When meetings take place, there are often three main groups. There’s the speaker, the listener, and the minute taker. This article will look at some of the best synonyms you can use to refer to someone who takes the minutes during a professional or formal meeting.
The best synonyms to use are “minute taker,” “note-taker,” and “secretary.” They work well to show that someone is taking the minutes of a meeting. Most formal meetings require them to be taken to make sure that people who missed the meeting can catch up with them.
Minute Taker
“Minute taker” works really well because it shows exactly what you’re looking for. It shows that someone is taking the “minutes,” which means they are recording just about everything that is being said and done in the meeting.
It’s important to have a minute taker in formal meetings. You use them to make sure that everything is recorded, which can come in handy in a variety of ways.
Most simply, minutes are a great way for people to catch up if they miss a meeting. For example, if an employee called in sick, you could record the minutes for them to make sure they know what was said in the meeting when they return.
If you’re looking for a more complicated context, you might need a minute taker for legal reasons. If it’s a disciplinary meeting or something that might need to be referred back to, you’ll want to make sure you have a comprehensive write-up of everything that happened.
- I’m the minute taker in my company. They trust me to take all the minutes because I’m the fastest typer, and I can keep up.
- I think it’s way too stressful for me to be the minute taker. I really don’t want to have to go through that again. Do you mind if I step out?
- She’s a good minute taker, and I think you should let her be the one to stand in on this meeting and get everything done.
Note-Taker
“Note-taker” is a simple one that goes hand-in-hand with “minute taker.” It works to show that someone is taking “notes” of the meeting as it’s going on.
These notes can be clear and fleshed out or scribbled and written in short hand, depending on the requirement.
- I’m a good note-taker. If you ever need me to help you record the minutes of your meetings, I’ll be there. You just have to ask.
- We’re going to need someone we can trust as a note-taker. It’s important that they capture everything that we’re trying to say here.
- I’m not going to be the note-taker this time. I need to run the meeting instead, which requires my full attention here.
Secretary
“Secretary” is the name given to the job role of people who are supposed to take minutes in a meeting. If an organization has an important meeting, it’s likely that the boss’ secretary will be present to take minutes.
The definition of “secretary,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “the member of a committee of an organization, club, etc., who keeps records of meetings, sends letters, emails, etc.”
- As my secretary, Janine needs to be the one to take the minutes. I know you’re trying to help out, but I don’t think it’s going to work.
- I think Sam should do it because he’s the secretary. He’ll be able to remain impartial when it comes down to it. Please, record the minutes.
- I thought you were going to hire a secretary to record the minutes for you. I’m really not qualified to do something like this right now.
Scribe
“Scribe” is an old-fashioned word that relates to the people who made copies of documents before printing existed. It’s not common today, though the root is still there.
You can use this one when you want to refer to someone sitting in a meeting and making copies of the notes. It works best if they’re manually writing them (i.e. with pen and paper) rather than typing on a laptop.
The definition of “scribe,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “a person who made written copies of documents before the invention of printing.”
- I’ll be the scribe for this meeting only. If you need someone to help out, I’m your guy. I think I’ll be able to manage myself for a little bit.
- She’s a good scribe, and you will be able to trust her with all the things in this meeting. I know you can trust what she’s going to say.
- I’m not the best scribe, but I’ll certainly give it my best go. I hope you don’t get too frustrated with me about all of this.
Rapporteur
“Rapporteur” is a good word of French origin that can work well to refer to a minute taker. It’s used when someone is appointed by a company to prepare reports of meetings that might help with future investigations.
Generally, a rapporteur is needed in more formal or legal proceedings. They’re required when something very important must be noted down to make sure there is something to refer back to in the future.
The definition of “rapporteur,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “someone chosen by an organization to prepare reports of meetings or to investigate and report on a problem.”
- She needs to act as the rapporteur in this meeting. The boss didn’t think one was necessary, so he left it until the last minute to sort out.
- I’m the rapporteur here. Please, make sure you speak loudly and clearly so that I can record everything that is said and done here.
- I wanted to be the rapporteur, but they thought I was too close to the client. They asked Tom to do it instead.
Stand-In
“Stand-in” is a simpler word you can use to refer to someone who can take minutes in a meeting. You might be asked if someone can “stand in” on a meeting before taking part in one. It’s up to those people to take the minutes for the most part.
Typically, you won’t know the stand-in, and they won’t know you. It’s better if an impartial party is found when it comes to taking notes or minutes for a meeting. The more formal, the better the need for an impartial stand-in is.
- I hope you don’t mind, but we’ve asked for a stand-in to be present during this meeting. They’ll be taking the notes to make sure it goes well.
- I thought you might ask me to be a stand-in, so I brought my laptop up to help out. Am I going to be needed or not?
- Would you like to act as the stand-in for this meeting? We need somebody to come along and record the minutes for us.
Recorder
“Recorder” isn’t a particularly popular choice, but it can still work well. Some companies use this term to refer to someone who takes minutes. It’s worth mentioning on this list because it still means that someone is “recording” the evidence of a meeting.
You will most likely be better off using another word. The only time that “recorder” works well is if you’ve already heard the organization call them a “recorder,” as you will know that’s the role that they’re referring to when talking about the minute taker.
- She’s quite a good recorder, but we’re going to go with him this time. He always knows the right things to jot down and what to avoid.
- I’m going to be the recorder in this meeting, so we’ll finally learn more about what’s actually going on around here.
- Terry said that he needed a recorder, but he didn’t think it was worth his time to go and hire one. I thought that was ridiculous, so I did it.
Impartial
“Impartial” is a good choice if you’re looking for an outside party to take the minutes for a meeting. It only works like this in disciplinary or legal proceedings, where an impartial candidate is supposed to sit in and take unbiased notes from both sides.
This helps both sides to appreciate that they’re not being cheated out of the outcome of the meeting.
For example, if there is a disciplinary meeting about an employee’s behavior, they will be happier with an impartial note taker because that person won’t know what they did. They will only be able to list down the issues as part of the notes.
On the other side, the meeting leader will be able to speak however they see fit, and the impartial note taker will write things as said without trying to make it easier (or harder) on the disciplined employee.
The definition of “impartial,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “not supporting any of the sides involved in an argument.”
- We needed an impartial party to come along and take the minutes for us. This is Chris. We hope you don’t mind him sitting in.
- Of course, it’s best to include an impartial party here to make sure things go according to plan. We hope you don’t mind that.
- I’m going to need to ask for an impartial judge to come along and take the minutes. We don’t want anything to be skewed toward the favored side.