Читать книгу Mind Map Handbook: The ultimate thinking tool - Тони Бьюзен, Tony Buzan - Страница 8

 Communication and Presentations Mind Map

 Planning Family Events Mind Map

 Persuading People and Negotiating with Mind Maps

 Romantic Weekend Mind Map

 Telephone Calls Mind Map

 Starting a New Venture Mind Map

 Shopping Mind Map

 Reduce a Book to a Single Page Mind Map

Now you have mastered the basics, it is time to introduce you to a range of the most popular and successful applications for Mind Maps in your daily life.

You now know that Mind Maps have many advantages, including saving time, organizing and clarifying your thinking, generating new ideas, keeping track of things, dramatically improving memory and concentration, stimulating more of your brain, allowing you to keep your eye on the ‘whole picture’, and, very importantly, being fun to do!

In this chapter I am going to put all these advantages to work for you.

You will learn how to apply this master thinking technique to a whole range of the most important Life Skills including planning, shopping, studying, note-taking, coming to new realizations and awareness, and making presentations. You will then be able to Mind Map your way through any problem (Plate 2).

Communication and Presentations Mind Map

Being asked to make a speech or presentation is ranked as the number one fear on the planet – higher than the fear of snakes, spiders, rodents, war, disease, violence, and even death!

Why?

Because when making a speech or presentation we are both physically and mentally utterly exposed. There is no escaping the inevitable mistakes in front of the audience.

Thus the dread.

To deal with this dread, most people spend hours and days preparing written presentations that waste precious time and which often have the opposite effect to that desired.

Because they are written in sentence form, and because we do not speak in this form, they become monotonous and boring. In addition, because you have to keep on looking down at the words, you lose contact with the audience. In further addition, because you have to keep looking back up at the audience you increase the probability that you will lose your place. On top of all this, because you have to hold the pages, you trap your extraordinarily expressive body in an immobile prison, thus losing more than 50% of your communication ability at the start.

Mind Maps to the rescue!

In the same way as you Mind Mapped ‘Fruit’, simply place the topic of the speech in the centre of the page, and radiate out the main key images and words you wish to address.

When you have completed the Mind Map, number the central branches in the order in which they are to be presented, and highlight any major points or any major connections between the branches.

You will be delighted to know that for making speeches, the standard rule is one key word or image for one-minute’s worth of speech on a topic you know well. Thus for a half-an-hour speech you need only a small Mind Map to complete your task more than successfully.

The advantage of using a Mind Map for presentations, which millions of people in the business world now do, is that it keeps your mind constantly aware of the ‘whole picture,’ allows you to add and subtract information as the time for your presentation approaches, and guarantees that you will cover all the major points you wish to address. Your eyes will be able to make much more contact with your audience, your body will be a lot more free, and so will your mind.

Presentation Mind Maps give you that ultimate freedom – the freedom to be yourself. And audiences appreciate nothing more than someone who is doing just that.

For an example of a completed Mind Map on this subject, turn to Plate 3.

Planning Family Events Mind Map

A dear friend of mine uses Mind Maps to plan all her family’s daily, weekly, annual, and special events. Her Mind Maps appear in a place, commonly known as the community hub of the family and where they are increasingly to be found: on her fridge door!

She, in her own words, will tell you how she uses them, what for, and what the advantages are.

‘Before I had heard about Tony and his Mind Maps, I was in chaos! I consider myself a pretty typical twenty-first century woman – I want it all! I am a wife, a mother, I have a career, I like to keep fit and I love my social life. Everything has equal importance and I enjoy all the demands and successes. And I certainly don’t want to miss out on anything, least of all any of my son’s important activities – be they studying for exams, attending a concert, helping him with his art project, or making sure his hair is cut in time for the school photo!

However, I realized that wanting it all meant that I had to be super efficient in my organization at home. While packing my briefcase for the following day’s meetings, had I remembered to pick up the dry-cleaned suit for my husband’s important meeting the next day, or that the dog’s appointment with the vet was at 3.00 p.m. at precisely the same time as I had a meeting, so who was going to take him? And which day of the week was it in my son’s school schedule? If tomorrow was Wednesday, he needed his football boots and his piano music and would need to be picked up later than usual as he was in the school musical rehearsal and then when he came home he had homework to do before supper, bath and bed! Oh, and my mother was arriving for two days – must make sure the guest bed had clean sheets on and get in more food, and send off the deposit for our vacation or we would lose the reservation! And remember to call Susie to tell her that I can’t join her at the yoga class after all because of all of the above.

Most of the time, we somehow muddled through (with frantic phone calls from the school about some vital piece of equipment that had been forgotten and equally frantic calls from my husband reminding me of that important business dinner that yes, I had forgotten about). Then I heard about Mind Maps. I couldn’t think what on earth these could possibly be, but was sold on the idea that on one piece of paper I could map out our daily or weekly diary so that all of us knew just exactly what the other was doing and what was needed. This has quite simply transformed my life! I now have a Mind Map on our fridge door and can visually see what the week ahead holds. It goes up at the weekend and we all do it together and add to it as the week progresses. I don’t think my life has ever run so efficiently.’

What my friend has demonstrated is that a Mind Map is a wonderful way to note down, in an attractive and organized way, everything you have to do. You can either have one overall Mind Map or a series of mini-Mind Maps that cover the areas of your future activities. These Mind Maps will give you a good degree of control over your future, and will help you plan far more easily and effectively.

For an example of one of her Mind Maps see Plate 4.

Persuading People and Negotiating with Mind Maps

Persuading other people to see things from our point of view is necessary for survival.

In every walk of life and on a daily basis, we are all involved in persuading people. Whether it be deciding on where to go on vacation, bargaining for a better deal, attempting to sell something, or even applying for a job, the result depends on our ability to persuade.

In these communications you need to be prepared, and a Mind Map is an excellent preparation tool.

Before entering the ‘persuasion zone’, Mind Map out the entire situation, including as your main branches the big goals you have in the situation. Consider the arguments you want to put forward, and note them down in key words and images. You could, for example, use a Mind Map to argue for a raise. You could use the Mind Map to map out all the reasons you deserve more money, taking into account not just your strengths but your weaknesses, in order to pre-empt any objections. You could also use the Mind Map to highlight any particular successes you have had in your present role.

It is also a good idea to include other people’s points of views in your Mind Map. When you do this, it gives you a much better overall picture, and allows you to make your points in a spirit of mutual co-operation rather than one of mutual combat!

Mind Maps are especially useful when it comes to negotiating contracts. Getting that all-important ‘whole picture’ and proper perspective is far easier if you use a Mind Map. A Mind Map also helps you add as much detail as necessary without getting lost, because words, colours, symbols, and other Mind Mapping techniques concentrate the information while at the same time organizing it effectively for you.

Colour codes

Colour codes are especially useful. They can highlight areas that are negotiable, non-negotiable, or neutral while the contract is being negotiated. This allows you to concentrate on what is important and not waste time and energy on the irrelevant.

The more contract negotiations get bogged down, the more the Mind Map comes to the rescue. It enables you to see the ‘whole picture’ all the time and that you see relationships that might otherwise be invisible.

One lawyer, who was negotiating a long and complex case, used Mind Maps to keep track of everything over a period of six months. His memory of and grasp of the case was so immense, complex, and complete that his offices were raided by the opposition looking for the secret electronic equipment they thought he must be smuggling into court to give him such perfect control of the case!

Romantic Weekend Mind Map

Planning a romantic weekend can cause a lot of anxiety and stress, because it is so important that such events are wonderfully successful. As with any other form of planning, if any vital ingredient is missing or forgotten, the whole event could be a catastrophe. This is where Mind Maps can come to the rescue again! With your Romantic Weekend Mind Map you will radiate, from a suitably romantic central image, the main branches of the things you need to consider.

These will include location, travel, activities, food, drinks, equipment (including clothes, toiletries, books, and games), and special surprises, etc.

Perhaps the main advantage of the Mind Map for planning the romantic weekend is that it gives a much greater probability that the weekend will be a success, and simultaneously gives you more confidence and less stress.

The confident and relaxed individual is a much more attractive romantic partner!

For an example of a completed Mind Map on this subject, turn to Plate 5.

Telephone Calls Mind Map

Many people make notes during important telephone calls. Business calls, for example, can be extremely complicated and it is easy to miss information if you are not adequately prepared. Similarly, if you are planning a vacation, you may need to jot down details of your itinerary. A Mind Map is ideal for this purpose.

Begin with the central image that summarizes either the topic of the conversation or the essence of the person with whom you are talking. Your first main branch will include the person’s name and the date. You print each main subject on a branch radiating from the centre, adding details using single key words, codes, and images printed on the smaller branches.

As the conversation progresses, the information goes on the page in a way that helps your brain ORGANIZE, REMEMBER, COMPARE, and CONNECT very quickly. When the subject changes, add another branch using key images, codes, and words on the line as before. When the conversation goes back to an early subject, simply go back to the appropriate branch and add the new information.

The telephone conversation can regularly dance from topic to topic, often returning to particular points again and again. With the Mind Map, this is easy to handle because the information always ends up where it belongs. Normal notes simply record, chronologically (not truly logically) the flow of data. This means that the key information gets scattered and lost. You will often find that the information coming out of your telephone call Mind Map is a lot more organized than the information that originally came in on the telephone!

In telephone call Mind Maps, colour adds another useful dimension. You might use red for what you have to act on right away and blue for things you can deal with later.

Pre-drawing the branches for calls you initiate is a good way to keep things on track. This will allow the branches and key words and images to remind you of both what the conversation is about and your goals. People who use Mind Maps get more information across in less time. They are also much more organized and focused because they have a picture of what they want to talk about in front of them.

When you do pre-draw your Mind Maps in this way, it will avoid the incredibly frustrating experience of having to telephone people back because you have ‘just remembered’ (after you have hung up!) a vitally important topic that you forgot to mention. Telephone call Mind Maps save you time, save you embarrassment and save you money!

Starting a New Venture

As you have seen so far, Mind Maps are a fantastic planning tool. They enable you to see the ‘whole picture’ and ensure that nothing is left to chance. What better way, then, to plan a new venture?

Perhaps you are thinking of starting up your own business, like a store or a company. Or perhaps you want to do something on a smaller scale, like starting up a babysitting service or a social club. Whatever your idea, Mind Maps can help you plan smarter and be more successful.

There are so many things to consider when you are starting up a new venture. It can be a really daunting task. However, if you use a Mind Map you can make sure you have thought everything through carefully first. For example, where will you locate your business? Do you need your own premises or can you work from home? And what about staff? Do you need to employ other people or can you manage alone? How will you finance your venture? Will it take a lot of start-up capital? Do you need to borrow money? All of these issues can be plotted out on your Mind Map, using the key words for each of the main things you have to consider. This will allow you to see problems before they arise, and take the necessary steps to avoid them.

As your venture develops, you can use your Mind Map as a constant point of reference to check that things stay on track. For example, very often your finances and cash flow take up so much time and importance that it is easy to forget all the brilliant marketing ideas you had for making money in the first place (ironically, it is these very marketing initiatives that could increase your revenue). But if you refer to your Mind Map on a regular basis, you will not forget any of your initial ideas, and you will be able to implement them when the time is right.

With a Mind Map at your side, you are giving your new venture a head start to success.

For an example of a completed Mind Map on this topic, turn to Plate 6.

Shopping Mind Map

Mind Maps are a wonderful shopping aid. They guarantee that you remember everything you wish to buy, and streamline the entire process. They also feed your brain with a constant diet of whole-brain stimulation as you use the Mind Map to remind you while you shop.

No more the infuriating confetti of random scraps of paper, which fracture your thinking, stress your mind with uncertainty, and as often as not get lost! You could even use a Mind Map to plan out all your shopping when faced with buying gifts for Christmas or other special occasions.

First, draw a central image to remind you of your shopping. Then use each of the main branches to think about each person for whom you are buying. Write their names as key words and draw in some sub-branches on which to put their details. For instance, what are their hobbies, their likes and their dislikes? This will help you decide what gifts would be most suitable.

You can even use the Mind Map to work out the most efficient route for your shopping trip and the best stores for each present. Then, when you actually go out, you can take your Mind Map with you for reference to make sure you remember everything.

Use a Mind Map to shop, and your shopping planning will be faster and more efficient, you will buy everything you wished to buy, you will rid yourself of the nagging doubt that you have forgotten something, and you will never have to make those unnecessary return trips to pick up those things you forgot! (See Plate 7 for a Mind Map on this topic.)

How to Reduce a Book to a Single Page Mind Map

Mind Mapping a book is easy. In fact books are made to be Mind Mapped! This can be invaluable for study. Mind Maps enable you to get to grips with the subject before you start, as well as providing a fantastic study aid to which you can refer.

To reduce a book to a single page, first scan through the book, checking for the main divisions and chapter headings. These will give you the main branches of your Mind Map, which can radiate from your central image. The central image will either be one that summarizes the topic of the book or an illustration of the book itself.

With this master structure in place, you can fill in the details as you go, even though you are not always reading ‘in the right order’.

The Mind Map, because it is a ‘self-organizing system’, will present to you the developing overview of the work, increasing your understanding and comprehension, making your study and learning faster and more enjoyable, and vastly improving your memory.

When you review a Mind Map of a book, it is like looking at a photograph album where you immediately remember vast arrays of information with the trigger of each of those ‘thousand words’ pictures.

Novels are easy to Mind Map. With a novel the chapter headings, if there are any, will probably not make the best main branches. Something else, however, will!

All novels are made up of a number of major component parts, which allow you to condense an entire book onto a single page. These main elements are:

Plot – the structure of events

Characters – their type and development

Setting – the places and times where the events of the novel take place

Language – its general level, the type of vocabulary and its rhythm

Imagery – the kind of images the author provides for your imagination

Themes – the kind of ideas with which the novel deals, including such common themes as love, power, money, religion, etc.

Symbolism – where the author substitutes one thing to mean another – for example flowers for love, thunderstorms for anger, calm seas for peace, etc.

Philosophy – some books present a point of view in order to challenge the way we think

Genre – novels can be categorized under different headings, for instance, political, adventure, mystery, detective, historical, etc.

When you Mind Map a novel in this way, you will never again get confused about which character is which, what time is when or what is actually going on! The Mind Map will be like a beacon for you, lighting your way as you progress, and giving you a far richer, deeper and more complete understanding and appreciation of whatever you read.

If you are studying or planning to take further education courses in any subject, book Mind Maps are the ideal way to get that ‘A’!

Computer Mind Maps

Computers can be helpful when you Mind Map! Although it is still your brain that comes up with all the ideas, the latest software can allow you to draw a Mind Map on your screen. The advantages of this are obvious. You can save your Mind Maps in a file and then transmit this information to others. Computer Mind Maps allow you to store vast amounts of data in Mind Map form, to cross-reference that data, to shift branches around from one part of the Mind Map to another, to rearrange entire Mind Maps in light of new information, and to hold global conferences.

Many companies are now using computer Mind Maps for storing and sharing information and for keeping track of projects. Use them in conjunction with handmade Mind Maps – the combination is explosive!

As you have seen, Mind Maps have many and very varied uses.

In the chapter that follows, I will introduce you to Mind Maps as a super-tool for improving your creativity and ability to generate thoughts. First because creativity is such a vital ingredient in our modern lives, and secondly because using Mind Maps creatively reveals a fact about your brain and its potential that will amaze and delight you.