How to Take Notes in a Lecture

How To Take Great Notes Quickly And EasilyQuestions You May Have on How to Take Notes in a Lecture

• This is about how to take notes in a lecture. I’m not a student, will I find the note taking information useful?
• I’ve already read a few of your blog posts on note taking, why should I read this one?
• Is the ability to take notes, if you’re not a student, really important?

In a hurry?

=> If you just want the book, CLICK HERE to buy your copy of How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily by John Connelly here.

Below you’ll find the answers to the above questions, as well as my thoughts on John Connelly’s book, How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily. I have added my own thoughts, based on experience, to provide value for you!

Why the Ability to Take Detailed Notes is So Important

Why Reading More Than One Book on a Topic is Important

Another post on taking notes you ask? Yes. But why? When you want to learn a topic, it is important to read a variety of books to get different points of view. That way, you can decide what information is useful based on your unique situation.

Another important reason for reading several books on note taking has to do with the Read the World Extreme Reading Challenge. I am updating the reading challenge, so that it closely aligns with the 10 employability skills you need to thrive in the future. I also want to make the weekly email that I send out to remind people to read a book, be more valuable. Therefore, with each email that I send out, I want a complementary resource that goes with it.

Note taking is a big part of the reading challenge, since I recommend that people take notes to get the most from the books they read. With that in mind, I have to provide better tools to assist reading challenge participants.

Why Taking Notes in a Lecture is Not Just for Students

 How to take good notes: The science behind note taking

I finished reading How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily by John Connelly. The focus of the book is how to take notes in a lecture. In other words, it is about how to take notes while listening. This information is also useful for taking notes in meetings, at speaker events, while listening to an audio book, or watching videos. There is a lot of overlap between Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily by John Connelly and How to Take Good Notes by Angelos Georgakis. However, you’ll find information that’s different, and important. At least I think so.

Related Posts

Effective Note Taking Method: How to Take Good Notes by Angelos Georgakis 

Effective Note Taking Tips: The Art of Writing While Listening

Why Good Note Taking is Important

The ability to take good notes will serve you well throughout your career. And the other piece is that you have to review your notes to remember more of the information. You attend speaker events for a reason. You read a book for a reason. Say for example, you are reading a book because you want to develop a skill. And if you follow my advice on reading more than one book on the topic, if you took really good notes, when you are reviewing your notes from all the books on the topic, your creative juices will simply start to flow. You will generate ideas that you wouldn’t otherwise get if you were relying on your memory.

Develop good note taking strategies now. You will keep on using them.

How to Take Notes in a Lecture: Definition of What It Means to Take Good Notes

1. Good note taking is in the accurate and rapid capturing and then reforming of information.
2. Good note taking is a critical aspect of the learning process.

What is How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily by John Connelly About?

In How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily, John Connelly places emphasis on active listening, which is very important. I attend a lot of webinars, I take online courses, I attend speaker events, and I am also on a few committees. All of these require taking notes while listening.

But I have never thought of note taking going hand-in-hand with active listening. So I really appreciated it that it is such a big component of the book. The author raised some points that I have never thought about. And that’s why it’s so important to get multiple perspectives on a topic.

How to Take Notes in a Lecture: Active Listening

1. Good note taking is part of active listening.
2. You're fully engaged with what you're hearing. This improves your ability to understand what you're hearing, which helps you to remember more.
3. Active listening enables your mind to soak in the information.
4. When you take good notes, your mind engages intellectually, so you listen more keenly.

Taking good notes is about focusing and concentrating on what you're hearing, then rephrasing into your own words. When you listen actively to what you're hearing, you understand the information more deeply. Therefore, you can ask more intelligent questions in class, and in meetings. When you review your notes later, you will be able to connect ideas.

How to Take Notes in a Lecture: Two Biggest Mistakes in Note Taking

Mistake 1: Trying to write down everything you hear. You will not understand the information deeply because your effort is focused on capturing all the words. To correct this mistake, learn to abbreviate words, rephrase what you hear. This leads to improved comprehension.

Mistake 2: Inconsistency – both in regards to whether you take notes at all, and how you take notes when you do. This makes sense if you're attending a class. But if you’re attending a speaker event or a meeting, and nothing worthwhile is said, then why take notes? The author says that if the lecturer shares little information, then perhaps mind mapping is a better technique to capture what’s being said.

How to Take Notes in a Lecture: Preparation is the Key

Before classes, do all the required reading. How does the lesson fit in with the class as a whole? Also, understand the terms for the course and abbreviate them. Look at the course schedule to get an idea of what is important.

If you are not a student, how can you best prepare for a meeting? Read through the agenda and any other documents that are circulated. If no documents have been circulated, ask the chair how you can best prepare.

For speaker events, there is usually an outline accompanying promotional information. Read through the information, and note any questions you may want answered.

• Why are you attending the meeting?
• Why are you attending the speaker event?
• How do they fit in with your career plan?

It’s important to ask these probing questions to get the most from the lecture, meeting, or speaker event.

Why Are You Taking Notes in the First Place?

• Are you studying to get a certification?
• Do you want to learn a new skill?

Know why you are taking notes. This will inform your approach to note taking. For instance, you may want to highlight information that's important to you. When I take notes, I often have notes to myself, which is information that I can apply to work. Look for clues from the lecturer or speaker as to what's important.

Make sure that you note all the important points. And keep in mind that not all information is important. Be able to distinguish between essential and non-essential information. Clarifying your purpose for taking notes makes this task easier. If you are having a hard time figuring out if a piece of info is important, jot it down. The more you practice, the better you'll get at determining what is essential and what is non-essential information.

Note Taking Tips and Tricks

• Don't write complete sentences.
• Clues from the speaker about what's important
  • “To summarize…”
  • “The most important…”
  • “Three reasons why this is true…”
  • “This is because:
• Abbreviation essential to good note taking. Use the abbreviations you use when texting.
• Synthesize other information into your notes.
  • This could be diagrams, videos, and quotations.
  • This is another reason for reading more than one author on a certain topic.
  • You round out your knowledge on the topic.

The author, John Connelly mentioned a traffic light method to use in note taking that I thought was very useful. Information highlighted in red means very important. Yellow means medium importance while green means low importance. Colors help with memorization.

Later in the day, if possible, review and rewrite your notes in a neater way. This helps you to have more accurate notes. It is also a form of studying. At this time, also test yourself on the information.

Note Taking and Deconstructing Information – What Does it Mean for You?

I have never associated note taking with deconstructing information. But what John Connelly says in How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily, makes a lot of sense. He reports that it’s important to deconstruct the information so that it’s easier to manage.

What this means is that when you are taking a course, you have a course schedule, which breaks down the information for the entire course in a certain way. It prevents you from becoming overwhelmed because you can manage the information, sections at a time.

If you're a professional, deconstructing information has implications for you as well. Say for example you are attending a speaker event, take a look at the promotional information, and pay attention to the types of information that's beneficial to you. This will help you to also figure out your essential and non-essential information, which will help you with taking notes at the event.

Let's take another example. Say you are reading a book because you want to further your knowledge on a topic you're interested in, you can deconstruct the information by looking at the Table of Content. This directs you to sections in the book to focus on, which will help you with taking notes.

And to go further, how does the information in the course, at the speaker event, or in a book, relate to what you are trying to accomplish in work and life?

Advantages of Active Listening in the Workplace

1. Improved focus and comprehension.
2. Improved problem solving, decision making, and creative thinking.

How to Take Notes: Create a Note Taking Toolkit

I thought this section of the book was fabulous and worth more than the price. This is important to me because of the Read the World Extreme Reading Challenge. Note Taking is a very big part of the challenge, therefore it makes sense to have a note taking toolkit. What John Connelly says, is that it’s important to explore different note taking techniques to become competent at each.

For me, I have used the Cornell Note Taking System, and now I am focusing on digital note taking. I have used mind maps, but I’m not that great using them. Right now, I am learning sketchnoting by going through The Doodle Revolution. What would work for you?

It is important to become skilled at different note taking strategies because different situations may require a different form of note taking.

Example of a Note Taking Process

1. Decide on your purpose for taking notes.
2. Create a template for your notes.
3. Prepare before the event by doing all the required reading. Take notes inside of your template.
4. Write out the questions that you have.
5. Get additional information about the topic. This could mean reading articles and/or watching a YouTube video.
6. Take notes inside your template.
7. Create your abbreviation key. This will speed up your actual note taking.
8. Arrive at the event early.
9. Grab handouts if available.
10. Take class notes in the section you left for it in your template.
11. Ask any outstanding questions you may have.
12. Review your notes after class if you have the time. The sooner you review your notes the more you’ll remember. And it’s a form of studying.
13. Review and rewrite your notes, so they are neater.

Should You Read How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily by John Connelly?

Yes, you should read How to Take Great Notes Quickly and Easily by John Connelly because it introduces you to some unique ideas that can benefit you. I personally got a lot of new information. Although I have not included it, in the book, there is information on how to take notes while reading.

 How To Take Great Notes Quickly And Easily How to take good notes The Doodle Revolution Mind Mapping for Kids The Sketchnote Handbook The Sketchnote Workbook

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