Too long, too short. Too detailed, too brief. Common frustration from chairpersons and bosses who wonder why their minute-taker just can’t seem to scribe the nice and nuanced touch. This is particular so in the sensitive environment of an organisation where sensitivities and interests of stakeholders are a demanding additional dimension to consider.
DR SUNNY GOH – note-taker, staff secretary, meeting member and board chairman – has been on both the giving and receiving end of such complaints and compliments in minutes-writing. He has witnessed long meetings where discussions could have filled pages of meaningless minutes, as well as brief meetings where critical comments were discarded. It takes just a day and a minute for this compressed workshop to show you how to write with confidence and clarity; yet not missing a beat in proficiency and professionalism.
Confusion over past and present tenses, reported speech and attribution and a host of meeting madness will be dealt with using real examples and samples. Minutes need not be boring even if meetings are!
And because you come from a sizeable agency, the needs to prepare a meeting well; understand the atmospherics at a meeting; and follow-up duties after the discussion become a key concern for many note takers. This workshop will address all of these issues and provide useful ‘hacks’ to short-cut the tedious process.
Dr Sunny Goh is a Trainer of Trainers (TOT) and has taught many writing coaches to teach writing programmes he has designed for government servants and private sector officers. He was head of the International directorate in Mindef’s Defence Policy Office, where he has written Cab Memos, budget papers and presented Singapore’s position at international fora. He was a member of the SAF Scholars Selection Board and chairman of a university’s Resource Panel.
He was also a Desk Editor at The Straits Times, where he taught reporting and interviewing skills at its School of Journalism. In all, his participants had included CEOs, professors, staff writers, technical specialists, undergraduates and students. It doesn’t matter how high a participant’s work status may be – all that mattered is a penchant for learning.
As a volunteer, he was a Mediator with the Ministry of Law, a Council Member of the Singapore Red Cross Society and writes regularly for the local and regional media.
