Get ready to… Spice Up Your Note-Taking Skills

What’s the number one aspect of business conferences that makes them worth attending? What attracted you to Nordic Business Forum 2017? We’re willing to bet that it isn’t just our good looks.

We bring some truly amazing people we bring to the stage to share their talent, wisdom, and lessons on life. For two incredible days this October, you will be inundated with information. To make the most of your NBForum 2017 experience, we recommend that you take and review notes as often as possible. In fact, one of our speakers at NBForum 2017 put the value of note-taking quite elegantly:

“No matter how big, small, simple or complex an idea is, get it in writing. But don’t just take notes for the sake of taking notes, go through your ideas and turn them into actionable and measurable goals.” — Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group.

Experts agree that active listening is an effective tool to engage with keynote speakers in the present, and reviewing your notes will help you retain the information from their presentations.

Four Sizes Fit Most

Taking notes is not a one-size fits all solution but there are some techniques that are more effective than others at retaining information. It depends on what kind of learner you are: visual, auditory, read/write, or kinesthetic, or a combination! Which type are you?

Visual learners

Visual learners are the creatives, those who learn best by interpreting information graphically. You may have this learning style if your notes take the form of mind maps, graphs, flow charts, pictures, and sketches to depict information. Those with more practice will also incorporate colors and shapes to designate and categorize information.

Tips for taking notes for visual learners:

• Let your inner artist shine! We will give you a notebook and pen, so you’ll have everything you need to map out all the details while listening to the speeches.
• Annotate. Try taking pictures of keynote slides or other presentation visuals and annotating the pictures on your tablet or computer.
• Fill in the gaps. Refresh your memory and fill in gaps in your notes with our Sketchnotes by Linda Saukkorauta. You can find them here: nbforum.com/blog

Auditory learner

Auditory learners retain information best when it is heard or spoken. You likely fall into this group if you find yourself fully engaged with information presented in lectures, audio recordings, and group discussions. Individuals who learn this way often think out loud and process information as they speak. This even includes talking to yourself!

Tips for taking notes for auditory learners:

• Follow the flow. Chronicle the flow of information during each session by writing down keywords that stand out to you along the way.
• Take study breaks. Use the session breaks to discuss ideas with other seminar guests! We have lots of places for you to conduct these conversations, such as the Meeting Hub with Theme Tables and Brella spot, or the open Networking Area.
• Reflect and discuss. Sign up and attend the Post-Seminar Sessions to reflect on what you hear in the event and partake in topical discussions with your peers.
• BONUS: if you have colleagues who couldn’t attend Nordic Business Forum 2017, then how about you try your hand at teaching them some of the lessons you learned? Studies have found that relaying the information to a 3rd party can boost your own memory retention!

Read/write learner

Read/write learners are all about words. Words, words, words! People with this learning style tend to be most receptive to PowerPoints, websites, to-do lists, or books. And as such, they retain information when they make written notes, which range from a few quotes to an entire transcript!

Tips for taking notes for read/write learners:

• Do the groundwork. Before the event, read some of the books written by our star-studded speaker lineup. Many of them are authors, so you can come to hear them speak and already understand the context of their presentation topic.
• Find the hooks. Listen closely to keynotes and write down facts, quotes, and any key takeaways that you find useful, both in the moment and for later review.
• Get onto our blog. We have instant articles being published after each session to help you remember and reflect on the lessons from each of our speakers.
• BONUS: We will also publish an Executive Summary of the entire event after it finishes, so you won’t want to miss that! Take a peek at one we released this year for NBForum Sweden 2017.

Kinesthetic learner

Kinesthetic learners are the doers in the crowd. They like to link information to experiences, so they lean towards practical, actionable examples. While this may involve visualizing, listening and reading, the key for kinesthetic learners to retain knowledge is to root information in reality. As such, you’re likely a kinesthetic learner if you enjoy case studies, practical sessions, and applying information in your day-to-day life.

Tips for taking notes for kinesthetic learners:

• Write down examples! Lots of our speakers will use examples in their keynotes and discussions because their topics are highly practical. Use these as points to structure your notes, thoughts, and reflections to retain key information.
• Create context. Use the time between sessions to reflect on your key takeaways from each keynote and try to relate it to your own work and/or life. You can also use the time between sessions to discuss ideas with your peers to get you thinking!
• Think and apply. Sign up and attend the Post-Seminar Sessions to take part in topic-based conversations to reflect on the conference content and discuss the implications of practical ideas.

We would love to hear from you if you have any other tips for making your NBForum 2017 a success! Comment below to add your opinions and experiences. And for more great tips on taking notes, watch this video from the experts:

We’re so excited to welcome you to NBForum 2017! Don’t have a ticket? We’re already sold out, but there’s still time to grab your Live Stream license today. Follow us on Facebook (@NBForumHQ) and Twitter (@NBForumHQ and #NBForum2017) to keep up with our announcements as we get closer to the event!