---
title: "Turn a meeting into next actions."
description: "Separate decisions, responsibilities and open questions without inventing agreements."
canonical: https://editmd.app/learn/lessons/meeting-notes/
markdown: https://editmd.app/learn/lessons/meeting-notes.md
status: pre-release, waiting list open
generated: editmd-website
---

# Turn a meeting into next actions.

Lesson 16 of 18 in Markdown School. Separate decisions, responsibilities and open questions without inventing agreements.

## Make the note useful after the meeting

This fictional meeting agreed to use the north bed. Sam agreed to send a sketch on Friday. Nobody confirmed a delivery date. Those are the supplied facts; the document should keep them separate. This project builds on [headings](/learn/lessons/headings/) and [tasks](/learn/lessons/tasks/).

## Record the decision, then the work

```markdown
# Garden meeting

## Decisions

Use the north bed.

## Actions

- [ ] Sam: send sketch on Friday.

## Questions

Delivery date?
```

The decision records the agreed direction. The unchecked task identifies a person, an action and the timing actually supplied. The question remains unresolved. In a real note, replace relative dates such as Friday with an agreed calendar date when you know it; do not guess one.

Headings and lists provide document structure. The checkbox notation is a GFM extension, so check support at the destination. See [CommonMark headings](https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#atx-headings) and [GFM task-list items](https://github.github.com/gfm/#task-list-items-extension-).

## Do not let polish change the record

A readable note can still misrepresent a meeting. “Delivery date?” must not become “Delivery on Friday”: Friday belongs to Sam’s sketch, not the delivery. A task marker also does not prove the work happened. Mark it complete only after checking the actual action.

If you ask AI to tidy notes, supply the facts, ask it to keep unknowns as questions and review every owner and date before sharing. Remove private meeting details before sending material to a provider you have not approved.

## Practise the missing section

Add Actions between Decisions and Questions. Keep the supplied decision and delivery question, then write the unchecked action for Sam. The checker looks for that structure and those example details. It cannot verify a real meeting or whether Sam agreed.

For a longer starting point, [download the meeting-notes template](/learn/examples/meeting-notes.md). Replace its fictional details and give reviewers a chance to correct the record.

## Exercise

Add an Actions section containing an unchecked task for Sam to send the sketch on Friday. Preserve the decision and the unresolved delivery question.

## Takeaway

An action needs an owner; an uncertainty needs to stay a question.

Related guide: https://editmd.app/docs/writing/. All lessons: https://editmd.app/learn.md