If you have attended any of my workshops, you will know I am a huge fan of mind maps.
In any communication, it is important to collect and collate your information. This is step three in the process. Step one is defining your communication objective. Step two is understanding your audience’s wants and needs.
Now you’re ready for a brain dump. Here are the steps I use with my clients to get clarity on their message.
- Grab the biggest piece of paper you own – this is the reason whenever I am coaching people I bring my own flipchart paper. Lay it on the table in landscape format.
- In the middle of the page write the main topic you speaking/writing about
- Now without thinking too much, write down everything you know about this topic. Create branches of the primary themes and subbranches for the details, examples and supporting data. Try not to edit and fact check at this stage, just keep writing.
- When you get stuck, ask yourself questions based on 5W’s + H which will help you further flesh out your topic
• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• Why?
• When?
• How? - Start looking for gaps in your material and add question marks to items that require further research
- If you are preparing a presentation, start thinking about your presentation structure. For example:
• Introduction: Hook, context, purpose
• Challenges: What problem are you addressing?
• Solutions: Insights, strategies, tools
• Action Plan: Recommendations, next steps
• Conclusion: Summary, call to action
Use colours, symbols, or images to make each branch visually distinct, making it easier to navigate. - Once you have exhausted all your ideas, show it to a colleague. Ask them what questions they have or are there other any issues that you have missed.
Congratulations, you have ‘thrown the net wide’ and collected and collated your information. By now you should be feeling more confident about your material.
Your last step is to make sense of your information, clarify and provide structure. Look at your mind map objectively, be ruthless and cut anything that is not relevant to your objective or your audience.
And voila!
You now have a clear and concise message but because you have spent time developing your topic, you are prepared to answer any curly questions that may arise.
- Feeling Stuck? Get out the Markers and Mind Map it! - November 30, 2024
- Run your Own Race - July 29, 2024
- Beware The Veneer of Fear - July 3, 2024
