Creating Meeting Templates

This guide explains how to create meeting templates tailored to your specific meeting types and documentation requirements.

Overview

Custom templates let you capture exactly the information you need for different meeting scenarios. While Claras provides base templates for common meeting types, creating your own ensures documentation matches your practice's specific workflow and compliance requirements.

The template generator uses your description to create a structured template with appropriate sections, formatting, and guidance blocks. You can start from scratch with natural language instructions or convert existing templates from Word or PDF documents. Once generated, templates remain fully editable through both the template improver and advanced editor.

Creating Your First Template

Navigate to the Templates page from the left sidebar and click New Template. You'll see three fields that control how your template gets generated.

The template name should clearly indicate the meeting type, such as "Risk Insurance Review" or "Initial Strategy Meeting". This name appears when selecting templates for meetings, so clarity helps your team choose the correct template quickly.

The description field is where you provide detailed instructions about what information needs capturing. The template generator uses this description to understand your requirements and create appropriate sections. Include specific details about the meeting's purpose, critical information that must be documented, section headings you expect to see, and any special formatting requirements like tables for comparing products or bullet points for action items.

The existing template field accepts templates you've been using outside Claras. Paste content from Word documents or PDF files, and the generator will recreate the structure while adapting it to work with Claras' processing system. The generator understands various formatting styles and correctly identifies headings, sections, and guidance text even when the original formatting doesn't transfer perfectly.

Writing Effective Descriptions

Your description determines how well the generated template matches your needs. Rather than listing requirements as bullet points, write a clear paragraph explaining the meeting context and what documentation you need.

Start by explaining the meeting's purpose and when you'd use this template. Then describe the key information that must be captured. For a risk insurance review meeting, you might write:

This template is for annual risk insurance reviews with existing clients. The meeting reviews their current insurance coverage, identifies any gaps based on changed circumstances, and documents recommendations for adjustments. I need sections covering their current coverage amounts and providers, any claims history since the last review, changes to their health or lifestyle, updated income and debt positions, and specific product recommendations with premium comparisons.

This description gives the generator clear context about both the meeting type and the specific information you need documented. The generator can then create appropriate sections with relevant guidance blocks.

If you have specific formatting preferences, include them in your description. Mention if certain information should appear in tables, whether recommendations need numbered lists, or if you want particular sections to use bullet points. The generator incorporates these preferences into the template structure.

Converting Existing Templates

When you have templates working well outside Claras, the existing template field lets you bring them across quickly. Copy your entire template from Word or another source and paste it into this field. The generator analyses the content and recreates it as a Claras template.

You can combine this with additional instructions in the description field. For example, paste your current fact find template then add instructions about capturing specific investment preferences or risk tolerance assessments that weren't in the original.

Setting Up Agenda Items

After saving your template, navigate to the Agenda tab within the template editor. Click Generate to have Claras create agenda items based on your template structure. These agenda items appear in meetings using this template, helping ensure you cover all necessary topics.

The generated agenda items follow your template's sections but phrase them as discussion points rather than documentation headers. A template section titled "Current Insurance Coverage" might generate an agenda item "Review existing insurance policies and coverage amounts". You can edit these items directly or add custom ones specific to your meeting flow.

Agenda items serve as both a meeting guide and a quality check. During meetings, they help you stay on track and ensure comprehensive coverage. When reviewing file notes, you can verify that all agenda items were addressed in the generated documentation.

Testing and Validation

Once your template is created, test it with an actual meeting to verify it captures information correctly. Create a new meeting, select your custom template, and process a recording that represents a typical use case. The resulting file note shows you exactly how the template interprets meeting content.

Pay attention to whether sections contain the expected information, formatting appears as intended, and all critical details are captured. If sections are missing information or including unexpected content, you can improve the template using the refine tool directly from the file note.

Testing with real meeting content reveals issues that might not be obvious from viewing the template itself. A section that seems clear in the template might capture too much or too little information in practice. The template improver can then adjust these sections based on your specific feedback about what should change.

Template Refinement Workflow

Custom templates rarely achieve perfection on the first generation. Plan to refine your template through several meetings to optimise the output. Each refinement makes the template more precise and better suited to your specific needs. Learn more about this iterative process in our guide on Improving Meeting Templates.

Last updated 22nd August 2025 by Connor