Turn Voice Memos into Meeting Notes with Sonicribe's custom recap style
Sonicribe's custom recap style automatically formats your dictation into structured meeting notes with attendees, decisions, and action items. No typing required.
Sonicribe Team
Product Team
Table of contents
Yes, You Can Dictate Your Meeting Notes
If you've ever sat in a meeting furiously typing notes while everyone else is actually listening, you know the problem. You're either documenting what was said or participating in the discussion, but rarely both. Sonicribe's custom recap style solves this by letting you speak your thoughts naturally, then automatically formatting them into structured, professional meeting notes with all the sections your manager expects.
Cloud dictation can turn your spoken notes into an editable draft on an Apple Silicon Mac. Google sign-in, internet, and account credits are required.
What custom recap style Actually Does
custom recap style is designed specifically for one workflow: turning your spoken thoughts into formatted meeting output. It's not just transcription—it's intelligent formatting that understands meeting structure.
When you dictate into custom recap style, Sonicribe uses your custom output prompt to transform raw speech into organized meeting notes. Here's what that means in practice:
You speak: "Sarah and Mike joined, we talked about Q2 roadmap, decided to push launch to April, I need to finish the design system by Friday, we'll reconvene next Tuesday."
custom recap style produces (based on your output prompt):
- Attendees: Sarah, Mike
- Key Discussion Points: Q2 roadmap planning
- Decisions: Launch pushed to April
- Action Items: Finish design system by Friday
- Next Steps: Reconvene Tuesday
The exact structure depends on what you define in your output prompt. You control the format completely.
Structuring Your Meeting Notes
The real power of custom recap style is the custom output prompt. This is where you tell Sonicribe exactly how to organize your meeting dictation.
Here are three example prompts you can adapt:
Read more: Voice Dictation for Meeting Prep: Agendas and Briefs in Minutes
Formal Meeting Minutes Format
Format the meeting notes with these sections:
- Meeting Date & Attendees
- Agenda Items Discussed
- Key Decisions Made
- Action Items (with owners and due dates)
- Next Meeting Date
Keep each section concise and bullet-pointed.
When you use this prompt and speak your meeting, Sonicribe will automatically reorganize your rambling dictation into these exact sections.
Agile Standup Format
Extract and format as:
- What I completed today
- What I'm working on tomorrow
- Blockers or concerns
Keep it brief, one line per section.
Perfect for rapid team standups where you want consistency across all notes.
Client Meeting Format
Create professional meeting notes with:
- Client Name
- Attendees (list each person)
- Topics Discussed (numbered list)
- Commitments We Made (what we're delivering)
- Next Steps (dates and owners)
- Follow-up Required (if anything)
Use professional language throughout.
This prompt ensures client meeting notes are polished and client-ready without editing.
When to Use custom recap style vs. custom note style
Sonicribe has writing styles total. Two of them handle text: custom note style and custom recap style. The difference matters.
| Aspect | custom note style | custom recap style |
|---|---|---|
| Use Case | General notes, thoughts, writing | Meetings, discussions, structured output |
| Output Prompt Focus | Tone, style refinement | Organizational structure |
| Best For | Quick notes, brainstorms, journaling | Team meetings, client calls, standup prep |
| Example Output | Refined paragraph, corrected grammar | Bulleted sections with headers |
| Structure | Content-based prompt | Template-based prompt |
If you're capturing meeting minutes, decisions, and action items, use custom recap style. If you're refining general thoughts, use custom note style.
The difference is subtle in setup but significant in output. custom recap style's formatting system expects structured organization.
Dictating a Useful Recap After the Meeting
After a call, dictate your own recap while the decisions are fresh. Keep a short list of names, dates, and open questions beside your notes document. A custom recap style gives the summary a consistent structure.
1. Create Styles → New style and name it "Meeting recap."
2. In Rewrite, choose a Text formatting model.
3. Save headings such as Discussion, Decisions, Actions, and Open questions in Your instructions.
4. Open your notes document and select the recap style, or connect the destination under Where.
5. Dictate the decisions and next actions, saying each owner's name and due date.
6. Finish the recording and review the draft before sharing it.
For example: "We agreed to review the API design on Thursday. Sarah will prepare the schema by Wednesday. Mike will check the migration plan. We still need an owner for the client announcement."
Use the same format for a client follow-up, a technical planning discussion, or a remote team sync. For a shorter team update, choose Work message and dictate the status, owner, and next step. Your own summary stays focused on what the team needs to do next.
Read more: Sonicribe Custom Styles: Email, Meeting, Coding & More
Keep Names with the Points You Dictate
Say the person's name when attribution matters: "Sarah proposed delaying the launch" or "Mike will prepare the API notes by Friday." A custom instruction can preserve those connections in your recap:
Format my recap under Discussion, Decisions, and Actions.
Keep each named person's point beside their name.
For actions, keep the stated owner and due date together.
Use only facts I dictate and omit empty sections.
Give each decision its own sentence, then say the related action. Keep suggestions distinct from agreements: "Sarah proposed" and "we decided" carry different meanings. Preserve tentative language when the plan is still open.
Add recurring names to Words and select their group in the recap style's Voice section. Review the names, commitments, and dates together in the finished note before sending the summary to your team.
Read more: Write Emails by Voice: Sonicribe's Email style Explained
Real-World Workflow Example
Before the meeting:
- Create a recap style in Styles → New style.
- Choose a Text formatting model in Rewrite.
- Save your preferred headings in Your instructions.
- Keep a short list of names, dates, and topics beside your meeting document.
During the meeting:
- Focus on the discussion and note the decisions you want to retain.
- Write down a person's name when they take an action.
- Keep proposals distinct from agreed work.
- Mark the questions the team still needs to resolve.
After the meeting:
- Open your notes document and select the saved recap style.
- Press ⇧ Z, dictate the summary, and press it again to finish.
- Say the owner and deadline with each action.
- Review the organized draft, then share it in Slack, email, or your meeting document.
For example: "We decided to hire by Q2. Sarah owns the job description. The design system review is Friday." The same saved format keeps your next recap easy to prepare and compare.
Multiple Languages and Meeting Styles
Choose your spoken language in Settings → Listening → Speech language, or use Auto-detect for mixed-language dictation. Try a short passage with the names and terminology you use, then review the draft.
custom recap style formatting works in all supported languages. Your output prompt will work in English, Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, Japanese—whatever language you use in your prompt.
This is crucial for distributed teams. Your meetings might be in German, but your action items format might be in English. Sonicribe handles the translation and formatting simultaneously.
Word groups for Technical Meetings
Keep recurring names and terms in Words. Organize them with New group, use Import CSV for word/replacement pairs, and select the relevant groups under your style’s Voice → Word groups. Dictate a short sentence using the terms to refine your list.
For technical recaps, add API names and project terms to Words, then select their group in your recap style’s Voice section. Use Replace with... when you want a recurring recognized phrase written in a particular form.
Read more: Transcription for Sales Teams: Meeting Notes to Follow-Up Emails
Your custom recap style can use the word groups selected in its Voice section. Keep recurring project names in the group and the recap structure in Rewrite → Your instructions. Together they give the draft useful terminology and clear headings.
Cost and Access
Eligible new accounts get 100 free minutes with Qwen3-ASR, with no time limit. Speech and formatting share the balance.
That's roughly 30-40 minutes of voice dictation per week. For most professionals, that covers 1-2 meetings or brainstorms.
Ongoing use requires Pro US$7/month for up to about 2,500 minutes a month or Max US$20/month for up to about 10,700 minutes a month with Qwen3-ASR; usage is not unlimited.
Check eligible models in the app. The trial provides 100 free minutes with Qwen3-ASR and has no time limit; unused paid credits reset monthly.
Why This Matters
Meetings are where work gets defined. Decisions, action items, next steps—they all emerge from conversation. But capturing those details while staying present in the meeting is nearly impossible.
custom recap style lets you be fully present while Sonicribe documents everything. Your custom output prompt means the notes are automatically organized the way your team expects them. No editing required.
For teams, projects, and anyone running regular meetings, this changes the experience. Capture, format, paste—done.
Get Started Today
Try Sonicribe’s cloud workflow with 100 free minutes with Qwen3-ASR for eligible new accounts, with no time limit. Google sign-in and internet required.
Related Reading
Find a workflow for your next draft.
Explore voice-to-text examples, custom formatting, and the cloud plans. Sonicribe requires a verified Google account and an internet connection. Sonicribe Cloud is for Apple Silicon Macs. Check release details for current download availability; a Windows installer is not available yet.
