COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES- I ENGLISH WRITING 29. LISTENING AND WRITING SKILLS: TAKING NOTES AT A MEETING This is the fifth lesson under the fifth unit where you will be working on Listening and Writing Skills with specific reference to taking notes while at a meeting. This lesson moves forward from the previous lessons in this unit where there was a focus on writing skills with reference to sentences, paragraphs and essays. In this lesson, writing skills of a different kind will be discussed along with listening skills. ______________________________________________________________
29.0 Objectives By the end of this unit you will: i. ii. iii. iv. v.
sharpen your listening skills develop the capacity to look for important or key ideas distinguish between relevant information and subsidiary details gain speed in comprehension and preparation of notes learn to save time by taking notes even while listening
29.1 Introduction The course you have enrolled for viz. Modern Office Management and Secretarial Practice is designed to equip you with the required skills for a job in basic office administration. Your job will involve many responsibilities. One of them could be secretarial involving participation in informal as well as formal meetings. You will be required to take down a gist of important points that are discussed at such meetings. These could be in the nature of suggestions, directions, commitments, action points, opposing points, etc. It is essential that all these be recorded so that proper documentation of the issues discussed takes place. Later you will be required to prepare a final write-up based on these jottings. In turn, it will have to be circulated appropriately to concerned persons and preserved so that the action taken on each point is monitored and the objectives are achieved. Sometimes you may participate in meetings where the important points discussed may be for your own use, e.g. a staff meeting or a meeting to highlight the performance of the company. The notes you take down on such occasions will serve to increase your awareness of the organization you work for. Your skills in this area would therefore be crucial.
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You need to become more alive to what is being spoken around you and in the process sharpen your listening skills. As you will learn in this lesson, alertness in listening and constant improvisation in the manner of jotting down essential points will be critical issues. Do pay careful attention to the methods and manner of preparedness for note taking, discussed in the lesson and thereafter practice with a partner who will either talk or read out a speech/passage while you take notes.
29.2 Why Take Notes? Note-taking enables you to stay actively involved and focused on what is going on. It prevents you from daydreaming. It is extremely easy to have one’s mind wander, especially if a meeting is getting to be a lengthy one. It also helps you know exactly what is going on, so you can be an informed participant, in case you are asked to contribute to the discussion. Note-taking provides a means for you to jot down your ideas, questions and comments as they come up during the meeting. This way, you will still be able to remain focused on the on-going discussions without getting diverted by the worry of trying to remember the thoughts that come to your mind. Note-taking communicates the message accurately. You will be able to report the details of the meeting accurately. This way, nothing of importance is misinterpreted, since it is not left on memory.
29.3 Tips to Keep in Mind when Taking Notes Remember to follow the steps given below for best results • •
• • •
listen carefully and pay close attention to the main ideas as you are never sure the speaker is going to repeat what he said look for cues like ‘Remember’, ‘Please note’, ‘It is important’; a pause before or after a statement means the speaker is about to say or has said something significant look for phrases where the speaker is introducing an important idea be alert to the speaker repeating or emphasizing a point repeat to yourself what you are jotting down; remember important words Steps That You Can Follow For Note-Taking
1. Use a form where you can jot down the points. (Look at the suggested graphic organizer below). 2
2. Create columns for major points and sub points. 3. Concentrate and look for key words or phrases introducing an important point. 4. Be consistent but selective capturing main and all sub points. 5. Organize notes in a logical form. 6. Briefly jot down the major points; highlight the more important ones. 7. Be legible otherwise you will not be able to read or understand the notes later. 8. There is no need to pay attention to spelling and grammar while taking notes; use abbreviations and shortcuts. 9. Jot down a phrase instead of a complete sentence, a word instead of a phrase and a symbol or abbreviation instead of a word. 10. Use symbols to abbreviate like: 1 for one, 2nd for second. 11. Abbreviate words by dropping some letters and vowels in the word like: ‘frmlt’ for formulate and ‘sml’ for small; though there are no rules for this you can evolve your own abbreviations provided you are sure you understand them later. (It is important to be consistent with your abbreviations in all your documents so you do not get confused and waste time trying to decipher your own notes!) 12. Do away with small (insignificant) verbs/connecting words like: is, are, a, an, except for important connecting words like: and, on, before 13. Schedule a time to review your notes and transcribe them as needed. If you need to prepare a final document, try to do it as soon as possible, after the meeting, so you remember the exact context of each point that was discussed. If you follow the steps for note taking given above, you will find it easy to prepare the final document in a manner that can be easily read and understood by all.
29.4 Format for Note-Taking It is important that you adopt a format to follow that will be easy to understand. Given below is a sample of a graphic organizer format that you may use. Sample of Notes Taken at a Meeting DATE: 2006
July
20, TOPIC OF DISCUSSION: Staff Picnic MEETING PLACE: Staff Rm
TIME: 3:45 p.m. Main Ideas/Topics: Persons Present
Points of Supporting details • Mohan • P.N. • K.M. • S.P. • B.J. • M.K.
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• S.K. • A. S. • B. H. • Kamini 1. What • Staff Picnic 2. When • Sept. 29th 2006 3. Where • Central Gardens; main pavillion 4. Who • All staff • Fmly members 5. Tsk Delegation • Anncmnt: S.P. (stf memo) • Caterers: P.N. (sugg.- Gold; R.M. Foods) • Games: K.M & team (collct ideas, survey othrs 1st) • Team Bldg Act.: B.J. (ref. last yr notes) • Prizes: .J.P.; Kamini M. (chk budget) • Photos: M.K. • Other? - S.P. w. snd memo ~ other resp. & bus avlbty 6. Status Report Aug. 4 @ 4:30 p.m. Mtg
Self-Check Questions Give one line/short answers. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Give any four examples of abbreviations used while taking down notes. What do you need to do with the notes taken down, after the meeting? What is the first step to be adopted before taking down notes? While at a meeting how would you know that an important point is about to be covered?
29.5 Summing Up In this sub unit you were taught strategies that would help you effectively take down notes at a meeting. You learnt that in order to do so you need to • • • • • •
be alert and look for cues be consistent and coherent give priority to important ideas and issues follow a method in taking notes be legible use symbols and abbreviations that you can understand later It is important that you continue to apply these strategies on a daily basis so that they come to you easily when the occasion arises.
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To achieve this, we suggest that you listen to recorded short talks and apply these notes taking strategies. Thereafter, prepare a note based on your jottings, listen to the recorded talk again and try to evaluate yourself on the following basis: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Did I follow a method? Are my notes clear or confusing? Did I catch main points and all sub points? Did I use simplified abbreviations and symbols?
29.6 Answers to Self-Check Questions 1. 5 for five, 10th for tenth, assn. for association, plng. for planning (learner may have many more examples to give) 2. Transcribe the notes/prepare the final document, as soon as possible, after the meeting, so you remember the exact context of each point that was discussed. 3. Use a form with columns for major and sub points, where you can jot down the points correctly. 4. Usually key words or phrases like ‘Please note’ or ‘It is important’ introduce an important point.
29.7 References 1. http://www.arc.sbc.edu/notes.html 2. Sebranek, Patrick and Verne Meyer and Dave Kemper. Write Source 2000. Wisconsin: Write Source Educational Publishing House, 1995.
29.8 Glossary • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Abbreviations: short forms of words Action point: the person (or department) that has to do the thing or perform the action Capture: catch Coherent: logical and easy to understand Commitment: assurance to do something Consistent: steady Cue: indication; signal Direction: instruction to do Dissent: objection Highlight: draw attention to or emphasize Legible: clear or readable Selective: choose carefully Shortcut: easy method Symbol: a sign, which represents a word or a number
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