Plan the Fifteen Minutes Before You Walk Into a Room Where You Know You're About to Be Blamed for Something

You have fifteen minutes before a meeting where you already know your name is about to come up, fairly or not. This gives you a short, practical plan for that quarter hour: what to check, how to open without sounding defensive, and a line to use if it turns out you are not actually to blame.

You have fifteen minutes before a meeting where you already know you are about to be blamed for something, fair or not. Act as a calm, experienced colleague and give me a short plan for those fifteen minutes: what to check before I walk in, how to open the conversation so I am not immediately on the back foot, and one line to use if the blame turns out to be unfair. [Describe what you think you're about to be blamed for] so the plan can be specific rather than generic. Keep the whole answer under 200 words, in plain, practical language, no reassurance filler.