2014-2015 EDITION
Ammer’s Advice
Being a Secretary: What You Need to Know
A Secretary’s Guide
Ammer Soliman
NJ FBLA STATE SECRETARY | EASTERN REGION COMMUNICATIONS
DIRECTOR
A Letter from the Secretary:
Dear aspiring secretaries,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this year’s
new edition of NJ FBLA’s secretarial guide. Taking on
the role as a secretary of your chapter is a grand and
rewarding achievement, and I applaud your effort to
learn more about secretarial duties and how to
successfully complete your job as a secretary. Within
this guide, you will find helpful resources such as
Ammer’s 10 most useful tips and an example of
minutes with proper formatting according to the
FBLA 2014-2015 Format Guide. As you continue to
read, you will find more information about your duty
as secretary and how to properly take minutes.
Sincerely,
Ammer Soliman
What Are Secretaries?
Secretaries are responsible for recording important
information during meetings and communicating their
minutes to all board members. The recorded minutes
should be formatted accordingly to allow for easy
reading and note-taking to maximize time-efficiency
and comprehensibility. When taking minutes, only
important information should be recorded such as
parliamentary procedure and all significant business
material presented. While the secretary’s primary role
is to take minutes, your role extends beyond this; you
are not limited to taking minutes. Rather, you should
assist other officers in completing their tasks. The
secretary’s position is very significant, as to host a
meeting, at least a president and a secretary must
reside at the meeting. Secretaries can serve on the local
level, the state level, and the national level. There is
also a National Secretary’s Council to demonstrate the
importance of the guide.
10 Tips for Taking Minutes:
__________________________________
1. When taking minutes during an executive board meeting, do not be
afraid to pause the meeting and return to a previous point if you
missed it. As secretary, it is your job to take down all key information
and replay it back to other members, so do not be afraid to take
initiative and ask questions.
2. During discussions, it is important to take down minutes. However,
do not forget to express your opinion! Although it is your job to
record important information, do not let that distract or restrain you
from sharing your opinion! Your opinion is just as important as
everyone else’s opinion!
3. Use a laptop/tablet when taking down minutes. Many people type
faster than they do handwrite, and efficiency is key! Typing is also
much neater than handwriting, especially when you are trying to
handwrite quickly!
4. As Secretary, it is important that you help keep the executive board
meeting on agenda. If discussion is off-topic or not related to the
agenda, do not be afraid to remind other members that they are off
topic!
5. If discussion is off topic, do not record minutes! Minutes are used to
communicate key information; off-topic discussion is not considered
important!
6. When taking minutes, be sure to have the agenda open on your
laptop/tablet in the word document for organization purposes.
7. After recording minutes, be sure to format your minutes accordingly
and send them out within 3 days after the meeting. However, the
sooner the better!
8. Before sending minutes, ensure that it undergoes a quality check by
an experienced member or your president.
9. If minutes for a particular meeting are exceeding 6 pages, try to send
out a short version, and a more detailed version of minutes.
10. Do not stress over format! If you need help with format, send me an
email at asoliman@njfbla.org , and I will be more than happy to
review your minutes and assist you with your formatting!
Mock Agenda & Minutes:
:
To learn how to take minutes properly, it is
essential that you see an example with properly
formatted minutes. In the next few pages, you will see
an example of properly formatted minutes according
to the 2014-2015 FBLA Format Guide. On the
margins, you will see short explanations elucidating the
format of minutes to further your understanding of
taking minutes in a time-efficient manner. It is
important that you note the content that is being
recorded. While it is a secretary’s duty to record
essential information during meetings, the essential
information is broken down below to show secretaries
the type of information they should be anticipating
and recording. Please take note of the thorough nature
of these minutes, and I wish you the best in your job
as a secretary as it is surely an adventure! If you have
any questions or comments, please feel free to send
me an email at asoliman@njfbla.org, or shoot me a tweet
at my twitter handle @ammersoliman. Thank you so
much for reading this guide, and I hope it helped
clarify a few wandering thoughts. Good luck and enjoy
the sample below!
Induction Planning Meeting
The approved font format
is in Times New
December 12, 2014
Roman 12 pt. font
and Bolded
Room 173
I.
II.
III.
Call to Order – Joe Smith, President
Roll Call – Jill Smith, Secretary
Secretary’s Minutes – Jill Smith, Secretary
a. Approval of meeting minutes of October 22, 2014
IV.
Report of Treasury – Julia Smith, Treasurer
a. Account balance
i. Of November 30, 2014
V.
Committee reports
VI.
Unfinished business
a. Auditorium approval
VII.
New Business
a. Food at inductions
b. Seating at inductions
VIII.
IX.
X.
Other
Date of Next meeting – TBA
Adjournment , Joe Smith – President
Agenda and minutes
should double spaced
I.
II.
Executive Board Meeting
Meeting title
January 30, 2015
Meeting date
Room 173
Meeting location
Call to order – Joe Smith, President – 2:05 pm
President’s name, position (time called)
Roll call – Jill Smith, Secretary
Secretary’s name
a. Joe Smith, President
Board member’s name, office held
b. John Smith, Vice President
Board member’s name, office held
c. Jill Smith, Secretary
Board member’s name, office held
d. Julia Smith, Treasurer, late arrived 2:10
Board member’s name, office held, time arrived
e. James Smith, Parliamentarian
III.
Secretary’s Minutes – Jill Smith, Secretary
Board member’s name, office held
This section is to review past meeting minutes for
approval
a. December 22, 2014
Date of last minutes taken
i. Motion to approve minutes with corrections made by John Smith,
1. Motion passed 4-0
IV.
Report of Treasury – Julia Smith, Treasurer
Motion Passed/rejected – Vote count
This section is to review the balance of the chapter
treasury
a. Account Balance
i. December 15, 2014 - $1,500
V.
Committee Reports
Date of last day of the previous month - $Account
balance
This section is open for open interpretation, which
could be used to discuss anything before starting
unfinished business.
a. Community Service Committee – Jill Smith
i. Committee meeting held December 3, 2014
ii. Objectives Discussed
VI.
Unfinished Business
Note that each separate idea is in its
own its own separate line
This section is to review discussion about
miscellaneous topics that occurred after the previous
meeting and before the current meeting.
a. Approval of use of auditorium for induction night
Topic of discussion
i. Motion to set date at December 19, 2014 by John Smith.
Motion to (__) by Board
member’s name,
1. Motion Passed 4-0
VII.
New Business
Motion Passed/rejected – Vote count
This section is used to discuss new topics.
a. Food at inductions.
Topic of discussion
i. Ask members to bring light refreshments in return for points.
1. Point distribution
Note that each
separate idea is
in its own its
own separate
line
a. Drinks: 2pt
b. Pastry: 1pt
c. Chips: 1pt
b. Seating at inductions
Note that when listing
items or names, they
take separate lines.
Added information can
be put on the lines.
Topic of discussion
i. Parents will be seated in the back while students will be seated according
to grade.
ii. Rent 300 seats.
VIII.
Other
Note that each
separate idea is
in its own its
own separate
line
Miscellaneous discussion after new
business
a. Advisers congratulated the board.
b. Board should be at school by 5:30pm, Inductions begin at 6:00pm and end at 8:30
PM.
IX.
X.
Date of next meeting – December 21, 2014
Adjournment – Joe Smith, President – 2:45 PM
Date of next meeting - Date
President’s name, position, -- time called