How to Write a Meeting Follow-Up Email (+ Examples)

Many factors determine whether or not a meeting is successful. Were decisions made? Did you cover everything on the agenda? Did you generate a list of action items?

However, an often-overlooked factor key to making a meeting successful is following up with a timely email that keeps momentum moving forward.

Let’s go over why it’s crucial to send that follow-up email, how to write a follow-up email, and follow-up examples or templates you can use for reference.

Why is it important to follow up after a meeting?

Following up after a meeting is more than just polite, it’s the bridge between discussion and action:

• Reinforces decisions and key takeaways

• Builds accountability for assigned tasks

• Keeps momentum moving forward

• Shows appreciation for everyone’s time

Fellow automates this step, summarizing your meeting notes, action items, and next steps into a ready-to-send email.

How to write a meeting follow-up email (manually or with AI)

Below are the five core parts of an effective follow-up email, all of which Ask Fellow can generate for you.

1. Show appreciation

Start your follow-up by thanking attendees for their time and input. Recognition sets a positive tone, strengthens relationships, and encourages engagement in future meetings.

For client or sales meetings, this simple gesture can make a measurable difference. A short “thank you” email demonstrates professionalism and can be the key step that moves a deal forward.

For internal meetings, gratitude builds trust and signals psychological safety, essential for high-performing teams.

A study done by the Workhuman Research Institute found that “when workers agreed ‘I feel appreciated for the work I do,’ they are 47% more likely to agree that leaders cared about building a human workplace.”

2. Recap the meeting

Even after the most productive meeting, it’s easy to forget details once everyone moves on to their next task. That’s why your follow-up email should include a concise meeting recap, a summary that keeps all participants aligned on what was discussed and decided.

A strong recap typically includes:

• A list of everything discussed during the meeting

• A list of the action items and who were assigned to them

• Any reference documents used during the meeting

To make your recap accurate, refer back to your agenda, meeting notes, and recording transcript.

💡 Pro tip: With Ask Fellow, you don’t need to draft this manually. Simply say, “Write a meeting recap for this session,” and Fellow’s AI will summarize the discussion, highlight next steps, and include relevant links automatically.

See it for yourself: Start a free 14-day trial of Fellow

3. Summarize key decisions

Your meeting had a purpose, and key decisions needed to be made during it. A good practice for follow-up emails is to restate the purpose as well as the decisions you came to as a group.

As a rule, meetings that don’t have a clear purpose or concrete results are the ones that need to be reevaluated.

4. Add next steps

When writing your follow-up meeting email, it is important to include the next steps. This will hold everyone accountable for what they’ll do next by having it down in writing to retrieve whenever they need it. This is also important information for those who were unable to attend the meeting so they stay informed of their own action items.

5. Include the next meeting date

At the end of your follow-up email, be sure to reference your next meeting, whether by including the set date or proposing a time.

You can add the next meeting date to the bottom of your follow-up meeting email so you won’t have to search your inbox to find out when your meetings are. If you need to schedule the next meeting, you can use templates to figure out the perfect wording. They can be especially helpful when the meeting is skip-level or with someone unfamiliar.

This will allow attendees to easily find out when the next meeting is and keep you from reminding yourself to send out meeting reminder emails later.

How to write a meeting follow-up email with Fellow

Writing follow-up emails no longer has to be manual. With Fellow, your AI meeting assistant, you can automatically generate a complete, professional follow-up email in seconds.

Just type:

"Write a follow-up email for this meeting.”

Fellow will:

1. Analyze the meeting transcript and summary

2. Identify decisions, action items, and owners

3. Draft a clear, structured follow-up email — ready to copy, edit, or send

4. Include links to notes and next meetings for full context

This works best when your meeting has been recorded and transcribed in Fellow, so the AI can capture every detail and nuance.

What else can Fellow automate?

• Instant recaps: Share human-quality meeting summaries automatically with participants and stakeholders, no separate email needed.

• Action tracking: Assign, visualize, and prioritize follow-ups directly in Fellow’s task view instead of listing them manually.

• Multi-language accuracy: Fellow’s AI recognizes and summarizes conversations across different languages and tones.

Try Fellow for free: Get started with a free 14-day trial

Tips to write great meeting follow-up emails

Use these tips when you're drafting your next follow-up email:

1. Send it within 24 hours of the meeting

Don’t wait. Send your follow-up email after meeting someone within 24 hours. Not only will the meeting be fresh in your mind, but if attendees, want to look back on anything discussed during the meeting, they do not need to wait more than a day. It also means attendees can get started on their next steps and action items as soon as possible.

This also reflects good meeting etiquette with potential clients, showing them you are proactive in getting things done. If you wait too long, you risk your follow-up message being grouped with the many cold emails the recipient may receive.

2. Keep it short and to the point

No one wants to read a long email. It’s likely that recipients will simply scroll through, skim the topics, and never give it a second thought. If you want your attendees to read your follow-up emails (and you do!), you need to keep your emails short and to the point.

Make sure you reflect this in your subject line so the attendees can clearly identify the follow-up email for what it is. Your subject line should be succinct, clearly reference the meeting’s topic, and hint at next steps. A well-written subject line ensures the follow-up email won’t get passed over in anyone’s inbox.

3. Clarify and assign action items

Clarifying what the meeting action items are and who is responsible for them is very important to include in your follow-up emails to avoid tasks not being done. By clearly assigning each person a task, the responsibility is not on the whole team but on each individual to get their work done. If a meeting participant could not attend, you can also opt to send a separate email to someone who missed the meeting to recap the meeting and any action items.

4. End on a positive note

The final tip to writing a good follow-up email is to end on a positive note. Even if you get no responses, ending on a positive note will send employees off to do their work feeling empowered and ready to work. This will also foster a healthy work environment and promote psychological safety with team members.

7 follow-up email templates

Here are some examples of meeting follow-up emails to help guide you through how to create the perfect follow-up email templates:

1. After a team meeting

Hello team,

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet today. I appreciate all of the hard work you put into [company name].

Following up on our meeting, I would like to reiterate the key decisions discussed today:

[list key decisions discussed]

As a reminder, here is a summary of the action items and next steps:

[list call to action items and next steps + who is assigned to them]

Attached are the documents referenced during the meeting, should you need more information.

I look forward to seeing you all on [date of next meeting] for our next team meeting. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Sincerely,

[name]

2. After a meeting with a prospect / potential client

Dear [client name],

I enjoyed meeting with you and would like to thank you for your valuable time. I appreciated learning more about your role at [their company] and all the great things your company does. We would be thrilled to partner with you and your team to accomplish the goals we have discussed.The goals we are most excited to collaborate with are the following:

• Achieve X amount in revenue

• Hit a target audience of X

• Grow our team to X people

I’d love to schedule a follow-up conversation with both of our teams so we can dive into the specifics and begin our work together!Please let me know a date that works best, and we can arrange the details.

Thank you again for your time,

[name]

3. After a networking event

Dear [name],

It was a pleasure meeting you at the [name of the event] networking event on [day of the week you met them]. I really enjoyed our conversation about [what you discussed] and hearing your insights.

Following up, I have attached a document from [company name] outlining what we discussed. I would love the opportunity to speak with you further about this and a possible [partnership/collaboration].

If you’d like to continue the conversation, please let me know when we can plan a time to meet for lunch and discuss. I have included a link to my calendar, and I will follow up with you in the coming days. I hope to chat again soon!

Sincerely,

[name]

4. After an Informational Interview

Dear [name],

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me today and discuss [Industry or Company Name].I enjoyed learning more about [Specific Thing You Learned] and hearing about your transition from undergrad into [Job Title].Our discussion confirmed my interest in [Industry]. I hope to keep in touch as I begin my journey toward a career path similar to the one you've taken.Thank you again for your time and advice.

I'll let you know how my interview with [Company Name] goes next week!

Best,

[Signature]

5. After a customer meeting

Dear [customer name],

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me. Your feedback has fueled our efforts to [provide an effective solution to the problem/assist them with their goals].

As discussed, we have established the following course of action: [reaffirm the action items, identify the responsible parties, and provide explicit timelines, to ensure transparent communication of customer expectations].

For your convenience, I have attached a copy of the meeting notes [and any other resource discussed].

Best,

[Signature]

6. To ask for meeting feedback

Hello team,

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet today. I appreciate all of the hard work you put into [company name].

In an effort to continuously improve our meetings, could you please take a moment to provide some feedback? Any feedback you can provide about our recent meeting would be greatly appreciated.

Specifically, I would value your insights on the following matters: [List of Issues].

Feedback can be provided by [responding to this link/replying to this email].

Best,

[Signature]

7. To schedule another meeting

Hello [name],

It was great connecting with you on [date of last meeting] regarding [topic of last meeting].

Acknowledging your busy schedule, I would like to commend you on your exceptional work. Our previous conversation on [topic] is still fresh in my mind.

I would love to continue our conversation about [topic] at a time that is convenient for you. Please [let me know when you are available/schedule a time you are available via this link].

Best,

[Signature]

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

When is the best time to send a follow-up email after a meeting?

The ideal window is within 24 hours of the meeting. Sending it quickly ensures information is still fresh and that participants can act on their tasks without delay.

How long should a meeting follow-up email be?

Keep it short — usually 150–250 words is enough. Use bullet points for action items and avoid long paragraphs. Readers should understand the recap and next steps at a glance.

How can you make follow-up emails more effective?

Use clear subject lines, highlight decisions at the top, include links to reference materials, and assign owners for each task. A positive closing note helps maintain engagement.

What are common mistakes to avoid in meeting follow-up emails?

Avoid vague language, missing action items, and long or unstructured messages. Failing to send a follow-up at all is the biggest mistake — it often leads to misalignment and missed deadlines.

How can I write a follow-up email automatically with Fellow AI?

With Ask Fellow, you can instantly generate a professional follow-up email after any recorded meeting. Just type “Write a follow-up email for this meeting” in Fellow, and the AI will summarize the discussion, list decisions and action items, and draft a polished message you can review and send. This saves time, ensures accuracy, and keeps every participant aligned.