50 free, copy-paste templates for spoken notes. Each one tells you exactly what to say into your phone or watch in 30–60 seconds — and gives you the AI prompt that turns the transcript into meeting action items, a CRM entry, a session recap, study notes or a first draft.
View on GitHub (MIT) Try them with a free on-device app
Most people abandon voice notes for the same reason: the transcript comes back as one unpunctuated paragraph that is slower to read than the thing would have been to type. That is not a transcription-quality problem. It is a structure problem — nobody said the fields out loud, so nothing downstream can find them.
A template fixes that in the cheapest possible place: the 45 seconds you were already spending. Say the same six things in the same order every time and the transcript becomes parseable by a summariser, by search, and by you in three weeks.
The goal of a post-meeting memo is not a record of the meeting. It is the list of things that changed. Say the decisions and the owners; skip the discussion.
“Meeting recap. [Project], [date], attendees [names]. Three decisions were made. One: [decision], owner [name], by [date]. Two: [decision], owner, date. Three: [decision], owner, date. One thing is still open: [question], and [name] owes us an answer by [date].”
“Action items from [meeting]. I owe [name] the [deliverable] by [day]. [Name] owes me [deliverable] by [day]. Nobody owns [item] yet — flag it.”
“Standup for [date]. Yesterday I finished [x] and got stuck on [y]. Today I am doing [z]. My blocker is [blocker] and the person who can unblock it is [name].”
“Summary for people who were not there. The one thing you need to know is [x]. It affects you if [condition]. If it affects you, do [action] by [date]. Otherwise ignore this.”
“Debrief, [name], [role], [date]. Strongest signal: [evidence]. Weakest signal: [evidence]. One thing I still do not know: [gap]. My recommendation right now is [advance / hold / decline] and my confidence is [low / medium / high].”
Longer write-up of this workflow: turning meeting voice notes into action items.
The recap you record in the car park is worth more than the one you type at 7pm, because at 7pm you have lost the objection wording. Record before you start the engine.
“Visit recap. [Company], [contact name and role], [date]. What they are trying to fix: [problem in their words]. Budget signal: [what they said about money]. Timeline signal: [when]. Objection raised: [objection, quoted]. Next step I committed to: [action] by [date].”
“Showing recap. [Address], [date], buyers [names]. They reacted well to [feature] and badly to [feature]. Their real constraint sounded like [constraint]. Competing property they mentioned: [property]. My next action: [action] by [date].”
“Objection log. [Company]. The objection, in their exact words, was: [quote]. The context was [when in the call it came up]. What I answered: [answer]. Whether it landed: [yes / no / unclear].”
“Pipeline check, [date]. [Account] — last contact [date], real next step [step], my honest confidence [percent]. [Account] — same three fields. [Account] — same three fields. The one I am kidding myself about is [account].”
“Handover, [account], to [colleague]. Relationship status: [status]. Who actually decides: [name and role]. What you must not say: [landmine]. What is promised and when: [promise]. First thing you should do: [action].”
Longer write-up: voice notes for field sales and realtors.
These templates are recorded after the client has left — they are your recap, not a recording of the session, so no consent question arises. Check your own professional record-keeping obligations before adopting any workflow.
“Session recap, client [initials or code], [date], session number [n]. Presenting focus today: [topic]. What changed since last time: [change]. What I observed: [observation]. What we agreed for next time: [agreement]. My own note to self: [note].”
“Observation, client [code], [date]. I noticed [pattern] across the last [n] sessions. The first time I saw it was [when]. What I want to test next session is [approach].”
“Coordination note. Client [code]. I want to refer to [discipline] because [reason]. Relevant history in one sentence: [history]. What I need back from them: [question].”
“End of day, [date]. [n] sessions. The one I am still thinking about is [code], because [reason]. Admin I owe: [items]. Supervision topic to raise: [topic].”
“Attendance note. Client [code], [date], [cancelled / no-show], notice given [amount]. Reason stated: [reason]. Pattern so far: [nth occurrence]. Action: [rebook / discuss / policy].”
Longer write-up: voice notes for therapists and clinicians.
Again: these are your own post-call recaps, not recordings of the other party. Retention, privilege and record-keeping rules are yours to check — this pack takes no position on them.
“Matter recap. [Matter reference], [date], call with [party]. What they want: [position]. What they conceded: [concession]. What is now disputed: [issue]. Deadline created by this call: [date]. My next step: [action].”
“Time entry. Matter [reference], [date]. Task: [description]. Duration: [minutes]. Billable: [yes / no]. Narrative: [one sentence a client would accept].”
“Review note. Document [name], matter [reference]. The clause that matters is [clause] because [reason]. Risk level: [high / medium / low]. Change I would ask for: [redline].”
“Deadline. Matter [reference]. The date is [date]. It is triggered by [event]. What must be filed or served: [item]. Who is doing it: [name]. Buffer I want: [days].”
“Client update, matter [reference]. Since we last spoke: [event]. What it means for them: [implication, plain language]. What I need from them: [request] by [date]. What happens next: [next step].”
Longer write-up: voice notes for attorneys and lawyers.
Recording the whole lecture creates 50 minutes you will never replay. A 60-second recap recorded while walking out is the artefact you will actually revise from.
“Lecture recap. [Course], [topic], [date]. The single claim was [claim]. The evidence given was [evidence]. The thing I did not understand is [gap]. What is examinable here is probably [prediction].”
“Reading note. [Source], [author], pages [range]. The argument is [argument]. What it disagrees with is [counter-position]. The quote I want is on page [n]: [quote]. How it connects to [other source]: [connection].”
“Flashcards for [topic]. Term [term], definition [definition]. Term, definition. Term, definition. The one I keep getting wrong is [term].”
“Exam sweep, [subject], [days] days out. Confident on [topics]. Shaky on [topics]. No idea on [topics]. Time available: [hours].”
“Seminar prep, [topic]. The point I want to make is [point]. The evidence I will cite is [evidence]. The obvious counter is [counter] and my response is [response].”
Longer write-up: voice to text for lectures and study notes.
Speaking is roughly three times faster than typing, and a spoken draft carries your actual cadence. The trick is to dictate the argument, not the prose.
“Outline for [piece]. The reader is [audience]. After reading it they should [change]. My argument in one sentence: [thesis]. The three moves are: [move one], [move two], [move three]. The thing I must not forget: [detail].”
“First draft, [piece]. Opening: [say the opening as you would say it to a friend]. Middle: [the argument, out loud, unpolished]. Ending: [the point you want to land].”
“Email to [recipient]. What I actually want is [want]. What I am worried about is [worry]. What I am willing to concede is [concession]. Tone should be [tone].”
“Idea, [date]. The idea is [idea]. It came from [trigger]. Who it would be for: [audience]. The first thing I would have to test is [test]. The reason it might be nothing: [risk].”
“Revision notes for [piece]. What works: [section]. What does not: [section] because [reason]. What is missing: [gap]. What I should cut even though I like it: [darling].”
Longer write-up: from voice memo to first draft.
Written journaling fails on the days it would help most, because on those days you have no patience for a blank page. Speaking has almost no activation cost.
“Brain dump, [date]. Everything currently in my head: [say it unfiltered until you run out]. The one that is actually urgent is [item]. The one that is loud but not important is [item].”
“Evening review, [date]. What actually happened: [events]. What I did well: [thing]. What I would redo: [thing]. Energy level and why: [level, cause]. Tomorrow's single most important thing: [task].”
“Decision, [date]. I decided [decision]. The alternatives were [options]. I chose this because [reasoning]. What I expect to happen: [prediction]. When I will check: [date]. Confidence: [percent].”
“Right now I feel [feeling]. It started when [trigger]. The story I am telling myself is [story]. What is actually verifiable is [facts]. The smallest useful next action is [action].”
“Week of [date]. The pattern I noticed in myself was [pattern]. It showed up on [days]. What preceded it each time: [antecedent]. One experiment for next week: [experiment].”
Longer write-up: voice journaling and brain dump workflows.
Two constraints stack when travelling: no reliable connection, and thoughts arriving in whichever language you are currently living in. Templates that name the language up front save the transcript.
“Note in [language], [date], [place]. [Then say the note entirely in that language, without switching.]”
“Field note. [Place], [date], [time]. What I am looking at: [description]. What surprised me: [surprise]. What I want to look up later: [question]. Photo reference: [filename or count].”
“Expense. [Amount] [currency], [date], [merchant], [category]. Business purpose: [purpose]. Receipt: [have it / lost it]. Project code: [code].”
“Meeting recap in [language]. [Name], [company], [date]. Agreed: [points]. Unclear because of language: [points]. Follow up in writing: [items].”
“Offline note, [date], flight [number or route]. Idea: [idea]. Why now: [trigger]. What I need to check when I land: [checks].”
Longer write-up: voice to text in any language, offline.
The value of wrist capture is not convenience, it is the elimination of the phone. If getting the idea down requires unlocking a device and choosing an app, the idea is gone. Wrist templates must therefore be short enough to say in one breath.
“[Noun phrase for the idea]. Because [one reason]. Next: [one action].”
“Task. [Task]. For [project]. By [day]. Blocked by [nothing / thing].”
“Recap. [Who I just met]. [The one thing that changed]. [The one thing I owe them]. [When].”
“Session [date]. Did [work]. Felt [rating out of ten]. Niggle: [body part or none]. Next session should be [adjustment].”
“Errands. Buy [items]. From [shop]. Before [day], because [reason].”
Longer write-up: the Apple Watch voice memo workflow.
Most people who cancel a transcription subscription do not miss the transcription — they miss the templates the tool had baked in. These five replace the ones that actually got used.
“Migration note. I am leaving [tool]. What I used it for, honestly: [uses]. What I never used: [features]. What I must not lose: [data]. Export deadline: [date].”
“Cost check. [Tool], [amount] per [month or year], [months] used. Times I opened it last month: [number]. Cost per actual use: [say the division out loud or leave it].”
“Requirements. Audio must [leave / not leave] the device. Transcripts stored [where]. Retention [duration]. Sharing with third parties: [acceptable / not]. Offline capability: [required / nice to have].”
“Trial day [n] of [tool]. What worked: [thing]. What annoyed me: [thing]. Did it survive my worst case, which is [worst case]: [yes / no]. Would I pay: [yes / no] and why.”
“Rollout. Replacing [tool] with [tool] for [team]. Who is affected: [names or roles]. What breaks on day one: [things]. Training needed: [amount]. Rollback plan: [plan].”
Longer write-ups: subscription-free alternatives to cloud transcription and free offline voice to text on iPhone and Mac.
Any dictation app works — that is the point of keeping the templates as plain text. The one thing worth deciding deliberately is where the audio goes, because it is the only property you cannot change later.
| Property | Cloud transcription services | On-device transcription |
|---|---|---|
| Works in airplane mode | No | Yes |
| Audio uploaded to a third party | Yes, by design | No — processing happens locally |
| Ongoing cost | Usually a subscription | Depends on the app |
| Minutes cap | Common on free tiers | Bounded by device, not by plan |
“On-device” here is a technical statement about where processing runs. It is not a legal or compliance claim, and nothing in this pack should be read as one.
The app these templates were written alongside is VoxFlow — free, no account, no cloud, runs the speech model on the device across iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch, 99 languages, works in airplane mode. You do not need it to use anything on this page.
Get VoxFlow free on the App Store Download page
MIT. Copy them, fork them, put them in your own product docs, translate them. If a profession is missing — nurses, surveyors, inspectors, teachers, social workers — open a pull request on the repository with five templates in the same format and it will be merged.