What Makes a Good Meeting Summary? (With Real Examples)

A great meeting summary captures the essential outcomes of a discussion — without the noise.
It distils the main points, decisions, and next steps into a format that keeps teams aligned and informed.

Here’s a clear breakdown of what makes a strong meeting summary, with real examples you can copy.

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What Is a Meeting Summary?

A meeting summary is a short, structured recap of:

• Key discussion points
• Decisions made
• Action items
• Important context

Unlike full minutes, it focuses only on what the team needs to know moving forward.

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Meeting Summary vs Transcript

Item	Transcript	Summary
Length	Long, verbatim	Concise and structured
Purpose	Record everything said	Capture only what matters
Best for	Legal/logging purposes	Busy teams needing clarity
Format	Raw text	Clear bullet points

Summaries are about clarity, not completeness.

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What a Good Meeting Summary Should Include

• Purpose of the meeting
• Main points discussed
• Decisions made
• Action items with owners
• Deadlines (if any)
• Open questions or risks

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Real Meeting Summary Examples

Example 1 — Product Feature Discussion

Purpose: Finalise MVP scope
Key Points:

• Agreed on core features for launch
• Removed non-essential items from MVP
• Identified API dependencies
  Decisions:
• Ship MVP with 4 core modules
  Action Items:
• Dev to deliver API endpoints by Friday
• Design to update UI mocks

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Example 2 — Client Alignment Call

Purpose: Confirm timeline and deliverables
Key Points:

• Client approved revised roadmap
• Clarified weekly reporting structure
  Decisions:
• Move launch to 15 Dec
  Action Items:
• Send updated project deck
• Prepare weekly update template

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How to Write a Meeting Summary (Simple Process)

1. Start with the meeting purpose
2. Pull out key points — not every word
3. Highlight decisions
4. List follow-ups with names
5. Keep everything concise
6. Format for quick scanning

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Before & After: StenifyAI Example

Raw Transcript (Short Excerpt)

“Yeah, I think we should prioritise onboarding flow first… The analytics dashboard can wait…”

StenifyAI Summary Output

• Prioritise onboarding flow for next sprint
• Dashboard moved to Sprint 3
• UX requests new copy for activation screen
• Action: PM to update sprint board

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How StenifyAI Makes Summaries Better

StenifyAI automatically:

• Detects meeting type
• Summarises key discussion points
• Identifies decisions
• Extracts action items with owners
• Structures everything in a clean summary format

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Happy transcribing!