Minutes of Meeting (MoM)

Writing Minutes of Meetings

 About minutes
1. Can be defined as a written record of the business
transacted at a meeting.
2. May well have some legal and authoritative force.
3. Must summarize the major contributions to the
discussion in such a way that each speaker’s
interactions are recorded
4. Must be clear about what the speaker “meant”, not
just what the individual “said”
5. The process of minutes writing is a process of
interpretation, not just repetition
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Writing Minutes of Meetings
(cont’d)
 Check that the minutes
1. Provide a true, impartial and balance account of the
proceedings;
2. Are written in clear, concise and unambiguous
language;
3. Are concise and accurate;
4. Follow a method of presentation which helps the
reader assimilated the content.

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Writing Minutes of Meetings
(cont’d)
 Elements to be included in a minutes:
1. Heading (including where and when the meeting was
held)
2. Present (who was there)
3. Apologies of Absence
4. Minutes of the previous meeting (note any corrections
and state the minutes were accepted as a true record
of the meeting [with the above corrections, where
applicable])
5. Statements of what actually occurred at the meeting
6. Any Other Business (AOB)
7. Who was the chairperson and who the secretary
8. The time the meeting adjourned and when the next
meeting is to take place 4
Writing Minutes of Meetings
(cont’d)
 Types of minutes writing:
1. Narrative minutes
 A summary of the discussion leading up to a decision.
 Useful for meetings that a more detailed record of the
discussion is preferable.
2. Resolution minutes
 Actual resolutions are emphasized, but only give brief details of
the discussion itself.
 Opinions stated, conflicts among members and disagreements
are treated off-record.
3. Action minutes
 Record the decision made on the issue and the action (what) to
be taken (by whom) and (when).

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Strategies to Improve Your
Listening Effectiveness
 Second language listening problems
 Native speaker accents and pronunciation
 Speed: Perceived pace of native speaker delivery
 Inability to predict because of unfamiliarity with
 Concept / subject matter
 Terminology
 Cultural references
 Sustaining concentration

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 Strategies to Improve Your
Listening Effectiveness (cont’d)
 Strategies to strengthen your academic listening skills
Before the Meeting
1. Prepare yourself - Write down one thing you already know
mentally: about the topic
- Listen to confirm
2. Prepare the subject area - Reading in advance to establish a context

3. Predict what you - Write down 2 or 3 questions related to

will hear (outline the topic: 2-3 things:
format) 1. You expect to find out
2. You would like to know
3. You didn’t understand from the reading
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 Strategies to Improve Your
Listening Effectiveness (cont’d)
During the Meeting
1. Listen for key words - Don’t write down everything
- Leave lots of white space on the page
- Use a numbering system
2. Listen for - First of all / next / a further point / finally
organizational - One… Two…
signposts - First… Second…
3. Listen for summaries - To sum up
and for repeats - In summary then
4. Wake - Mind drifting?
5. Link to what you - Write notes to yourself:
know 1. Examples
2. Comparisons 8
 Strategies to Improve Your
Listening Effectiveness (cont’d)
After the Meeting
1. Review - Read over your notes as SOON as you
can after the lecture
- Use hours between classes!

2. Transform - Manipulate the information in some way:

1. Chart
2. Diagram
3. Mind map

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~ The End ~

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