Bot or no bot: two ways AI notetakers record your calls
Some notetakers join the call as a participant. Others record on your own device. Here is how each works and when to use which.
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How to write meeting minutes: a step-by-step guide
In short: Meeting minutes are a short written record of what a meeting decided, who will do what, and by when. Write them in five parts: details, attendees, decisions, action items and open questions. Draft them during the meeting, finish them within a day, and send them to everyone who attended.
What are meeting minutes?
Meeting minutes are the official written record of a meeting. They are not a transcript. A transcript captures every word; minutes capture the outcome: what was decided, who owns each next step, and what is still open.
Good minutes let someone who missed the meeting understand the result in two minutes. They also settle arguments later, because they show what the group agreed at the time.
What should meeting minutes include?
Almost every set of minutes, from a weekly team sync to a board meeting, has the same five parts.
- Meeting details: the title, date, start and end time, and where it happened (a room, or Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams).
- Attendees: who was there, who sent apologies, and who chaired. Note anyone who joined late if it matters for a decision.
- Decisions: each decision in one sentence, written so it makes sense on its own. “The launch moves to 12 October” is better than “Agreed on the date”.
- Action items: each task with one owner and a due date. A task with two owners usually has none.
- Open questions: anything raised but not settled, and who will bring it back.
Formal minutes, such as those of a board or a committee, may also need the motions, who proposed and seconded them, and the vote. Follow your organisation’s rules for those.
How do you take minutes during the meeting?
Prepare the skeleton before the meeting starts. Copy the agenda into your document and leave space under each item for decisions and actions. You then fill in blanks instead of writing from scratch.
During the meeting, listen for three signals: a decision (“so we agree that…”), a commitment (“I’ll send it on Sunday”) and an unresolved point (“let’s come back to that”). Write those down; let the rest of the discussion go.
If a decision is unclear, ask. “Just to capture it correctly: are we moving the launch, or only the press release?” takes five seconds and saves an email thread.
Many people now record the meeting so they can listen properly instead of typing. If you do, tell everyone at the start and ask before you record. The rules on recording differ from country to country, so check what applies where you are.
How do you write the minutes after the meeting?
Finish the minutes the same day, ideally within an hour, while you still remember the context.
- Use plain past tense: “The team agreed…”, “Layla will send…”.
- Keep opinions out: record what was decided, not who argued well.
- Be specific with names, numbers and dates: write “Omar, by Thursday 22 October” rather than “the team, soon”.
- Keep it short: one page is enough for most meetings. Link to documents instead of copying them in.
Then send the minutes to everyone who attended, and to anyone who owns an action but missed the meeting. Ask for corrections within a day or two, so the record is agreed while it is still fresh.
A meeting minutes template you can copy
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| Meeting | Title, date, time, place or call link |
| Attendees | Present, apologies, chair, note-taker |
| Decisions | One line per decision, written to stand alone |
| Action items | Task, owner, due date |
| Open questions | Question, who will follow up, by when |
| Next meeting | Date and the items carried over |
Writing minutes for Arabic and mixed-language meetings
In the Gulf and across the Arab world, many meetings switch between Arabic and English in the same sentence: «خلّونا نأجّل الـ launch لين نخلص الـ testing». Decide before you start which language the minutes will be in, and write decisions in that language even when they were spoken in the other.
Keep product names, technical terms and English titles as they were said, in Latin script, so people can search for them later. For formal Arabic minutes, use clear Modern Standard Arabic for decisions and actions, even if the discussion was in dialect. Our guide to taking meeting notes in Arabic covers this in more detail.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Writing a transcript: nobody reads ten pages of “he said, she said”.
- Actions without owners or dates: they quietly never happen.
- Waiting a week: by then memories differ and corrections start arguments.
- Vague decisions: “agreed in principle” usually means nothing was agreed.
Where Echo fits
Echo records the meeting on your iPhone or Android phone, or on your Mac from the menu bar, without adding a bot to the call. It writes the transcript, a summary with the key points and decisions, and a to-do list, in the language you spoke, including Arabic dialects mixed with English. Echo’s Standard template lays the note out as minutes (summary, topics, decisions, action items, open questions and next steps) that you can check, edit and export to PDF or Word. Echo is free for 30 minutes of recording a month; see pricing for Echo Pro.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between meeting minutes and meeting notes?
Meeting notes are informal and personal; you write whatever helps you. Minutes are the shared, agreed record of the meeting: decisions, action items with owners and dates, and open questions. Notes are often the raw material for minutes.
Who should take the minutes?
Agree on one person before the meeting starts, ideally someone who is not leading the discussion. The chair should not also be the note-taker, because running a meeting and recording it well are two different jobs.
How long should meeting minutes be?
For most team meetings, one page is enough. Formal minutes for boards or committees can be longer because they record motions and votes, but they still summarise the discussion rather than reproducing it.
Should meeting minutes include names?
Yes for attendees and for the owner of each action item. For the discussion itself, most organisations record what was decided rather than who said what, unless a person asks for their view to be minuted.
Can I record a meeting to help write the minutes?
Yes, as long as you tell everyone and ask before you start. A recording lets you listen instead of typing, and you can check exact wording later. The rules on recording conversations vary by country, so check what applies where you are.
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