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Ever wondered how to draft professional meeting minutes without relying on MS Co-Pilot? While tools like Microsoft Teams can record meetings and generate transcripts, they often come with limitations. For instance, MS Teams requires an MS Co-Pilot subscription to analyze transcripts and create meeting minutes, and even with that, crafting effective prompts for such tools is essential for generating useful outputs. Recently, a colleague sent a meeting recording—without a transcript—and asked us to create the minutes. Here’s how we accomplished this task, step by step. Step 1: Transcribing the Meeting Recording Since AI models cannot directly process audio or video, the first step was to generate a text transcript of the recording. I used Microsoft Word’s Dictate → Transcribe feature, but encountered a roadblock: the recording exceeded the tool’s 300MB file size limit (it was 550MB). To bypass this, I extracted the audio from the video using VLC Media Player, a versatile media tool: With the audio file ready, I returned to Microsoft Word. This time, the smaller file successfully transcribed into a 45-page text document of decent quality. Step 2: Crafting a Prompt for Meeting Minutes Creating effective meeting minutes with an AI model requires a detailed, structured prompt. Think of it as giving precise instructions to a chef—vagueness leads to unsatisfactory results. I started with a simple XML-style prompt for ChatGPT (GPT-4), using tags to organize key elements: plaintextCopyEditYou are an expert in creating meeting minutes from a given transcript. Analyze the provided transcript and generate professional meeting minutes with the specified structure. <transcript> {{meeting_transcript.docx}} </transcript> <structure> – Main Points Discussed – Decisions, Resolutions, and Agreements – Summary of Differing Opinions (if any) – Action Items: Tasks assigned, responsible parties, and deadlines – Follow-Ups: Topics to revisit in future meetings </structure> <instructions> – Stick strictly to the transcript content. – Do not invent or infer information. – Keep the minutes objective, factual, and concise. – Ensure clarity and self-containment for future reference. </instructions> This prompt acted as a baseline, providing clarity and structure for the model to extract and summarize relevant details from the transcript. Step 3: Refining the Prompt Using Anthropic’s Workbench To improve the clarity and effectiveness of the prompt, I used Anthropic’s Workbench, which offers an automatic prompt enhancement tool. The goal was to refine the structure and optimize the instructions. Here’s the improved version generated by Anthropic: plaintextCopyEditYou are an expert in creating professional meeting minutes from transcripts. Analyze the provided transcript and organize the information systematically before drafting the minutes. <meeting_transcript> {{meeting_transcript.docx}} </meeting_transcript> <analysis_structure> 1. Main Points Discussed: – Key topics with relevant quotes from the transcript. 2. Decisions and Agreements: – Summary of resolutions with supporting quotes. 3. Differing Opinions (if any): – Notable disagreements or alternative viewpoints. 4. Action Items: – Tasks, responsible parties, and deadlines. 5. Follow-Up Topics: – Issues or items to revisit in future meetings. </analysis_structure> <guidelines> – Follow the analysis structure before drafting the final minutes. – Use clear, concise language and a professional tone. – Avoid unnecessary details and stick to transcript content. – Ensure the minutes are self-contained and explanatory. </guidelines> This enhanced prompt incorporated a “chain-of-thought” methodology, guiding the model to analyze and organize the information step by step before drafting the final minutes. Exploring Other Tools: OpenAI’s Prompt Improver I also tested OpenAI’s Prompt Improver in its Chat Playground, which generated a similarly refined prompt: plaintextCopyEditCreate professional meeting minutes from the provided transcript. Use the following structure and guidelines to ensure accuracy and clarity: **Transcript:** – File: {{meeting_transcript.docx}} **Structure:** – Main Points Discussed – Decisions and Agreements – Differing Opinions (if any) – Action Items – Follow-Up Topics **Instructions:** – Maintain objectivity and stick to the transcript content. – Use concise yet explanatory language. – Adhere strictly to the structure for clarity and reference. – Avoid unnecessary embellishments or personal insights. **Output Format:** – Use bullet points for clarity, with no more than one level of indentation. – Ensure the minutes are self-contained and useful for future reference. While effective, OpenAI’s output lacked the chain-of-thought methodology and example formatting provided by Anthropic’s tool, which resulted in less structured meeting minutes. Key Takeaways By following this approach, you can produce professional meeting minutes efficiently—no MS Co-Pilot subscription required. 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