Free Minute-taking course

Free, right now

The first three chapters online, with a knowledge check after each chapter. Plus a PDF with a worksheet and cheat sheet.

You can read the lessons straight away. For the PDF, you leave your details.

Start with lesson 1

Prefer to have a trainer there with you?

The one-day course Minute-taking: efficient and results-oriented. You practise with real meeting extracts and put your own minutes on the table for targeted feedback.

€625,- excl. VAT

View the Minute-taking: Efficient and Results-oriented course All Presenting & writing courses →

Minutes are usually only really read once a disagreement arises. Who was it again who promised to deliver that report? Was that decision final or provisional? That is the moment when it becomes clear how much a good set of minutes is worth, and how much trouble a sloppy one causes. Minute-taking looks simple as long as you view it from a distance: you listen, you write it down, you write it up. Around the table it turns out to be mainly a matter of choosing: what do you include, what do you leave out, and in which words do you record it.

This free online course is the starter for our full Taking minutes. In the first three chapters you set out your role as minute-taker clearly, you make a conscious choice between the four types of minutes instead of writing the way you always have, and you learn to separate main points from side issues at the table using the six questions of WWWWWH. Each chapter ends with a short knowledge check, so you notice straight away whether it sticks.

The full course goes on to cover the differences between meeting groups, the reader analysis, the annotated agenda, your preparation with the chair, asking follow-up questions when there is noise around the table, digital aids, online meetings, going from keywords to running text, neutral wording and the route from draft to final report. Would you like to cover those chapters with an experienced trainer present, and with your own minutes on the table? Then take a look at the Minute-taking course.

Taking minutes

Chapters 1 to 3 in a single PDF, with a worksheet and cheat sheet.

Contents:

  • 0.-

    Introduction
    How this free course is structured and what you will learn in the three chapters.
  • 1.-

    The minute-taker's tasks
    The four functions of a meeting report, your sub-tasks before, during and after the meeting, and your position alongside the chair.
  • 2.-

    Choosing the report format
    The four report formats on a scale from bare to extensive, the action list with fixed columns and the three questions to help you choose.
  • 3.-

    Listening and recording at the table
    Separating main points from side issues, recognising signal words, the six questions of WWWWWH and a note sheet divided into zones.
  • 4.-

    Types of meeting groups
    What a team meeting, a management team meeting, a works council meeting and a meeting with changing experts ask of you.
  • 5.-

    The reader as your yardstick
    The circle of readers around the meeting table, retention periods and the archive function, and how to move from reader analysis to level of detail.
  • 6.-

    The agenda
    The annotated agenda, the three meeting objectives and what they ask of you, submitting and circulating agenda items.
  • 7.-

    Preparing for the meeting
    The preliminary talk with the chair, the list of participants and a report template that takes work off your hands at the table.
  • 8.-

    Probing questions and noise around the table
    Four types of question that always work, choosing the right moment and five interventions for when everyone is talking at once.
  • 9.-

    Digital aids for taking minutes
    Recording, taking minutes in OneNote, managing actions in Excel, minute-taking apps and mind mapping during a brainstorm.
  • 10.-

    Minute-taking in online meetings
    What works differently online, what you can and cannot do with an automatic transcription, and the arrangements with your chair.
  • 11.-

    From keywords to running text
    Grouping keywords, preventing strings of loose words, avoiding telegram style and writing up more quickly.
  • 12.-

    Neutral wording
    Reporting what has been said without your own judgement, verbs for speech acts and spelling meeting terminology correctly.
  • 13.-

    From draft to final minutes
    Submitting the draft to the chair, distributing the report and asking for targeted feedback on your minutes.

What participants say about Learnit

I found the 'Interview Techniques' course to be good. Nothing to fault. It was also good that Job called beforehand for a short preliminary discussion. You don't see that very often. A very worthwhile course. It also had a strong element of repetition. Plenty of variety, including between theory and practice. Learned a lot, and applied it straight away during the course. And I think these learnings will also help me further when conducting interviews.
Tjeerd J
We took the Outlook, Teams and OneNote course with Roy Nieuwenhuijzen. Good content, and a few days before the course he got in touch with me (coordinator of the course, head of the secretariat). Pleasant that you can fill in the day itself as needed. The booklet for reference is rather dated, but apparently there is little up-to-date material to be found.
Inge Brouwers
In May 2024 I took the WordPress course. As an IT enthusiast with broad but not necessarily deep knowledge, I wanted to know more about WordPress. How do you install everything and how do you start building a website. This course is extremely well suited to that. From the outset you learn in 3 days how to start a website and what to look out for. I now have a solid basis for getting to work with WordPress and I know my way around the various options. The course is recommended for anyone who wants to learn in three days what WordPress can do and how to apply it.
Igno Freriksen

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Our free courses and webinars

Your own motivation and commitment are essential if you want to master something new. You can get a long way with self-study. Learnit wants to contribute to this by offering valuable content such as free webinars and courses. This way you can get acquainted with new fields of learning. Once you have made a start, you may discover that there are also many advantages to taking a course at Learnit under the guidance of an experienced trainer.

  • You spend several days working dedicatedly on your learning objectives, which means you make progress more quickly
  • The trainer helps you over the bumps and spots your blind spot
  • the trainer can explore what your learning objectives are and show you the shortest learning route
  • You can practise real-life situations really well during the course
  • You get to know other participants with an interest in the same subject

In short, you achieve much more in less time.

The free courses are suitable for home study, as you can download them online as a PDF. The range of free courses consists of IT and Communication & Management courses. Would you like to learn more about these subjects, or is the subject you want to learn about not included? Then take a look at our courses.

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