Take Note!

During the year you could spend up to 100 hours listening to Bible talks in ecclesial meetings, youth groups, Bible Schools, study weeks, online talks etc. But you probably recall less than 50% of any one talk after 20 minutes. That’s really frustrating, and it doesn’t get any easier as you get older!

A fading memory

How do you break the habit of just sitting through talk after talk after talk, abandoning the benefits to a fading memory? The answer is simple – form the good habit of taking notes. There’s a saying, purported to be a Chinese proverb, “The weakest ink is stronger than the strongest memory”.

Better still than this proverb is God’s instruction to kings to write out their own copy of the law (Deut 17:18-20). The reason for this was that kings might focus on God’s laws and statutes. It meant they had a personal copy close by to read. It was designed to make them examples, servant-leaders of God’s people, executing God’s statutes in the daily life of the kingdom. One wonders how many kings of Israel and Judah ever made their own copy of God’s law (probably Deuteronomy?). How does this relate to you taking notes during talks?

The benefits of note-taking

As for the kings, the benefits for you are:

1. Focus on God’s Word: Our brain works faster than we hear a speaker’s words, so it is easy for our thoughts to drift. But we can’t write as fast as the speaker’s words, so we need to summarise. Note-taking helps us focus because we need to actively listen and condense the speaker’s main points on paper.
2. Personal copy: Your notes are a permanent record you can use to revise and refresh your memory. The more frequently you revise notes the more likely you will retain the information. Your notes also help when discussing the topic with others later, or condensing them to mark in your Bible. Notes I took many years ago are still easily retrieved and useful in preparing talks.
3. Your example: Taking notes might encourage others to see the value in focusing on the talk and stimulate them to take notes. The speaker too will be encouraged that you’re engaging with his talk.

Learning-style affects how you take notes

Some of us learn more readily by listening and discussing, some visually, some by reading and writing, and others by doing things ‘hands-on’. We also learn at different paces. Our personal learning-style is unique and probably a mixture of different types. Ecclesial presentations are primarily spoken and may be enhanced with slides, which can really help visual learners. Turning up Bible passages helps those who are ‘hands-on’ learners and also slows the pace and creates breaks. Note-taking is beneficial for all learning types, but you may find different note-taking techniques better suited to your style.

Many of us have learnt to take notes in a linear fashion, noting key points and references under headings. This method is particularly suited to auditory learners. It’s also helpful when a speaker’s talk is not particularly well structured as you need to concentrate more on where they are going. Of course, speakers can always help us by presenting a road map for their talk at the beginning. There is a trick to taking linear notes. We tend to want to write down everything the speaker says. But the power of linear note-taking is in a well understood and condensed record, not a verbatim account.

A visual presentation of the message is best retained and holds the attention of some of us. If that’s you, then you might prefer to take notes using a mapping technique, summarising the flow of ideas in a “mind-map” of one form or another. The more artistic among us may also introduce diagrams, pictures and colour to enhance their notes.

Both types of note-taking, and variations around these, are great ways for ‘hands-on’ learners too. Whatever form of notes you take will help you focus on the speaker and his topic, and leave you with a permanent record that will be of benefit in the future.

Retrieve and refresh

Imagine how satisfying and helpful it would be, when you vaguely recollect a great point in a talk, some interesting cross-reference or helpful practical idea, to be able to retrieve your notes to refresh your memory. Better still would be to condense your notes even further and mark them in your Bible so you can refresh your memory every time you turn to that passage. This takes note-taking to the next level of note-making.

For some examples of note-taking techniques that might best suit you, check out the article >> “The Good Habit of Note-taking”.