Note-taking involves writing down knowledge or information learned from a specific, usually oral, source, such as a lecture or presentation. Note-taking can be tedious and tiring when there is a lot of information to acquire.

As a writer, you will often have to collect information from different sources in order to write good content. Knowing how to effectively take notes will heighten your chances of gathering relevant information from your sources.

It will help you keep tabs on the information given by the speaker, some of which you might not expressly come across in the provided material for the lecture or presentation (if there is any).

In other words, note-taking gives you the opportunity to write down vital information as the speaker speaks. It is quite sensible to take notes so that you won’t miss out on essential points.

Taking notes from written materials can be a piece of cake. You can easily bookmark, highlight or write out what you need. Doing the same as the speaker speaks, however, can be tedious if you do not know how to do it. It used to be one hell of a task for me until I learnt how to effectively do it. Here are some of the effective tips you can use in your note-taking.

Effective tips in note-taking

Be a good listener

If you are not a good listener, you cannot be a good notetaker. Pay attention to the speaker. Allow your mind and your hand to work simultaneously. This will make your noting effective.

Have a jotter/scribbling pad

This will give you the room to write freely.

You can easily strike out your mistakes and arrange your points before transferring them to your main writing.

Filter and pick the relevant information

Trying to write exactly all the speaker says is a wrong way of jotting. That was why I mentioned earlier that you have to be a good listener. This will help you to pick the relevant information to jot down.

Outline and make your writing legible

The fact that you are taking notes means that you need the information to develop your content. Imagine if you went back to it afterwards and found it difficult to make anything out.

Outline your writing. Make sure to indicate the topic, headings, subheadings, key points and cues as the case may be. And while you are at it, let your writing be legible. Do not muddle up your writing.

Use Abbreviations

Avoid writing word for word. You are not a recording machine, so go easy on yourself. Even stenographers employ the use of shorthand. Rather than writing word for word, use abbreviations and shorthand instead.

Note: For this particular tip to be effective, you have to learn and get familiar with your abbreviations and shorthand. If you don’t, your note will become an encrypted message difficult to decipher when you actually need it.

Go back to your note and build on it

Revisit your note. When you have done good note-taking, developing it and making content out of it won’t be difficult. You can now take your time to write neatly. If you’ve done a good job, you will recollect some of the things that were said as you go through your note.

Using your own words, you can add all the detail you need to make a good, comprehensive write-up.

Ajimuda Evelyn Temitayo is a writer, poet and blogger. She is a creative who brings imaginations alive.