This practical one-day minute taking training course will show you the process step-by-step from pre-meeting preparation through to distribution of the final document.

By the time you finish, you’ll be comfortable taking and writing up minutes.

✔ A complete beginners’ course that covers everything you need to know.
✔ Plenty of one-to-one attention and time to ask questions.
✔ Friendly expert trainers, small groups, and a comfortable place to learn.

The Trainer

Jo has been a professional development coach and trainer for over 20 years. She is Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD) certified.

She started her career in engineering before transferring to a leading pharmaceutical company. She spent 18 years there in a number of leadership and technical roles across a number of departments including HR, customer service, and training.

What Will I Learn?

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Understand the different types of meetings – and what’s expected from the minutes
  • Prepare efficiently and know what to focus on during the meeting
  • Develop strong listening and summarising skills
  • Produce clear, action-focused minutes in less time
  • Confidently support the Chair and keep the meeting on track

You’ll work on real-life examples, so please bring any previous minutes or upcoming meeting details if you have them.

Am I Ready For This Course?

You don’t need any prior experience to attend this course.

This course is for anyone wanting to learn how to produce clear records of the output of meetings.

If you are not an experienced minute taker it is useful, if possible, for you to have a go at taking some minutes of a meeting or similar before you attend. It will help bring the learning to life for you.

If you have taken minutes before we would ask that you bring them along. These examples can be used as the basis of the examples for the course.

The Training Day

We provide everything that you’ll need for a really fun, productive day of training.

Our courses run from 9.30 am to roughly 4.30 pm with refreshments and biscuits throughout the day and a break for lunch.

We offer a relaxed, supportive learning environment, fully air-conditioned training facilities and some of the nicest instructors on the planet.

Also, you’ll receive:

✔ A full-colour manual which covers everything in the course.
✔ Your course exercises so that you can practice at home.
✔ A Certificate of Attendance.

  • What’s the purpose of the meeting?
  • Understanding agendas, formats, and attendee roles
  • Clarifying your role and responsibilities
  • Setting up and organising the meeting
  • How to support the Chair and participants
  • Meeting dynamics: who’s who and how to work with them
  • Keeping time and staying focused
  • Active listening: what to write and what to skip
  • Structuring minutes: styles that work
  • Writing clearly and concisely
  • Choosing what’s essential: decisions, actions, and key points
  • Making minutes user-friendly and easy to reference
  • Finalising and distributing minutes efficiently
  • Who needs to see what – and when
  • Following up actions without overstepping

You’ll leave with a clear plan for how to apply your new skills back at work straight away.

Online Training Requirements

To attend this Minute Taking course online, you will need:

Zoom on your Windows PC/laptop with a camera, speakers & microphone
A stable internet connection capable of running Zoom
To be a confident computer user and able to use Zoom

If you have access to a second screen, we would encourage you to use it as it improves the experience.