Let AI keep the transcript, then spend two minutes on four questions: how you feel, when their energy shifted, your energy, what to remember.
The idea
I'm a strong evangelist for meeting recorders. I use one in every meeting. But the transcript captures the words and the AI summary captures the action items, and neither captures what matters most for the relationship: how it felt. That's the emotional metadata of a conversation, and no recorder on earth picks it up. So let the AI take notes, and take a second, different set yourself. The transcript tells you what was said. Your own notes tell you what it meant.
How to do it
Right after the conversation, before you jump to the next thing and before you open the AI summary, take two minutes:
How do I feel about this person right now? Warm, curious, guarded, inspired. Your gut is data.
When did their energy change? What made them lean in, and what made them go flat?
What was my energy like? Track it over time and you'll learn who belongs in your inner circle.
What do I want to remember about this person a year from now? One thing.
Answering even two of the four counts.
Example
Think about your last call. You probably don't remember the exact words. You remember how it felt: the moment they lit up about a new project, or the slight hesitation when work came up. That's what goes in your two-minute notes.
The One-Year Test: Before writing a note about someone, ask what you'll want to remember about them next year. Write one thing, maybe two, then stop.
The Presence Advantage: Presence is scarce, so it stands out: phone away, let AI take notes, listen without preparing a reply, ask one more follow-up, let pauses sit.
The +2 Energy Rating: After interactions, rate how you feel from -2 to +2, rate three standouts each day, and give more of your time to the +2s.
Capture, Summarize, Act: Capture next steps and personal details, condense them soon after, delete the rest, then act on the next steps and file the keepers.