Keep the evidence honest

Compare two fictional notes. Note A: 'All risks explained. Client happy to proceed.' Note B: 'Rowan initially expected the starting value to be protected. We separated access from value risk. Rowan then described a possible loss on withdrawal. Rowan asked for time to read a shorter summary; another meeting is arranged before a decision.' The second note describes observations, actions and an open point. It does not claim that every aspect has been understood.

Useful records need not reproduce a conversation word for word. Capture the material issue, the client's relevant explanation, the adjustment made and the remaining task. Distinguish what you observed from what you inferred. Avoid stock sentences that appear on every file regardless of the actual discussion.

Communication design also matters outside a meeting. A shorter paragraph is not automatically clearer to its audience. Try the proposed explanation with representative readers and ask what they take it to mean. In this course, success means detecting and responding to a gap, not obtaining a particular client decision.