5 ways branded notebooks make knowledge stick

Notetaking can help people understand and hang on opens in new window to important information—especially when those notes are handwritten opens in new window. According to one study, when people sketch while notetaking, it results in even higher retention as multiple areas of the brain are activated, including those associated with listening, seeing, thinking and drawing opens in new window. We offer five notetaking ideas to help your team retain more than ever.

Sketching while notetaking activates multiple parts of the brain.

1. Sketch noting

Help staff retain important information when you encourage them to sketch their notes during meetings and training. Provide every attendee a Dart Infinity Pencil and Moleskine^® Hard Cover Sketchbook. Even if they say they can’t draw, remind them that their sketch notes are for their eyes only.

During seminars and classes, train staff to listen for themes and big ideas and capture them through drawing. Rather than trying to simply remember what was said, drawing key points allows leaners to easily refer to their notes for the broad strokes. Send each team member a Blank Hardcover Moleskine^® Notebook and Color Pencil Six Pack so they have everything they need. They may also appreciate a link to a couple short videos showing the basics of sketching.

2. Bulleting/listicles

A “listicle” is a list of top points. This type of bulleted or numbered list is easy to reference and makes it easy to keep notes organized. Are you providing training? Give each attendee a Meridian Journal and an Alloy RT Pen. Provide tips for creating a clear bulleted list to help your audience remember key points. For instance, refrain from writing in complete sentences and only write down main ideas.

Attach a Sticky Pad to an Italian Leather Journal and pass them out at your next staff training. On the top note, provide a bulleted list of listicle best practices so staff has a clear and easy-to-find example of this helpful technique every time they need to jot notes.

3. Diagraming

Also called mind maps or flow charts, diagramming combines drawing and handwriting to create the best of both worlds. There are countless ways to diagram. Show staff how to use different shapes for different categories of information in a line diagram. For example, ovals depict an action, squares represent the start and end of a process and triangles show the steps within a process.

Give employees a Rocketbook^® Executive Flip Notebook with Pen. This notebook contains ruled and blank pages as well as graph dots to cover all the bases. Plus, the ink from the pen is erasable, so staff can reuse this notebook again and again. A Blank Notebook is another great tool for team members to diagram in the way that suits them best.

4. Key words

Key-word notetaking skips filler words and only records those that are strictly necessary. Words like “the” and “and” aren’t needed for remembering information. Help staff retain important meeting points by giving them a Narrow Rule Composition Notebook with an Anton Pen or Color Pop Pencil. Remind your team not to worry about every sentence, but only important ones, like when a speaker repeats something or highlights a new topic. If something sticks out to them personally, that’s a cue to jot down the key words from that sentence.

Hold a practice session that doubles as professional development so employees can hone their key-word notetaking skills prior to a crucial meeting. Hand attendees a Canberra Compartment Notebook and a pen before the practice session begins. In this type of no-pressure environment, staff can learn to shine when it really counts.

5. The Cornell Method

Hand employees an Eccolo Cool Journal or Mercury Notebook with Stylus Pen for taking notes using the Cornell Method. Have them section off a few pages for outlining, another few pages for cues, and a few more for a summary. The outlining section is for staff to takes notes however they prefer. Once the meeting or session is over, they can jot down questions, sketches or main points as cues to remember larger ideas. Lastly, they summarize the meeting so they can easily retain it. Remind staff that this is about using what works for them, so they should feel free to take creative liberty.

Jot, scribble and sketch

With these five ideas for how to take notes to make information stick, your staff can quickly boost their confidence, skills, memory and productivity. Now that’s something to take note of!