Savage Communications
MINUTE-TAKING
Meeting ID: 897 4504 0828
Password: 522903
ABOUT THE TRAINING
This workshop is designed to ensure that meetings are recorded succinctly and in the most user-friendly way possible. The sessions provide clear guidelines on note-taking conventions, helping you to stay in control, capture the most important points and produce accurate, useful minutes.
The training will incorporate plenty of opportunity to practise these skills and to receive feedback.
Part 1
The first part will provide guidelines on what to do before, during and after the meeting, including practical exercises around speed writing and filtering information.
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Prepare to take minutes
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Use accepted Rathbones minute-writing models
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Get clarity around the purpose and objectives of minutes
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Understand audience needs and interests
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Keep up with fast-paced meetings
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Interpret discussions and distil the relevant points: listen, think, write
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Write quickly and clearly
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Consider alternatives to handwriting
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Listen actively and maintain concentration levels
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Ask for clarification of key points
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Confirm responsibilities and timings
Part 2
The second part will focus on the language aspects of minute-taking. It will include exercises on verb usage, indirect speech and writing succinctly. As in the previous session, there will be an opportunity for you to practise your skills with a video exercise.
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Understand the difference between direct and indirect speech
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Broaden your vocabulary of reporting verbs
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Use appropriate sentence structure
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Write succinctly and in plain English
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Use impartial language
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Edit and format your work
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
EPIDEMIC SOUND
CHIEF COMMS OFFICER
Margaret delivered copywriting training for us. It was one of the most useful training sessions we’ve had to date and I use the tips and tricks she taught us on a daily basis.
ROYAL SOCIETY OF BIOLOGY
DIGITAL LEARNING OFFICER
Margaret is great at what she does and created a very engaging and interesting course. The delegates were full of praise for her and the way she delivered the minute-taking courses, particularly via Zoom, where she managed to maintain a good level of interactivity.
ABOUT MARGARET WEBSTER

Margaret Webster is not only a professional writing trainer, she is a professional writer. Her clients include AstraZeneca, Duchenne UK, English Football League, Historic England, London Stock Exchange, Macmillan Cancer Support, Network Rail, Rathbones and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Wycombe Council.
Margaret’s talent lies in bringing her subject matter to life in an engaging, memorable way.
As a writer, she has been producing corporate and marketing communications for over 20 years. She has written about a wide variety of topics for diverse audiences across many different media – ranging from light-hearted feature articles to high-stakes conference speeches.
For the last five years, she has specialised in large, complex projects where she works with organisations on their most important communications, such as key reports, strategies, standard operating procedures, television scripts and pitch documents.
She shows their people how to craft communications that are relevant, clear and vivid for their target audiences. And she shares practical techniques and tools with them so they can quickly improve their business writing, copywriting or public speaking.
Margaret is also a coach to senior executives, entrepreneurs, technical experts and other copywriters, and is a trainer at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Since 2004, Savage Communications has delivered training to hundreds of organisations across the UK and globally. Here is a small flavour of some our clients.