Today’s post is in response to a comment to a previous post on personal development books for students and one on speed reading. Both of them ask the same question “When speed reading, should I highlight? While I do speed reading or after?”
Archive for the 'Note Taking' Category
If you’ve been subscribed to my blog for a while, you’ve come to realise that my study book is a system that teaches how to think like an A student without having to spend hours and hours studying, becoming a nerd or a geek. The best way to explain what I do for students is to hear from them directly, like David Fisher below:
Hello Marc
I have been reading your study ebook and have only once listened to your speed reading video once.
The extra emails you send after I bought your study book are great as they keep me on track, otherwise I would wonder a bit.
I am working on a better format for my notes with more drawings and mindmaps as this is a better form of learning for me and audio tapes. (Now that I know
this thanks to your book!)
Exams start end of the month so the next stage is to compile my class notes into A3 mindmap layouts (any extra tips on this technique) would be good and then
the exams.
I am now in a study room not the office which had too many distractions and getting into the mind zone more quickly – it’s the little suggestions like this that make all the difference.
I don’t cold read my study guide and text anymore so I pre-read first to get a general understanding then highlight and compose the notes and now I
comprehend and remember a lot more. I can afford to do this because I can do speed reading, even though I still need to improve and increase my reading speed.
My assignment grades have increased from about 60-80% to the last one which I got 88%!!! This was my highest grade. 
My studies are extramural so no lecturers only Webct, study guide and textbooks.
I am practicing my speed reading and using on my first read but need to work on this more. When you speed read a page when do you highlight the text? I read the paragraph then go back and highlight?
So lots more to learn!
Thanking you very much for you help.
David Fisher
Stay tuned for the answers to David’s questions about MindMapping and highlighting while or after Speed Reading…
You might have taken a look at my study book and considered buying it. If you haven’t bought it yet, listen to David’s experience and ask yourself – if it works for him, why wouldn’t it work for you?
Hello Marc
I have been reading your e book and have only once listened to your speed reading video. The extra emails are great as it keeps me on track otherwise I could wander a bit and lose focus on what I should be doing rather than just go through the motions.
I am working on a better format for my class notes with more drawings/mind maps as this is a better form of learning for me and audio recordings. (Now that I know this from your book that explained how to determine my own learning style).
Exams start end of the month so the next stage is to compile the notes into A3 mind maps layouts.
I am now in a study room not the office which had too many distractions that prevented me from getting into the right mind ‘zone’.
I don’t cold read my study guide and text any more so I pre-read first to get a general understanding then highlight and compose the notes and now I comprehend more. (I can’t believe the difference this makes!)
My assignment grades have increased from about 60-80% to the last one 88% and this was the highest grade.
My studies are extramural so no lecturers only Webct and study guide/text books.
I am practicing your speed reading techniques and using it the first time I read something but need to work on this more.
Thanking you very much for you help.
David Fisher
The Economist Magazine recently reported that a male university graduate will make $82,000 more in his working lifetime than his non-university graduate peer. This includes the cost of tuition, lost wages while studying as well as extra taxes paid. What this simply means is that it pays to get better grades.
But getting better grades is not just about winging it – you need to be systematic and discipline about it. My study book and this blog are great way to learn to get better grades with less effort. My study book comes with many bonus materials that will help you – go to the product page now and check it out.
The Pareto Principle also called the 80/20 rule is one of the most powerful study techniques I teach in my study book. Simply put, success in school is about knowing WHAT to study and WHEN. In my study book, I combine that with a concept from the 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People that takes away all the guesswork for you. It’s priceless to any student stressed about about exams, lab reports, quizzes and term papers.
If you never seen a MindMap, check out the one below created by Paul Telling, Melbourne-based communication transformation expert who turns boring documents, presentations and speeches into re-usable engaging unique masterpieces that surprise and WOW your audiences, create clearer, shorter and more engaging communications!
MindMap Of Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort
Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort MindMap
This is now a FREE Bonus when you purchase Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort.
It gets better than that – you’ll also receive a FULL COLOUR MINDMAP of each chapter to help you remember and understand more about how to study!
Isn’t that cool?
PLUS there are dozens of additional ’secret’ bonuses delivered to you once you purchase the book!
Today’s post is from Max Namgung who asked an excellent question – What’s included in the Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort e-book?…
You get all of the following:
- The powerful, grade-changing eBook electronically delivered to your inbox
- Access to this blog so you can ask ANY QUESTION you have that I will personally answer, like your private tutor.
- The Speed Learning Videos, which are valued at $47 – see the site that sells them – but YOU GET THEM FOR FREE with the e-book!
The Speed Learning Video Includes:
- 4 keys to help you accomplish any goal faster (a new twist that will make this automatic for you)
- How to meet deadlines with ease and without driving yourself crazy!
- How to get into the peak performance ‘zone’ on command, that makes you feel unstoppable.
- What an Olympian can teach you about how to tap into your own unique brain “programming” to MAXIMISE your grades or any performance in life.
- Should you cram at the last minute or study one week in advance? – this will blow you away!
- What to do if you’re a PROCRASTINATOR and how to use it to your advantage.
- How to absorb and remember even banal and boring information that can be critical to achieving top grades.
- 2 little-known questions you must ask yourself to help you read faster and with better comprehension.
- Should you use a highlighter when reading? – most people do this wrong!
- The #1 reason why many students fail and what you must know to master any subject or any skill faster than most people!
- The Rubik’s cube strategy to solve complex problems quickly and without effort.
- How to immediately tell information that’s true from information that’s inaccurate so you can make the right decisions at school and in life.
- How to speed-read ON SCREEN 200% faster than even quick readers and master the skill in 60 seconds or less!
- Why people stop half way and don’t finish what they start and what to do so that it doesn’t happen to you.
- How can the clothes you wear wreck or improve your grades – something your Maths teacher never told you!
- The reason why you keep forgetting important things when under pressure and how to recall important details when you need them most.
- The #1 study technique to instantly improve your grades using only a pen and paper
- One 9-letter word to turbo-charge your memory and help you remember things like calculus, physics, maths, geography or history without breaking a sweat!
- Should you study early or late at night?
- Should you do the easiest or the hardest exam questions first?
- How to do multiple exams one after the other and get top grades without freaking out.
- A system to help you remember and recall quickly tons of information on demand.
- The Case Method used by Harvard Business School and how it can help you to develop analytical skills, sound judgment, and leadership potential.
In this 61-minute recording, I reveal my personal strategies to help you get the best grades with the least amount of effort. These are strategies that are difficult to explain on paper but are an absolute MUST to help you unleash your full potential.
You’ll learn how to tailor the techniques contained in Get the Best Grades With the Least Amount Of Effort to your own unique style and personality.
The strategies you learn in this video will radically change your results at school and in any area of your life:
Because I KNOW this video has the potential to supercharge your results and grades the moment you watch it, I’m including it with How To Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort.
Get your copy of the book now, BEFORE this $47 bonus video is taken away
Are you tired of constantly taking notes and still not remembering everything your teacher says?
If so, you’ll be happy to know I’ve put together some informative techniques for you. Once you start using these methods, remembering will become much easier for those difficult tests ahead.
Ready?
Successful Study Skill #1: Use Coloured Pens and Pencils
Take out some of your notes right now. What is the same throughout all of them?
I bet it’s he pen or pencil colour. When something is one dimensional like this on an entire page, it’s hard to remove segments from each page. Instead, try using coloured pens and pencils to take your notes.
Remember, make this a routine and positive results will soon follow. How soon?
Within HOURS. You’ll start to KNOW and FEEL like you can remember more, but NOTHING happens unless you give it a go.
The more visual cues you can create, the easier it will be to recall information later. The use of colours is the simplest way to improve memory recall. As you begin experimenting with different colours, you may notice that some colours work better than others. You may even prefer to use some colours for specific uses.
I like to write the body of my text in a colour other than blue, usually black, with non-black highlights. I always correct it in red if necessary. This is due to the extreme contrast that black and red represent to one another. You’ll end up being able to find it much easier on your pages cluttered with notes.
Sometimes, when I am studying something I find boring, I will write the notes in purple or green so it stands out in my mind – when I am trying to recall THAT topic, I can think in purple or green instead of trying to ‘find it’ amongst the blue and black.
Successful Study Skill #2: Underline and Accentuate Important Items
This is very important when taking notes. Be creative and explore different variations. Multi-stroke, underlining, boxes, circles, and shadows are effective in drawing attention to increasingly important items or definitions. Just be sure not to overdue it or this technique will become ineffective.
You’ll know when you get to the right proportion of highlighting.
You’ll also know if it’s better for you to capture the notes FIRST and then come back to HIGHLIGHT later. I find it helps to do it LATER if I have trouble remembering something. If I can easily remember, I won’t highlight it. This is especially the case the NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM. That REALLY helps if the highlights weren’t there previously.
Successful Study Skill #3: Draw Figures, Charts, and Graphs
Sometimes things just can’t be communicated clearly only using words. Relationships, timelines, causality and exchanges are difficult to explain in writing. However, they are easy to illustrate even for the artistically challenged like me!
These diagrams should include colours and other graphical representations such as bullets, arrows, shading and text of different colours. Doodles work just as well – the KEY is to jog your MEMORY – not win a drawing contest.
Don’t forget that NO ONE ever sees your notes, only you do!
Successful Study Skill #4: Use Large Paper
I use large paper that is a little smaller than A3 or 11″x17″. Ideally buy old-fashioned printer in continuous forms that are sold in boxes of 5,000 sheets that cost around $25-$30. It’s a great investment considering it’ll last you several years!
I like the continuous nature of computer paper because I can “open it up” and get big diagrams on one sheet that can be easily folded and reviewed at the last minute, just before an exam.
There are one or two different things I do with these large sheets. Either I get all the main points of a course on one sheet or I section each page into a subject, topic or idea. It really just depends on the course that I am taking.
Regardless, they are both great ways to CAPTURE the proper information you need in a VISUAL FORMAT that is easier to REMEMBER.
For instance, I recently took a course where each lecture was reduced to one entire page. It consolidated 17 textbook chapters and 30 academic articles. The point is, it’s a lot easier to review 15 pages as opposed to over 500 in a textbook. What would normally take several hours of searching is now formatted for easy access within minutes.
Seriously though, creating these pages is “fun” for me. I know that when I am doing an exercise, it is all being stored in my memory banks.
When you try it you’ll feel your level of confidence build so that you’ll have a greater sense of control. In the end it’s important to see the “big picture” as a visual cue. In my book, “Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort“,I explain how you can make this process even more powerful using your auditory and kinesthetic senses for ABSOLUTE RECALL!
Onward and upward!
Dr Marc Dussault
P.S.
Please post a comment and I will respond to you to make sure you are developing study skills by revealing tips on how to study that will help you learn how to study for exams and tests so can possess better study skills and how to study smarter.
If you want the best study skills, you just need to post a comment and I will address YOUR particular issue to make sure You Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort!
Consider it a PERSONAL 1:1 CONSULTATION!
