ChatGPT (or Claude / Gemini) can act as a meeting secretary if you give it a clear role, a fixed output template, and a short SOP so you use it the same way every time. This post gives you both: one full copy-paste prompt, and a 6-step workflow you can run after every call.

No special tools required. A free chat model is enough. Replace the [brackets] with your own notes.

What a meeting secretary actually does

A good human secretary does four things after a meeting:

1. Captures what was decided (not every tangent).
2. Turns talk into action items with owners and dates.
3. Lists open questions that still need answers.
4. Produces a short note people can skim in under two minutes.

AI is good at (1)–(4) when the input is messy notes or a rough transcript. It is bad at inventing attendees, inventing deadlines, or "reading between the lines." The prompt below is written to stop that: it must mark missing facts as [TBD] and never invent agreements that are not in your notes.

The copy-paste prompt (meeting minutes)

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Then paste your raw notes or transcript under it.

You are my meeting secretary. Your job is accurate minutes, not a rewrite of the conversation.

Below are raw meeting notes or a rough transcript. They may include tangents, typos, unfinished sentences, and filler.

Raw notes:
[paste your notes or transcript here]

Meeting meta (fill what you know; leave blank if unknown):
- Meeting title / topic: [ ]
- Date: [ ]
- Attendees: [ ]
- Duration: [ ]
- Time zone: [ ]

Output EXACTLY this structure in Markdown:

# Meeting minutes: [title]
**Date:** [date or TBD]
**Attendees:** [list or TBD]
**Duration:** [or TBD]

## 1. Purpose (1–2 sentences)
Why this meeting happened, based only on the notes.

## 2. Decisions made
Bullet list. Include ONLY things that were clearly agreed.
If nothing was decided, write: "No firm decisions recorded."
Do not invent consensus.

## 3. Action items
Markdown table with columns:
| Task | Owner | Due date | Notes |
If owner or due date is missing in the notes, write [TBD] in that cell.
One row per action. Merge duplicates.

## 4. Open questions
Bullets for unresolved issues, blockers, or "we need to check with X."
If none, write: "None recorded."

## 5. Parking lot
Topics raised but deferred. If none, write: "None."

## 6. Next meeting (if mentioned)
Date / focus / who should attend. Otherwise: "Not scheduled in notes."

Rules:
- Do not add conclusions, metrics, or commitments that are not in the notes.
- Remove small talk, greetings, and repeated points.
- Prefer short bullets over long paragraphs.
- If the notes contradict themselves, flag the conflict under Open questions instead of picking a side.
- Keep the whole minutes under ~400 words unless the notes are unusually dense.

Mini example (so you know what "good" looks like)

Raw notes you might paste:

sync w product + eng. sarah wants launch friday but mike says qa not done. agreed: soft launch mon to 5% users, full if no P0 bugs by wed. jenny to write release notes by thu. need legal signoff on pricing page — who owns that?? also talked about holiday party, skip. next check-in wed 3pm.

What you should get back (shape, not a verbatim model output):

• Decision: soft launch Monday to 5% users; full launch if no P0 bugs by Wednesday.
• Actions: Jenny — release notes — Thu; [TBD] — legal signoff on pricing — [TBD].
• Open question: who owns legal signoff on the pricing page.
• Parking lot: holiday party.
• Next meeting: Wed 3pm check-in.

If your model invents an owner for legal, re-run with: Do not invent owners. Keep [TBD].

The 6-step SOP (use this after every meeting)

Treat this like a checklist. Same steps every time so minutes stay consistent across your team.

Target: from raw notes to sent minutes in under 10 minutes for a typical 30–60 minute meeting.

Two follow-up prompts (optional)

A. Turn minutes into a Slack update (after step 4):

Rewrite these meeting minutes as a Slack/Teams message for the team.
Lead with decisions (max 3 bullets), then action items as @owner — task — due.
Under 120 words. No preamble.
Minutes:
[paste final minutes]

B. Chase missing owners (when step 6 still has [TBD]):

From these action items, draft a short Slack DM to each person who might own a [TBD] task.
Ask one clear question: "Can you own [task] by [suggested date]?"
Keep each DM under 40 words.
Action table:
[paste]

Privacy and accuracy rules (read once, keep forever)

1. Never paste secrets into a consumer chat unless your employer allows it. Redact first.
2. AI can invent confident nonsense. Your human pass (step 4) is mandatory for anything that goes to a client or exec.
3. Decisions ≠ discussion. If someone said "maybe Friday," that is not a decision. Keep it in Open questions or Parking lot.
4. One source of truth. Minutes go to the channel; actions live in the tracker. Do not maintain a third copy in your head.

When this workflow is the wrong tool

• Legal, HR, or medical meetings with sensitive personal data → use approved enterprise tools only, or stick to human minutes.
• Highly visual whiteboarding sessions → attach the board link; AI minutes still help for decisions and actions, but will miss diagrams.
• One-on-ones that are mostly coaching → a short personal note often beats formal minutes.

Start today

1. Copy the secretary prompt into a saved note titled "Meeting secretary."
2. After your next meeting, run steps 1–5 once without optimizing.
3. Adjust the output section only if your team needs a fixed company template (add a "Risks" section, drop Parking lot, etc.).

That is the whole system: one prompt, one short SOP, one human check.

Disclosure: this workflow and prompt are adapted from materials in The AI Office Worker Playbook 2026, published by AI Dagongren Productivity Studio (an AI-assisted productivity studio). The free 15-prompt sample PDF needs no email: https://www.tymfold.com/en/free-sample-15-prompts.pdf. Full playbook (160 prompts, 10 workflow SOPs, Notion-ready CSV): $5 via Creem https://www.creem.io/payment/prod_33OBUTpxoUrQrmxQmGoRCN or $9 via Gumroad https://aidagongren.gumroad.com/l/dlhbyy. Product page: https://www.tymfold.com/en/

Here's the structure we use for every work prompt, followed by 15 prompts you can copy today.

The formula: Role → Context → Task → Constraints → Format

Before: Write a status update for my boss.After: prompt #2 below. Same model, completely different output.

15 prompts (replace the [brackets])

Communication

1. Rough notes → professional email.

You are a clear, diplomatic business writer. Rewrite my rough notes into a professional email.
Recipient: [their role]
What I want to say (in plain words): [your notes]
Requirements:
1. Give 3 subject-line options first.
2. State the purpose in the first sentence. Maximum one line of small talk.
3. Put any action I need from them in a separate bulleted list with a deadline.
4. Tone: [polite but firm / warm / neutral].
5. Keep the body under 180 words.

2. Weekly status update.

Turn my raw activity log for this week into an outcome-focused status update.
Raw log: [paste everything you did, messy is fine]
Structure:
1. Key results (max 3, each written as "Action → Result/metric")
2. In progress (% complete + next step)
3. Risks and help needed (write "None" if none)
4. Next week's plan (3-5 measurable items)
Rules: don't exaggerate or invent numbers. Mark missing data as [TBD].

3. Meeting transcript → minutes.

Below is a raw meeting transcript or notes (may include tangents and typos).
Raw notes: [paste]
Output:
1. Topic, date, attendees (mark missing items [TBD])
2. Decisions made (only things that were actually agreed)
3. Action items table: Task | Owner | Due date | Notes
4. Open questions
Remove small talk and repetition. Do not add conclusions that are not in the notes.

4. Say no gracefully.

A colleague/manager asked me to [their request], but [real reason I can't or want to delay].
Write 3 reply versions: A) a clear no that protects the relationship; B) a conditional yes (state the conditions I can accept); C) a delay until [date].
Each under 70 words, suitable for Slack or Teams.

5. Slack message for a busy person.

Rewrite this as a Slack/Teams message for [person, e.g. "VP of Sales"]: [my draft]
Rules: lead with the ask or the decision needed; 3 bullets of context at most; make it answerable with yes/no or a quick choice; under 80 words.

6. Proofread before sending

Proofread the text below: [paste]
Check: typos, grammar, inconsistent numbers or dates, unclear pronouns, wrong names, and tone issues for [audience].
Output a table: Original | Issue | Suggested fix. Do not rewrite the whole text.

7. Edit and tighten without changing the meaning

Edit the text below.
Original: [paste]
Purpose: [client proposal / LinkedIn post / internal memo]
Rules: keep every fact and number unchanged; remove filler; keep sentences under 25 words; give the full edited version, then list the key changes you made.

Spreadsheets & data

8. Formula you can paste.

I'm using [Excel / Google Sheets]. Columns: A = [content], B = [content], C = [content]. Data starts in row 2, about [N] rows.
Goal (plain words): [e.g. "in column D, show 'Hit' if monthly sales in C are at least 50,000"]
Give: 1) a formula ready to paste; 2) a part-by-part explanation; 3) common errors and fixes.

9. Lookup across two sheets.

I have two sheets: [Sheet1 columns] and [Sheet2 columns]. I want to pull [field] from Sheet2 into Sheet1 matched on [key].
Give me an XLOOKUP version, an INDEX/MATCH version, and a Google Sheets version. Explain how to handle missing matches and duplicate keys.

10. Clean up a messy dataset

Here is a sample of messy data (first 20 rows): [paste]
Identify every data-quality issue (duplicates, inconsistent formats, blanks, typos, mixed units). For each, give the fix in [Excel / Google Sheets / Power Query / Python pandas] and the order to apply the fixes.

11. Sanity-check numbers.

Here's my analysis and conclusion: [paste numbers and claims].
Act as a skeptical analyst. Check for math errors, misleading averages, missing denominators, survivorship bias, and correlation-vs-causation problems. Rank the issues by severity.

Projects & people

12. Big task → action plan.

I need to finish [task] by [deadline]. Resources: [people / budget / tools].
Please: 1) break it into no more than 10 subtasks, each with a clear "done" definition; 2) mark dependencies and the critical path; 3) schedule them by date; 4) name the 2 steps most likely to slip and how to prevent it.

13. Delegate properly.

I want to delegate [task] to [person, experience level].
Write the handoff: the goal and why it matters, what "done" looks like, constraints, resources, check-in points, and what decisions they can make without me.

14. Should this be a meeting?

Here's what I want to discuss: [topic and context].
Decide whether this should be a meeting, an async Slack thread, a doc with comments, or a quick 1:1, and explain why. If async, draft the message.

Career

15. "Tell me about yourself"

My background: [summary]. Role I'm interviewing for: [ ].
Write a 90-second answer: present → past → future, tied to the role. Then a 30-second version.

Three habits that matter more than any single prompt

1. Iterate. Good results usually take 2–3 follow-ups ("make point 2 concrete with an example", "now make it sound less formal").
2. Never paste secrets. Strip client names, amounts and personal data, or use your company's approved tool.
3. Verify facts and numbers. AI can be confidently wrong.

Disclosure: these prompts come from The AI Office Worker Playbook 2026, which our studio (AI Dagongren Productivity Studio) wrote. Free 15-prompt PDF (no email): https://www.tymfold.com/en/free-sample-15-prompts.pdf. Full version: $5 via Creem https://www.creem.io/payment/prod_33OBUTpxoUrQrmxQmGoRCN or $9 on Gumroad https://aidagongren.gumroad.com/l/dlhbyy. Product page: https://www.tymfold.com/en