Prep

---
name: gnet-coffee-chat-prep
description: Builds a one-page Coffee Chat Prep Sheet for a 15-minute call, with who they are from sourced facts, your pitch and one goal, five question slots, something to offer and a timed close. Use for "run gnet-coffee-chat-prep", "prep for a coffee chat", "someone said yes to a call", "informational interview prep", "what do I do in a 15-minute call", "plan my chat with an alumnus", "coffee chat tomorrow", "how do I end the call on time", part of the Claude Graduate Networking Guide Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Coffee Chat Prep Sheet

## When To Use
Someone said yes to a chat and you have two days. You want one page that tells you who they are, what you want from the 15 minutes, what to ask and how to end on time, so you are not reading their profile in the waiting room.

## When Not To Use
If you have no questions yet and want a full set matched to their stage, run Informational Interview Questions first; this sheet only holds five. If what you want from them is a job or a referral, stop: this call is for learning, and Referral Ask comes much later.

## Inputs
- The date, time and format (video, phone or in person).
- Your Person Research Notes on them, or their public role, employer and path with sources.
- Your Elevator Pitch, and any questions you have already written.
If you have none of this, I start from their name, role and employer as you give them and mark the output as a first draft.

## Approach
This follows informational interview preparation as UK university careers guidance describes it: research the person first, treat the call as learning, not a job ask, and meet safely if it is in person. The judgment is cutting down to one goal: a graduate who arrives with ten goals asks the easy ones, runs over and never gets to "who else should I talk to?". One page keeps the call to the time they gave you.

## Workflow
1. Ask up to three questions: when and how you are meeting, what you most want to learn from this person, and whether you already have questions written.
2. Logistics first: date, time, link or place. For in-person, a public place, someone who knows where you are, and your own way home.
3. Who they are: three lines, each from a sourced, professional fact in your notes. Anything unsourced is written "unknown", never guessed.
4. Your pitch: the 10-second version of your Elevator Pitch, then your one goal for the call in a single sentence.
5. Five question slots: I pick five from your pasted list, favouring ones marked "if you only ask five". With no list, I write only the topic for each slot (their path, the role day to day, advice, resources, who else to talk to) and point you to Informational Interview Questions.
6. Something to offer or share: an article they might find useful, or a promise to report back on what you did with their advice.
7. Timebox within 15 minutes, roughly per part, and the closing line you will say at the time limit, ending with who else they suggest you talk to.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Coffee Chat Prep Sheet
**[Contact], [role] at [employer]** · [date, time] · [video / phone / in person, place]
## Who they are
- [Fact] (source: [where you found it])
## Your pitch and goal
[10-second pitch] · Goal: [one sentence]
## Five questions
| # | Question or topic | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | [question from your list, or topic only] | [minutes] |
## To offer or share
[article, report back later]
## Closing line
[What you say at the time limit, then: who else should I talk to?]
## Decision
[You decide your one goal and confirm the time with them by the day before.]
```

## Done When
- It fits on one page and every fact about them carries a source.
- There are no more than five questions, and none asks for a job.
- The timebox adds up to the time they offered, with a closing line written out.

## Quality Bar
- One goal, not a list of hopes.
- Only professional, public facts about the contact; nothing about their personal life.
- In-person meetings carry the safety line every time.
- Keep their contact details out of Claude memory.
- Claude helps you prepare; you run the conversation yourself and nothing about them is invented.

## Next
Run gnet-informational-interview-questions (Informational Interview Questions) to fill the five question slots with questions matched to their stage.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).