Templates for taking notes

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sbradshaw
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Templates for taking notes

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Post by sbradshaw »

As a clerk, I've been taking notes at meetings for a while using the Gmail "canned responses" feature and thought I'd share my method since some of the other clerks in my stake thought it was helpful. Using canned responses lets you store a template that can be brought up directly in a new email message.

To activate Canned Responses, go to Gmail > [gear icon] > Settings > Labs. Find the "Canned Responses" lab and click "Enable."

Next, create a new message and put in your template for taking notes. Since it will be sent by email, I suggest making the template as simple as possible (i.e. tables, etc. can be difficult to read on some email programs, but bold/italic is probably OK). Fill in the Subject (e.g. "Stake Pres. Mtg." or "Ward Council") – this will also be the name of the canned response – and the body (don't bother filling in recipients here as they won't save with the canned response). Make sure the correct outgoing email address is selected, if you send from more than one account. If you have an automatic signature, remove it.

Now, go to the drop-down arrow on the bottom right of the message > Canned responses > Save > New canned response...
When the dialog box comes up, press OK to save!

The next time you are in a meeting and need to take notes, you can go to drop-down arrow > Canned responses > Insert > [your canned response] to quickly insert your template. Add the date to the subject if you want to, and use a contact group to quickly fill in the recipients – voilà !
Canned Responses.png
Canned Responses.png (95.92 KiB) Viewed 2092 times
Attached are the templates I use (names of the people who normally attend have been replaced with "Name"). What format do you use for taking notes? Do you use another program to help?
Attachments
Stake PEC Mtg.rtf
(2.39 KiB) Downloaded 272 times
Stake Pres Mtg.rtf
(1.59 KiB) Downloaded 237 times
Ward Council.rtf
(4.24 KiB) Downloaded 299 times
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
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sbradshaw
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Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:42 pm
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Re: Templates for taking notes

#2

Post by sbradshaw »

I've switched to using the OS X Mail app instead of Gmail in a browser. Luckily, Mail has a similar feature called "Signatures" that does the same thing – even though they're called signatures, they're just saved snippets of text that can be inserted.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
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