Techniques for Effective Summary and Note-taking

When we listen or read, we get to know so much information. This information may not be applied to all aspects of our lives simultaneously. This is why we need to analyse every piece of information and store them so we can use the correct information at the appropriate time.?

How then do we analyse and store the large amount of information we have?

I remember when my grandma was helping me develop the habit of reading, she always told me to summarize all that I have learnt from the books she bought so I could narrate them to her orally when she came to visit us. Actually, she did not teach me how to do this task she was giving me. The only thing she always said was that after reading a book, you need to get your lesson written down. It is a sign that you really read the books I buy you. One other character of hers that struck my attention was the fact that anytime she visited, she listened to a particular pastor preached on one of the television stations and she always had her notepad and pen to take notes.?

To make effective use of all that we listen to or read, we need to learn how to summarize and take notes. Let me clarify that summary and note taking is not for students only. The moment information is received, these techniques become highly important.??

Over the years I have read so many books and listened to different people. I can not remember every single word from these books or people but I can boldly say I remember the most important things that were being communicated because I summarised the information I received. When we summarise information, it becomes easy to store it in our brains.

A summary gives you the opportunity to write in your own words. You are able to condense ideas to just the main points. This gives you a brief document that is shorter than the original. Nonetheless, it has to be comprehensive, coherent and independent. The meaning of the summarised text should not be different from the original text. The question then is, how can we summarize effectively??

If it is a book, the most important thing to do is to get acquainted with the book. Get to know the title, read the blurb, the headings and even the table of content. This will give you an idea of what the book is about. If you are listening to a presentation, pay attention to the introduction as this will give you hints of what is going to be discussed and what will be most important to you.?

The next thing to do is to read the material carefully or listen attentively as you take notes. When you have a hard copy that belongs to you, you can highlight or underline the main ideas in the book. You can also get your notepad and write the main points. When listening, you can write the main points the speaker discusses. Oftentimes, when we are taking notes, especially in class, at conferences or at events, we miss the important parts because we are not so fast. You do not need to write every word that comes out of the speaker's mouth. You only write the main points. Some methods for note-taking you can employ include; listing, outlining and concept mapping. All these methods can only be used after you have summarized whatever information you have received. This means that your analytical skills need to be very good.

Listing is what the majority of people use. This is where one sequentially writes what is being presented. They may be in short phrases or complete sentences. This is a good method but it is important to note that this method requires a lot of writing and one may not get all the main points when the speaker is quite fast. However, it is a great note-taking technique when reading.

Outlining is another great technique used in note-taking.??Here, you number the most important ideas. The supporting ideas of these main concepts are bulleted under them with further details or examples. This method is easy to use when taking notes on a computer, phone or iPad. When I was taught this technique in my first year at the university, I was so excited because it is effortless to use and can be applied in all areas.?

One can also use concept mapping. Concept mapping is a method I love so much because it enables you to show relationships among ideas. It also appeals to the eyes as you create your own design from the ideas being communicated. This is done by placing the central idea in the middle of your page and adding lines and circles for new ideas. You can use arrows to connect the various ideas. This method is also preferred when ideas are not presented in a well-organised manner.

It is very important to know these techniques and use them in analysing the information you get whenever you read books or listen to people’s ideas. This will greatly contribute to retention and you can easily reach your archives for the right information at the right time and in the right situation.?

Imagine you are going to speak at a conference and in preparing your speech you have a reservoir of information to take from at your convenience. I suppose your preparation will be easier than someone who is yet to get every information needed to write a wonderful speech.