AI Use Case: Reclaim Your Focus and Follow-Through with AI Meeting Notes

Are you terrible at taking notes during meetings? Do you struggle to stay engaged in conversations while frantically typing? Do you constantly put off synthesizing and sending action items after calls until they're no longer relevant? I've found the perfect entry-level AI use case that will transform how you handle meetings forever.

Why This Works: AI's Language Superpowers

Today's AI excels at one thing above all else: processing human language. It can listen to our messy, rambling conversations and extract the signal from the noise—something I desperately needed since I can't take notes and truly participate in meetings simultaneously.

🚀 Quick-Start Guide: Your AI Meeting Assistant

Step 1: Setup

• Get permission first: Always ask participants if they're comfortable with recording for transcription purposes.
• Choose your tools:
  • For video calls: Granola (automatically records, transcribes, and summarizes)
  • For in-person/phone: Voice memo or call recording app on your phone

Step 2: Record Everything

• Start recording at the beginning of your meeting
• Focus entirely on the conversation—no note-taking needed
• Participate fully without the distraction of documentation

Step 3: Convert to Text

• Granola handles this automatically for video calls
• For voice recordings, use:
  • Granola's upload feature
  • ChatGPT's transcription capability
  • Upload to Mac's Voice Memos app for automatic transcription
  • Whisper API if you're more technical

Step 4: Generate AI Summaries

• Basic approach:
  • Granola does this automatically at the end of a meeting
  • Or feed transcript to ChatGPT or Claude with: "Summarize this meeting transcript into organized notes with action items clearly marked."

Advanced approach: Customize your prompt with:

Create meeting notes from this transcript with:
- Key decisions made
- Action items with owners and deadlines
- Open questions requiring follow-up
- Next steps

Power User Moves: Custom Templates

Depending on your meeting type, customize your AI instructions. Granola has baked-in templates for call types that you can customize. If you are doing this manually, try these prompts:

For sales calls:

Summarize this sales call with:
- Customer pain points
- Objections raised
- Level of interest
- Next steps and follow-ups

For interviews:

Analyze this interview and extract:
- Candidate strengths
- Potential concerns
- Cultural fit indicators
- Technical skill assessment

For brainstorming:

Organize these brainstorming ideas into:
- Most promising concepts
- Challenges identified
- Resources needed
- Implementation priorities

Beyond Basic Notes: Mining Your Meeting Data

Once you've built a library of transcripts, you can extract incredible value:

Real Example: I recently needed a concise phrasing of the value proposition for a project with a friend. We'd had several casual phone conversations about the concept, which I'd recorded and fed to ChatGPT for meeting notes. During our last call, I felt we'd finally nailed the value proposition, but wanted it distilled into clear language for our landing page.

I asked ChatGPT: "What is the core value proposition of this project?" What happened next surprised me. I expected maybe a sentence or two—instead, the AI delivered a comprehensive breakdown of our problem statement, solution framework, and unique advantages compared to alternatives. It extracted insights we had discussed but never explicitly labeled as "value propositions." My hope for a simple sentence evolved into complete, polished copy for our landing page—all extracted from conversations we had already had.

Try these prompts with your transcript collection:

• "What recurring themes appear across our last 5 team meetings?"
• "Extract all commitments I made to clients in February"
• "Create a presentation outline based on our project discussions"
• "What concerns has [team member] raised about the product roadmap?"

Advanced Tool: ScreenPipe for Data Junkies

Want to go deeper? Try ScreenPipe:

• Open-source tool that runs locally on your laptop
• Records audio AND captures screen activity
• Creates private data you can analyze for productivity insights
• Ask questions like: "How many hours was I in meetings vs. doing focused work?"

Start Today: Your 15-Minute Implementation Plan

1. Now: Download Granola or set up your phone's recording app
2. Tomorrow: Record your first meeting (with permission)
3. After meeting: Feed transcript to ChatGPT with the basic prompt above (or let Granola handle it automatically)
4. Share: Send the AI-generated notes to attendees (they'll be impressed!)
5. Iterate: Refine your prompts based on what information you find most useful

Stop dreading meeting notes. Start creating a searchable, AI-powered knowledge base that works for you long after the meeting ends.