Course Objectives By the end of the day participants should be
able to: Organize their thoughts better Plan better Increase their
memory ability Be creative Solve problems more effectively Take
& make more effective notes Brainstorm Identify & nail
issues
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Course Overview Tony Buzan - the inventor of Mind Maps The
power of the human brain The Brain: Linear Or Non-Linear? What is
Mind Mapping? The laws of Mind Mapping How to Mind Map Benefits And
Uses Of Mind Maps Mind Mapping practise session
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The Inventor Of Mind Maps Tony Buzan The originator of Mind
Maps as well as new developments in the theory. Born in London in
1942 and emigrated to Vancouver in 1954. Graduated from the
University of British Columbia in 1964, Achieved Double Honors in
Psychology, English, Mathematics and General Sciences. Returned to
England in 1966 and published 10 books.
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Tony Buzan Organizations to which he is consultant and use his
techniques include: Oxford University, IBM, Cambridge &
Stanford Universities, Barclays, Shell Oil, DuPont, Xerox, British
Petroleum, General Motors, AT&T, General Electric and Bell
Telephone. Fellow of the Institute of Training and Development;
member of the International Council of Psychologists, among others.
Sports psychologist to Great Britain's Olympic rowing team. His
hobbies include athletics, swimming, astronomy and charity
lecturing for the World Wildlife Fund.
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The brain is a keyboard on which hundreds of millions of
different melodies - acts of behaviour or intelligence - can be
played. Tony Buzan
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The Power Of The Human Brain The potential patterns our brains
can make is greater than we think. We have two upper brains that
operate in different mental areas. The left side deals with logic,
language, reasoning, number, and analysis.
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The Power Of The Human Brain While the left side of the brain
is engaged in these activities, the right side is in the resting
state. The right side of the brain deals with rhythm, music, images
and imagination, colour, parallel processing, daydreaming, face
recognition, and pattern or map recognition.
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The Power Of The Human Brain The reason why our performances do
not match even our minimum potentials is that we are given no
information about WHAT we can do, or HOW we can best utilize our
inherent capacities.
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Why Is This Amazing Organ So Under-used? In school were you
taught anything about your brain and how understanding its
functions could help you learn, memorise, think, etc? Were you
taught anything about how your memory functions? Were you taught
anything about special and advanced memory techniques? Anything
about how your eye functions when you are learning, and about how
you can use this knowledge to your advantage?
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Anything about the ranges of study techniques and how they can
be applied to different disciplines? Anything about the nature of
concentration and how to maintain it when necessary? Anything about
motivation, how it effects your abilities, and how you can use it
to your advantage? Anything about thinking? Anything about
creativity? Why Is This Amazing Organ So Under-used?
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The Brain: Linear Or Non-Linear? Exercise 1 On a blank sheet of
paper, prepare a half- hour speech on the topic of Space Travel.
You have only five minutes for the task, whether or not you have
finished. Note the problems experienced in performing the task in
your notebook. This exercise will be referred to later in the
course.
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The Brain: Linear Or Non-Linear? It has been thought that man's
mind worked in a linear or list-like manner. This belief was held
because of the reliance on two main methods of communication;
speech and print. Speech was seen as a linear or line-like process
because we are restricted to speaking and hearing one word at a
time.
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The Brain: Linear Or Non-Linear? Print was seen as even more
linear because: The individual had to take in units of print in
consecutive order. Print was laid out on the page in a series of
lines or rows.
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The Brain: Linear Or Non-Linear? While speaking, a complex
process of sorting and selecting takes place in our minds. The
listener receives each word in its context of words, interpreting,
analysing, decoding and criticising it. Print is no different. The
linear presentation of print is not necessary for understanding.
The mind is capable of taking in information which is non-linear
such as photographs, illustration, diagrams, etc.
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Conclusion If the brain is to relate to information most
efficiently the information must be structured in such a way as to
'slot in' as easily as possible. Since the brain works with key
concepts in an interlinked and integrated manner, our word
relations should be also structured in this way. Rather than
working top-down in lists, we should start from the main idea and
branch out as dictated by the the central theme. This approach is
known as Mind Mapping.
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What is Mind Mapping? A powerful technique which provides a key
to unlock the potential of the brain, using right brain and left
brain functions. It makes new connections between ideas by
harnessing the full range of word, image, number, logic, rhythm,
colour and spatial awareness. It gives the freedom to capture the
infinite creativity of the brain. It can be applied to every aspect
of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance
productivity.
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Examples Of Mind Maps
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The Laws Of Mind Mapping
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How To Mind Map
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Rule One: A Mind Map commences in the center of a page within a
multi-colored image or symbol. Reasons: This reflects the
many-hooked nature of the brain's thinking processes, and allows
more space and freedom for developing ideas from the central core.
Use image and color to foster a whole brain approach and enhance
both memory and creativity. Rule Two: Main themes are attached to
the central image on six thick lines using large capital letters.
Reasons : The brain works by association, and if the lines are
attached the ideas will internally be similarly "attached." The
lines are thicker and the printing larger to reflect the importance
of these ideas. Rule Three: Lines are connected to lines. Reasons :
The connected structure of the Mind Map reflects the associative
nature of the brain. Rule Four: Words are printed. Reasons : The
immediate "photographic feedback" and comparative clarity of the
printed word give enormous advantage. Rule Five: Words are printed
on lines. Reasons : To give them connection and association to the
basic structure of the Mind Map.
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How To Mind Map Rule Six: Single key words per line. Reasons:
Each key word has its own million-range of possibilities for
association. Placing the key word alone on a line gives the brain
more freedom to branch out from that word. Phrases trap the
individual word, and reduce the possibilities for creativity and
the clarity of memory. Rule Seven: Use of color throughout the Mind
Map. Reasons : Color is a major stimulator of all forms of thought,
and enhances creativity and memory. It also appeals to aesthetic
sensitivities which increase the brain's pleasure in building the
Mind Map, and its interest in returning to, reviewing and using it
Rule Eight: Images throughout the Mind Map. Reasons : The use of
images raises memory performance to near perfect, icreases creative
thinking effectiveness, improves problem solving and
communications. Rule Nine: Use of codes and symbols throughout.
Reasons : Personalized codes using various shapes such as colors
and arrows add a "fourth dimension" to a Mind Map. They greatly
enhance the Mind Mapper's ability to analyze, define, structure,
organize and reason. Rule Ten: The mind should be left as 'free' as
possible. Reasons : Any 'thinking' about where things should go or
whether they should be included will simply slow down the
process.
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Do your space travel speech notes done earlier, but this time
using a mind map rather than the more linear methods. Exercise
2
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Analysis Of Exercises 1 & 2 Problems often noted in the
first exercise include: 1.Order 2.Organisation 3.Logical sequence
4.Time distribution 5.Beginning 6.Emphasis of ideas 7.Ending
8.Mental blocking These problems arise because people try to order
speech without considering all the information available. With the
map approach, spontaneity of thought is part of the overall
process. The list-like method operates against the way the brain
works as each time an idea is thought of, it is put on the list and
forgotten while a new idea is searched for. With the map approach,
each idea is left as an open possibility, so that the map grows
increasingly.
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Benefits Of Mind Maps
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Benefits And Uses Of Mind Maps The centre or main idea is more
clearly defined. The relative importance of each idea is clearly
indicated. More important ideas will be nearer the centre and less
important ideas will be near the edge. The links between the key
concepts will be immediately recognisable because of their
proximity and connection. As a result, recall and review will be
both more effective and more rapid. The nature of the structure
allows for the easy addition of new information without messy
scratching out or squeezing in, etc.
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Uses Of Mind Maps
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Even More Uses..
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..And The List never Ends!
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Transforming A Mind Map Into A Written Or Verbal Form Deciding
on the final order of information is easy once the map has been
completed. Each area of the map can be numbered in the correct
order. Following the logic of the map connections, it can be put
into a written or verbal form. The map stage eliminates the problem
of redrafting