There are three types of meeting minutes. Action minutes record only what was decided and who does what by when. Discussion minutes add a short summary of the main arguments behind each decision. Verbatim minutes record every word. For most team, club and project meetings, action minutes are the right choice; use discussion minutes when people may later ask why something was decided, and verbatim minutes only when a full record is required.
| Type | What it records | Typical length for a one-hour meeting | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action minutes | Attendance, decisions, action items (task, owner, due date) | Half a page to one page | Team meetings, project check-ins, most club meetings |
| Discussion minutes | Everything in action minutes plus the main arguments and who raised them | One to three pages | Decisions with trade-offs, budget choices, disputes |
| Verbatim minutes | Every word spoken, edited only for obvious slips | Many pages | Parliaments, some formal hearings; rarely anything else |
The page lengths are our own rule of thumb from writing minutes, not a standard. For the full step-by-step method and a complete template, see our cornerstone guide on how to write meeting minutes. This page shows the difference between the types with one meeting written each way.
One meeting, written three ways
We made up this meeting to show the difference. The club, names and dates are invented.
The meeting: The board of the Eastside Youth Soccer Club meets for 40 minutes. The only topic: the city has moved the Saturday field booking. Practice can no longer start at 9 am. The board discusses 8 am or 11 am. Coach Ben argues that 8 am is too early for the youngest teams. Treasurer Lena points out that the 11 am slot costs $40 more per month. After a vote, the board picks 11 am.
Action minutes
EASTSIDE YOUTH SOCCER CLUB, BOARD MEETING
Date: September 24, 2026, 7:00 pm to 7:40 pm, clubhouse
Present: Maria Torres (chair), Ben Walsh, Lena Park, Omar Reyes
Minutes: Omar Reyes
1. SATURDAY PRACTICE TIME
Decision: From October 3, Saturday practice starts at 11 am. The board approved the higher field fee of $40 per month.
ACTION ITEMS
- Send the new schedule to all parents, Maria, October 1
- Confirm the 11 am booking with the city, Lena, September 28
- Update the club website, Omar, October 1
Next meeting: October 22, 2026, 7:00 pm
Short, and everyone knows what happens next. What it does not tell you: why the board chose the more expensive slot.
Discussion minutes
1. SATURDAY PRACTICE TIME
The city has moved the Saturday field booking, so practice can no longer start at 9 am. The board discussed two options: 8 am and 11 am.
Ben Walsh said 8 am is too early for the under-8 teams and that several parents had already said they could not make it.
Lena Park noted that the 11 am slot costs $40 more per month, and that the budget can cover it this season.
Omar Reyes asked whether older teams could take 8 am. The board decided against splitting the schedule, because many families have children in more than one team.
Vote: 3 in favor of 11 am, 1 in favor of 8 am.
Decision: From October 3, Saturday practice starts at 11 am. The board approved the higher field fee.
ACTION ITEMS
(same as in the action minutes)
Now a parent who asks in December "why do we pay more for the field?" gets an answer from the minutes.
Verbatim minutes (excerpt)
MARIA TORRES: Okay, next item, the Saturday booking. Lena, do you want to start?
LENA PARK: Sure. So the city emailed on Monday. We lose the 9 am slot. They offered us 8 or 11.
BEN WALSH: Eight is too early for the little ones. I already had three parents tell me they can't do eight.
LENA PARK: Eleven is forty dollars more a month, though.
Four lines cover less than a minute of the meeting. Written out for 40 minutes, verbatim minutes run to many pages, and hardly anyone reads them. That is why almost no club or company keeps them.
Which type of minutes should you use?
- Your group has bylaws, a standing template or a legal requirement? Follow those first. They decide, not this list.
- A routine team or project meeting? Action minutes.
- A decision that costs money, changes rules or might be questioned later? Discussion minutes for that agenda item, action minutes for the rest. You can mix types within one set of minutes.
- Someone asks for a word-for-word record? Ask why. Often a recording or a transcript kept on file does the job, and the minutes can stay short.
Robert's Rules of Order, a widely used rulebook for meetings, leans clearly toward the short type: "Minutes are a record of what was done at a meeting, not a record of what was said."
Meeting minutes vs. meeting notes, agenda and transcript
| Document | Written when | For whom | What it contains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda | Before the meeting | Everyone invited | The topics, in order, maybe with times |
| Meeting notes | During the meeting | Usually yourself | Whatever you jot down, in any order |
| Transcript | From a recording | Anyone who needs to check a detail | The words spoken, raw and unchecked |
| Meeting minutes | After the meeting | The whole group, and the record | Attendance, decisions, action items; approved or corrected by the group |
The agenda tells you what the minutes will cover; here is how to write a meeting agenda. Your notes and a transcript are raw material. The minutes are the finished, shared result.
Meeting minutes with action items: the format
Whatever type you choose, action items look the same. One line per task, with three parts:
ACTION ITEMS
- [Task, starting with a verb], [one owner], [due date]
- [Task, starting with a verb], [one owner], [due date]
Three rules make them work:
- One owner per task. "The board" is not an owner.
- A real date. "Soon" or "next week" means nothing a month later.
- All tasks in one place, at the end, even if they came up under different agenda items.
The complete template with header, attendance and agenda items is on our meeting minutes template page, and a tracker for following up on tasks is in the action items template.
Which type Retexta writes
Retexta is a cloud voice to text and AI writing app for Android. Its Summarize a meeting goal writes a results-style meeting protocol: a summary, decisions, action items with owners and dates when they were mentioned, and open questions. That is closest to action minutes.
- Open Retexta and tap New task.
- Tap Summarize a meeting. It is on the start screen.
- Tap Record audio to record the meeting (only with everyone's agreement) or to speak your own summary right after it. You can also Import audio you recorded with another app, or Paste text from your notes.
- Retexta transcribes the audio on its servers and writes the protocol. From the result you can generate more parts, such as next steps or a Follow-up email to the group.
- Check names, dates and task owners before you send anything. The app marks results with "AI-generated. Check important details."
More on this workflow, including a checklist for AI drafts: AI meeting minutes from a recording.
Want discussion minutes instead? Retexta keeps the raw transcript next to the protocol. Use it to look up who argued what, and add those lines to the agenda items that need them. The transcript is a machine transcript: it is not checked verbatim minutes.
Summarize a meeting and Import audio are part of Retexta Pro. Retexta is free to try: new users get a few free Pro results to view in the app. Copying, sharing and exporting results need Retexta Pro or credits, and so does everything after the free results.
Recording a meeting: ask first
Recording people without their agreement can be illegal. In the US, most states allow recording when one person in the conversation agrees, but some require everyone's consent. Ask at the start of the meeting and record only if everyone agrees. This is information, not legal advice. If you cannot record, dictate your own summary right after the meeting.
Keep reading
The full method, a copyable template and a worked example are in how to write meeting minutes. Minutes usually go out by email: see how to dictate an email on Android. Already have a recording of the meeting on your phone? Here is how to transcribe a voice memo on Android. More about the app: Retexta, voice to text for Android.
Sources
Checked by FLAME Apps on September 25, 2026.
- Robert's Rules of Order, Frequently Asked Questions, question 15: "Minutes are a record of what was done at a meeting, not a record of what was said."
- Digital Media Law Project, Recording Phone Calls and Conversations: federal law and most states allow one-party consent; a minority of states require the consent of everyone in the conversation.
- Retexta: goal names, meeting outputs, the raw transcript and plans as shown in the app (release 2026.1.23) and on its Google Play listing.
