A thesis meeting that starts with "why don't you catch us up" has already spent the hour. You have the pages. They have the calendar slot. What they do not have, unless you send it, is the question you want the room to close.
Write the pre-meeting brief. Send it early enough to read on the way.
The hour is for a decision or a review
A call and a briefing do different jobs. The briefing carries status and the closed ask. The meeting is for the part that still needs faces: a methods fight, a cut that will sting, a disagreement between members.
Ask for a decision you want in the room: continue this chapter, cut it, or schedule a defense-shaped read. Or ask for a review of two named sections. Do not ask for both in one hour. You will get a recap.
Respect their time. Status is what is drafted, what is missing, and the date you will hit if they say continue. Not a memoir of the term.
If you are guessing a member already agrees, label the guess. Do not let the assistant write "as we discussed" about a conversation one of them missed.
Send it before the calendar invite becomes the brief
A sufficient pre-read is something they can finish before they sit. The ask at the top. The status. A link to the pages. That is the package.
Give them a way to answer in writing if the meeting is only to rubber-stamp a choice they can already own. "If you can say continue by email, we can keep the slot for the methods question only." Some will take that. The ones who need the room still arrive knowing the question.
Do not attach the chapter. Point at it. RelayLink has no file field, and a dump is how the ask disappears.
You approve what they read on the train
Draft with your assistant. Read every claim about what they said last time. Confirm the send. A committee should not receive a fabricated consensus.
Members without accounts get email and a link. Members who already have accounts need an accepted contact.
Nicknames stay private unless you share them. Use the names on the committee form.
If someone blocks you, the block is silent. Use the address the graduate office already has.
When the question fits in a briefing they can finish before the hour, connect your assistant and send it — so the meeting is not a recap you could have typed.