ClerkMinutes names most speakers automatically, but sometimes a name is missing or wrong. This page shows how to fix the most common problems. You only need to correct what matters for your minutes, such as who made a motion, who seconded it and how people voted.
Before you start
Open the meeting and go to the Transcript & Speakers tab.
Click the video or audio next to a line to hear who is actually speaking. This is the quickest way to check.
If many speakers are missing, check that your members are added first (see Set up your departments & members). It can save you a lot of corrections.
The speaker menu
Click the speaker label on any line (for example, Speaker 1 or a person's name) to open the menu.
At the top, you'll see the current speaker and a Change speaker number link.
Search box. Type a name to find someone quickly.
Departments. People are grouped by department. Click a department to expand or collapse it, then click a person to select them.
Residents & Others. Use this group for people who aren't board members or staff, such as public commenters.
Add new speaker. At the bottom of the menu. Use it when the person isn't on your list yet.
Name a speaker who shows as "Speaker 1", "Speaker 2"…
When ClerkMinutes can't match a voice, it shows a number instead of a name.
Click the speaker label (for example, "Speaker 2") on any line.
Choose the person from the list. People are grouped by department.
Save.
Every line from that speaker updates across the whole transcript, so you only need to do this once per person.
Not in the list? Scroll to the bottom and select Add Speaker to create them (see below).
Change a speaker's name
If a name is wrong, click it and choose the correct person. ClerkMinutes will ask whether to set the new name for all lines from that speaker or only this transcript line.
Choose all lines when the whole speaker was matched to the wrong person.
Choose only this line when just this line is wrong. For example, someone else spoke here, but the rest of the speaker's lines are correct.
Fix a line that mixes two speakers
Sometimes two people are merged into one line, or a few words are assigned to the wrong person.
Highlight the words that belong to the other speaker.
Click the Change Speaker button that appears.
Choose the correct speaker and save.
The highlighted words move to a new line under the speaker you chose, and the rest of the line stays as it was.
Fix a speaker number that is shared by two people
If ClerkMinutes treats two different people as the same "Speaker 2", changing the name would rename both. Instead:
Click the speaker number on the line that's wrong.
Select Change Speaker Number.
Choose a different number from the list and save.
You can then name each number separately.
Add a new speaker
Click any speaker label.
Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Add Speaker.
Enter their name and, if they belong to one of your departments, choose it.
Save.
New speakers are added to your member list and can be matched automatically in future meetings.
Edit or delete text
Edit: Click the text, make your change, and press Enter to save.
Delete: Hover over a line and click the trash icon.
You don't need to fix every typo. Minutes are generated from the full conversation, so focus on errors that change the meaning or the names.
When you're done
When the speakers who matter look right, you're ready to generate your minutes. You don't need to review the whole transcript.
If something keeps going wrong
Many lines assigned to the wrong person usually means poor audio or overlapping voices. See Get better results from your recording.
For other problems, see Troubleshooting.