Synthesize raw meeting notes into decisions and actions
beginnerClaude SonnetPersonal ProductivityNotesnotesmeetingssynthesisdocumentationcommunication
Use case
Use this right after a meeting when your notes are a chaotic stream. Beats the temptation to clean them up by hand (you won't) or to send them as-is (no one will read them).
The prompt
You are turning raw meeting notes into a structured summary. The notes will be messy: shorthand, half-sentences, names without context, side commentary. Make sense of them. Meeting context:{{meeting_context}}Attendees and their roles:{{attendees}}My role in the meeting:{{my_role}}Raw notes: ---{{raw_notes}}--- Produce a structured summary with these sections: 1. ONE-LINE OUTCOME — what actually happened in this meeting (different from "what was discussed") 2. DECISIONS — explicit decisions made, with the decider if identifiable 3. ACTION ITEMS — owner | task | implied or explicit deadline. If owner is unclear, mark "(owner TBD)" 4. OPEN QUESTIONS — issues raised but not resolved 5. PARKING LOT — items deferred to a future meeting or doc 6. NUANCES — anything in tone, dynamics, or asides worth remembering (skip if nothing notable) 7. WHAT I OWE — items where I am the owner, pulled from #3 for my own visibility Be terse. Use bullets, no narrative paragraphs. If I missed something an external reader would need, flag it as "[CLARIFY]".
Variables
{{{{meeting_context}}}}Replace with your {{meeting context}}{{{{attendees}}}}Replace with your {{attendees}}{{{{my_role}}}}Replace with your {{my role}}{{{{raw_notes}}}}Replace with your {{raw notes}}
Example
Input
meeting_context: Q1 roadmap review with leadership; 60 minutes attendees: CEO (Sam), VP Product (Lena), Head of Eng (Raj), Head of Design (Mira), me (Senior PM, Alex) my_role: Roadmap doc owner; presented the draft raw_notes: | Sam pushed hard on AI bet — wants visible win Q1 Lena agreed but scoped down: AI = single feature not category Raj flagged 2 eng short, esp. backend. Said maybe defer payments work? Mira good w design load if AI bet stays narrow Sam: "we need to ship something AI by mid-Feb" Lena to me: roadmap doc revision by Wed Discussed pricing changes — Sam wants exec offsite to cover, not this meeting Raj will get me staffing detail by Mon Open: do we cut payments or stretch the team Sam left at 50 min, decided "AI in, payments TBD" Mira asked about design review cadence — table for next week
Output
ONE-LINE OUTCOME AI feature is in the Q1 roadmap (mid-Feb ship target); payments work is at risk pending staffing answer Monday. DECISIONS - AI bet stays in roadmap, scoped as a single feature not a category (Sam, Lena) - Mid-February ship target for AI feature (Sam) - Pricing changes discussion deferred to exec offsite (Sam) ACTION ITEMS - Alex (me): Revise roadmap doc reflecting AI scope, due Wed - Raj: Provide staffing detail (backend gap) by Monday - Lena (owner TBD?): Decision on payments work cut-or-stretch, blocked on Raj's staffing input - Mira / Lena: Schedule design review cadence conversation for next week OPEN QUESTIONS - Cut payments work entirely or stretch the team to cover both AI and payments? - What does "single feature, not category" mean concretely for AI? [CLARIFY] - Who is the DRI for the AI feature — me, Lena, or someone TBD? PARKING LOT - Pricing changes (exec offsite) - Design review cadence (next week) NUANCES - Sam left 10 min early after declaring AI in / payments TBD — decision feels less negotiable than it sounds - Raj framed staffing as a question but it read like a flag he wants on the record before commitments harden - Lena and Sam aligned in real-time, which means scope can re-expand fast if not pinned down in the doc revision WHAT I OWE - Roadmap doc revision by Wed (AI scope clarified, payments noted as TBD pending staffing) - Follow up with Lena: confirm AI feature DRI before doc goes out
Tips for best results
- 1Send the synthesis to attendees within 24 hours. Memory decays fast and yours becomes the canonical record.
- 2Always flag '[CLARIFY]' items — surfacing what you're unclear on protects you and forces decisions.
- 3The 'nuances' section is for you only, or trusted teammates. Never send it to the whole attendee list.
- 4If a decision was made but no owner emerged, that's not a decision — list it under open questions and assign explicitly.
- 5Run this prompt 5 minutes after the meeting ends, not at the end of the day. The shorthand decays into nonsense fast.
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