Feeling the pressure to remember every detail from that overwhelming meeting?  We understand how overwhelming it is to remember every detail discussed during the session. Well, worry not – meeting summaries always come in handy in such situations. Writing a perfect meeting summary is always a helpful reminder for those present,  and also a convenient means of updating those who were unable to attend. 

If you're wondering how to write a meeting summary, what types there are, or need a sample format for manual input then just keep reading this blog. And hey, we have got a cool note taking AI tool Audionotes to make this task easy for you.

What is a Meeting Summary? 

A meeting summary, also known as a meeting recap, is like a report that keeps track of the important things discussed in a meeting. It includes key points, decisions, and tasks that were talked about. The purpose of a meeting summary is to gather all the important info from the meeting and share it with everyone who was there and even those who couldn't make it. 

A good meeting summary covers the basics like the date, time, and place of the meeting, who attended, what was on the agenda, what was discussed, decisions made, tasks to do, and any extra notes or attachments.

Well if you are counting it's the same as meeting minutes, it's not. Let's clear that up.

Meeting Summary vs Meeting Minutes 

Both meeting summaries and meeting minutes keep track of what was talked about in a meeting, but they have some differences. Let's take a look at the table below to compare them- 

Factors Meeting Summary Meeting Minutes DocumentationMade after the meeting ends.Taken during the meetingPurpose Short and focused on key points.Detailed and covers everything.Tone Easy to read and understand.Follows a formal structurePurposeGreat for quick updates, daily huddles, or stand-up meetings.Typically needed for official meetings, board meetings, or legal purposes.UseHighlights action items and decisions.Includes exact words said and formal resolutions.

Now that we've clarified the difference, let's explore how to write a meeting summary. 

Types of Meeting Summaries: 

• Informative Meeting Summary: Share key discussion points and decisions.

• Action Item Meeting Summary: Focuses on assigned tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines.

• Decision-Making Meeting Summary: Emphasizes the decisions made and their reasons.

• Progress Update Meeting Summary: Reports on project status, achievements, and upcoming steps.

• Problem-Solving Meeting Summary: Details discussed problems and outlines agreed-upon solutions.

• Strategic Planning Meeting Summary: Summarizes long-term goals and strategic initiatives.

• Innovation Brainstorming Meeting Summary: Captures creative ideas and outlines potential next steps.

• Client Meeting Summary: Summarizes client discussions, needs, and follow-up steps.

How To Write A Perfect Meeting Summary

Summing up a meeting might feel overwhelming initially, but with the right approach and tools like  Audionotes, it can easily become a regular part of your meeting routine. Here's a simple step-by-step guide to help you begin on how to write a meeting summary: 

• Take Detailed Notes

Start by taking good notes during the meeting. You can go old-school with pen and paper or opt for a digital platform like Google Docs. If recording is allowed, it's an even better choice, saving you from the hassle of note-taking and potential errors.

To make this task easier, you can count on Audionotes to record meetings, whether they're online or face-to-face,  a handy way to have a record of what was discussed. This comes in handy when you're crafting your meeting summary. And here's the cool part – the tool even recognizes different speakers in the recording. 

• Thanks, everyone, for contributing and taking part

Start your meeting summary by thanking everyone for being there. A quick "Thanks for joining the meeting" sets a positive vibe and shows you appreciate their time. Keep it simple and genuine—no need to overdo the compliments.

• Highlight the Important Stuff

The heart of your meeting summary is about highlighting the important stuff talked about. Skip things like who won the meeting icebreaker. Pay attention to these things

• Agenda Recap: What we planned to discuss.

• Big Talking Points: The main topics we focused on.

• Decisions Made: Any choices we agreed on.

• Next Steps: Actions to take and who's responsible.

• 
  

• Keep it short and sweet—just the important info without getting into too many details.

• 
  

• Next Meeting To-Do List

Figure out and list tasks to finish before the next meeting. Give jobs to the team

members and set deadlines to make sure things get done. 

• Include meeting action items

No matter how good your summary is, make sure to put a note or key takeaways section at the end. This brief part will highlight the tasks decided and who's responsible in the team.

• Remember to mention the Small stuff

Even though your meeting summary should be short, don't forget the small stuff like the date, who was there, and how long the meeting lasted. Make sure to include any important info that helps understand what was talked about and the decisions made.

• Attach Supporting Documents

If you need to explain something better in the summary, attach the relevant supporting document like a presentation, spreadsheet, report, or client brief. These docs can help make things clearer and ensure tasks get done on time.

• Share it Across 

After you've made your meeting summary, share it quickly with everyone who needs to know. Make sure it gets to everyone who was there and anyone else who should be in the loop.

You can make it easy and use Audionotes to whip up meeting notes in just 30 seconds. 

Grab Free Template for Meeting Summary

Grab our FREE meeting summary template. It's crafted for smooth use in your meetings, following the best practices we discussed earlier. Copy it and get started easily.

Feel free to use these templates based on your specific requirements and the level of detail you need for your meeting summaries.

Meeting Summary [Meeting name and date] Hey Team, Thanks for joining the meeting and sharing the valuable insights.I trust this message finds you well. Our recent meeting on [meeting Date] was exceptionally productive, setting the stage for an exciting new marketing project. We dove deep into the project details, working together to tackle challenges and come up with solid solutions. Everyone shared their valuable insights, making sure we're all on the same page and crystal clear on where we're heading. Regarding priorities, we meticulously outlined tasks for the upcoming week, providing a comprehensive overview for the month ahead. This strategic planning aims to build a seamless workflow. Assignments were distributed among team members:Jhon : Responsible for generating creative ideas for this projectSteve: Tasked with focusing into [specific task]Herry: Leading the charge on [specific task] For a concise review, please refer to our shared [Google Doc] and [Presentation]. Our next scheduled meeting is on [next meeting date] at [meeting time]. I eagerly anticipate your updates and progress. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out at your convenience. Thank you for your dedication, and here's to a productive week ahead. Best regards,Meeting Lead

Get The Perfect AI-Generated Meetings

Still feel like writing manual summaries is a tough task and takes a lot of time? Worry not, many AI tools will help you do this and can speed things up a lot.

Tools like Audionotes can listen to meetings, pick out the important points, and create summaries way faster than doing it yourself. This way, you can have your meeting summaries ready much quicker, giving you more time to concentrate on the important stuff—like having useful talks and making plans. Also, it has amazing voice recognition features that identify the speaker as well. 

If you wish to customize the length, tone, and language of the text, there is an option to do that as well.

Step By Step Guide on How to Use Audionotes to Generate Meeting Summaries 

Here is a quick step-by-step guide on how to use Audionotes to record and generate meeting summaries-,

Step 1: Login to www.Audionotes.app

Step 2: On the dashboard, Click on the styles icon on the top of the screen and select meeting summary as the output type
(You can choose from various available options or even create your own)

Step 3: You can now use the recorder to record the meeting, or upload the file or past the transcript

Step 4: Audionotes will give you a well structured meeting summary within seconds

Audionotes transcribes and transforms your voice notes, text notes and recordings into customizable structured text summaries as well as lets you create content from your notes.

Audionotes also lets you chat with your notes and sync your notes with Notion.

—-----------------------------

Summing Up

Summarizing things in a perfect format is great for both parties. It helps everyone understand what went on in the meeting, making communication and decision-making better. While it seems a tough task on how to write a meeting summary, the above provided insights will help you make it easy. 

However, for more ease and to cut down your time, you can trust the top-notch note-taking tool Audionotes. This tool helps you record and smoothly summarize according to your preferred length and tone.  These tools change your messy notes or recordings into tidy summaries and let you customize them as you want. 

Get a free Audionotes account and let it assist you in doing the work of writing down and summarizing meetings.