The single most important thing to know about taking notes in meetings is to not try to take full transcript notes. Instead, take only the essence of the meeting. That means being highly selective. Don’t try to be a stenographer. Instead try to be like a pan sifter looking for gold in muddy water. The muddy water is the meeting, the gold is the value hidden in it. Your aim as a minute writer, is to discard most of what was said, but retain the valuable golden nuggets of meaning.