13/05/2009
It constantly amazes me how few people take notes during a conference. Time and time again I sit or stand in rooms with some of Australia's best speakers presenting to see people sit there and not take notes. Organisations and individuals pay a lot of money to hear speakers and/or each other speak. Venues, food, wages, speakers fees and audio visual equipment are all expenses that are being borne by you and/or your company. That aside, your most precious asset is your time and you are willingly giving that to be in a room to hear someone speak. So why wouldn't you take notes? The Institute of Accelerated Learning states that only 1 in 10 people actually learn or process new information simply by hearing it. So why is it that people sit there eagerly shaking their head, agreeing with what you're saying and supposedly learning something, yet they write nothing down?
Given the quality of people I see speaking to audiences its hard to believe that they're not getting some cracking nuggets to implement for themselves, their family, their children or their workmates. If you think you're going to remember the content past leaving the room and having your first up of coffee, you're kidding yourself.
Learning is like watching a bird in a tree. While its in front of you and its conscious, its great, but the minute you turn your back the bird flies out of the tree and is gone forever. Take notes! Buy yourself a good journal and whenever you go to a meeting, conference, seminar or a training session, take your journal with you and record your notes. Trust me it will become your ultimate learning and development resource in your pursuit of outstanding.