Overview
Meetings are a daily necessity – being able to capture what matters most is a critical skill. This practical, hands-on one-day course is designed to give you the tools, techniques, and confidence to take clear, concise, and accurate minutes in any environment.
Whether you're new to minute writing or looking to refine your approach, you'll walk away with a toolkit for recording key points, decisions, and follow-ups.
Course Cost (excluding VAT)
Non-Member - €550
Professional Subscriber - €495
Member - €440
A discount is available for registered charities, please email training@cgi.org.uk
For any related enquiries please contact us at training@cgi.org.uk, or call us at +44 (0)20 7580 4741
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the day, you will understand:
- Understand why minute-taking matters and how it supports effective decision-making
- Gain skills in active listening and be able to discern what is and what isn’t important
- Be able to use templates and take high-quality notes which include actions, responsibilities and deadlines
- Know what happens next: from reviewing and refining your notes through to final approval.
- Develop strategies for overcoming common challenges such as managing complex discussions or taking minutes in a fast paced environment
Participant Profile
- You want to become more effective and quicker at taking notes
- You want to learn what is important to focus on
- You want to improve your ability to write in a concise manner
- You want to make your minutes clear, professional and useful – without spending hours writing them
- You want to feel more confident and less overwhelmed in the role of the note-taker.
This training course is relevant to all sectors, including listed and private companies, charities, public sector, and NHS.
You will also receive:
- A delegate pack containing comprehensive course notes and presentation slides
- A certificate to show you have attended the course
- 6 hours credit towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
- 6 months complimentary professional subscription of The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland. This includes a subscription to G+C Magazine as well as access to briefings, discounts and our knowledge base.
Programme
Please expand the dropdown to see the course programme timetable and highlights
- The importance of well-crafted minutes
- The challenges of the minute taking role
- Getting the agenda right
- Developing a strategic approach
- Preparing for the meeting
- Applying effective note-taking techniques
- Capturing challenge
- Listening actively
- Important post-meeting activities
- Stop and think!
- Adhering to key guiding principles
- Building a repository of useful words and phrases
- Re-structuring notes when creating minutes for longer agenda items
- Capturing challenge: writing more detailed minutes
- Summarising discussion and naming names
- Essential personal skills for successful minute taking
- Action points for personal application
Course Leader
Terri Le Couteur FCG, MSc Governance
Terri Le Couteur is the founder of TLC Governance Solutions Limited (tlcgovernancesolutions.co.uk), her independent consultancy where she provides governance consultancy, specialised AI governance support, and bespoke governance training. With a distinguished career spanning over 30 years, Terri is also a recognised thought leader in governance, strategy, and AI governance.
A Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute and holding a Master's in Corporate Governance, Terri is a go-to expert in corporate governance, compliance, and board dynamics. She excels at equipping boards, executives, and governance professionals with the practical tools and insights needed to navigate regulatory compliance, risk management, and effective governance in today's complex landscape. Her training is known for being insightful, impactful, and directly applicable, helping organisations significantly enhance their governance frameworks and leadership effectiveness.
Terri's extensive experience encompasses various jurisdictions, including the UK, Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, BVI, and Ireland, across diverse sectors such as Banking, Funds (private equity, infrastructure, real estate, debt), Trust, and Private Wealth. She also possesses considerable expertise with listed entities on both the UK's AIM and full markets and TISE along with those in other international jurisdictions.
Her impressive professional background includes serving as the named Company Secretary for leading banks and fund administrators, acting as a Director on numerous client vehicles for both global and smaller firms, and providing advisory services to regulatory and professional bodies. As a professional trainer, Terri is dedicated to making governance accessible, practical, and meaningful, free of jargon and box-ticking.
Laura Higgins FCG
Laura has over 20 years’ experience of operating in a variety of Company Secretary roles for FTSE100 and FTSE250 organisations, most recently as Group Company Secretary at Elementis plc (FTSE250). Aside from leading company secretarial teams, she has significant experience in the boardroom, corporate transactions, risk, insurance, sustainability, diversity & inclusion and has served as a pension trustee. She has built strong relationships with Board members, executive management teams and other stakeholders, and is a Governance HOT100 winner – Board influencer category. Laura founded The CoSec Coach in September 2022, a coaching and consultancy business which aims to transform company secretarial and governance functions. In addition to the coaching programmes, The CoSec Coach also offers bespoke training, team away days, project support, consultancy and mentoring. Laura is also founder and director of The CoSec Recruitment Company, a specialist recruitment agency for company secretaries and governance professionals.