Taking Minutes of Meetings

Class Summary

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(based on last 3 sessions)

SPECIAL NOTE: The April 2, 2020 session will be conducted via live online format. Participants will be contacted prior to the class date with more information. 

Often required by law, accurate, easy-to-understand minutes are also critical for bringing non-attendees up to speed and ensuring that follow-up activities and responsibilities are completed.

SEC102 6.0
One 8-hour session

Anyone responsible for recording minutes of meetings and/or anyone who would like to function more effectively as a meeting participant.

  • Greater meeting productivity.
  • Clearer outcomes and follow-up activities.
  • Increased confidence in your ability to grasp and summarize key points.
  • Greater professionalism—yours, the group’s, the organization's.

By the end of this program, you will be able to:

  • Explain the legal and historical value of minutes.
  • Discuss the most common mistakes made by note takers and how to avoid them.
  • Describe methods for identifying and recording the key points of a meeting.
  • Demonstrate objectivity in minutes writing style.
  • Use current, up-to-date minutes formats.
  • Give examples of formal vs. informal meetings and the minutes requirements for each.
  • List key methods for achieving clear, concise meeting summaries.
  • Describe writing techniques to ensure professional style and tone in minutes.
  • Why taking minutes is an important role
  • Capturing key points
    • A fool-proof formula
    • Exercise
    • Zeroing in on the essentials
    • Exercise
  • Remaining objective in your writing style
    • Examples
    • Practice
  • Organizing key points
    • The mapping method
    • Exercise
    • The charting method
  • Finished minutes–formats and examples
    • Minutes formats
    • Attendance records
    • Voting registers
  • The meeting process
    • Informal to formal
    • Robert’s Rules
  • Writing techniques for professional, concise minutes
    • Short sentences
    • Exercise
    • Bullet-point lists
    • Exercise
    • Removing “interruptions”
    • Exercise
  • Writing techniques for professional style and tone
    • Objective language
    • Active vs. passive voice
    • Exercise
    • Strong, action verbs
    • Clarity and simplicity
  • Putting it all together
    • Exercise