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Practical guide

How to take notes in client meetings

The problem is not capture, it is attention: every second spent writing is a second of eye contact the client does not get, and in a client meeting the relationship is the work. The five workable approaches are write nothing and reconstruct afterwards, write only headlines, bring a second person, type openly on a laptop, or record and let the record do it. Each one trades attention against accuracy, and each signals something different to the person across the table.

5Workable approaches. Each costs you something different
2Things to write by hand even when recording: numbers and names
0Laptops open in a first meeting, if you can help it
24hWindow to write the follow-up while you still remember the tone

§If you record a client meeting, say so and get agreement. Fourteen US states require every party to consent. See recording people lawfully for the rule where you are and the sentence to use.

Step by step

How it actually works.

  1. 01 / Write nothing, reconstruct afterwards

    Signals: you are entirely present. Costs: everything you forget, which is most of it after an hour. Works for short meetings with one clear outcome; fails badly the moment numbers or dates are involved.

  2. 02 / Headlines only

    Five or six words per decision, nothing else. Signals: that what was just said mattered enough to note — which is a compliment, if you do it sparingly. Costs: the detail around the headline.

  3. 03 / Bring a second person

    One talks, one writes. Signals: seriousness, and a bigger team than you may want to imply. Costs: two people’s time, and it changes the dynamic of a conversation that may have worked better one-to-one.

  4. 04 / Type openly on a laptop

    Signals: that there is now a screen between you. Some clients read it as diligence, more read it as distraction, and none can tell whether you are taking notes or reading email. Costs: the room.

  5. 05 / Record, and write the follow-up from the record

    Signals: depends entirely on how you ask — asked well, it reads as care. Costs: you have to ask, and in 14 states you need everyone’s agreement. Buys: the meeting itself, undivided.

Questions

The ones people actually ask.

Should I take notes during a client meeting?
Some, but less than most people do. Write the things that are expensive to get wrong — numbers, dates, names, exact commitments — and let everything else go. Continuous note-taking costs you the eye contact that the meeting exists to build.
Is it rude to use a laptop in a client meeting?
It is usually read that way in a first meeting, because the client cannot see what is on the screen and cannot tell whether you are writing or elsewhere. A notebook carries none of that ambiguity.
What should I write down in a client meeting?
Numbers, dates, names, and the exact words of any commitment either side makes. Those four are expensive to reconstruct and easy to misremember. Everything else can be rebuilt from memory or from a recording.
How do I record a client meeting politely?
Ask before you start, say what it is for, and say what happens to it. One sentence is enough: "I’d like to record this so I can listen properly rather than write — it stays with me and I’ll delete it whenever you ask." Then wait for the answer.
When should I write the follow-up?
The same day if you can, and within 24 hours regardless. Not because you will forget the facts — a recording holds those — but because you will forget the tone, and the tone is what tells you which facts mattered.

Keep reading

Related guides.

Meeting summary examplesFour worked formats you can copy. Meeting action items templateThe four fields, and how each one fails. Recording people lawfullyConsent states, and the words to ask with.

Where this comes from

We make a pen that does this.

Scriben is a real ballpoint that records the room to its own storage for up to 18 hours, with no phone and no network, then turns the conversation into a transcript, a summary and the work that follows. It is $129 once. This page would be worth reading whether or not you buy one — that is rather the point of it.

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