Mind Mapping would have spared us this fine mess

Posted by Faizel Mohidin on Sep 12, 2009 in Mind Maps at Work, Personal Mind Maps | 0 comments

This is the topic of a ‘Business Day’ article and describes Tony Buzan’s view on the world economic crisis.

He states that if business leaders had graduated with Master of Business Intelligence degrees as opposed to MBAs, the world may not be in the pickle it is at the moment.

Tony Buzan, the inventor of Mind Mapping, recently toured South Africa and, at 67, he still has a hectic schedule. He claims that his brain is sharper now at 67 than it was at 40.

Intellectual Bankruptcy

He also states that it is obvious from reading business papers and magazines such as the Wall Street Journal that it was a lack of intellect that caused the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Business leaders are taught at business schools about making short-term profits and satisfying the needs of shareholders.

Very little thinking goes into strategic planning, long-term visioning, ethics, social intelligence, creativity and innovation.

He agrees with the Wall Street Journal that the recession and bankruptcies were caused by the bankruptcy of applied intelligence. But, it can be taught.

Intelligence ‘Muscles’

We can develop the muscles of intelligence, our brains, in the same way that we develop the muscles of our bodies.

The Mind Map can unlock the brain’s potential by providing radiant thinking, the ability to reach out in all directions. It is the whole brain alternative to linear thinking and can catch thoughts from any angle.

The boundaries of our brains must be pushed, as in reality there are no boundaries. By using Mind Maps we naturally push the boundaries of our brains.

Bill Gates is reported to have said that ‘intelligence agents and Mind Mappers are taking our information democracy to the next stage.’

Geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill and Thomas Edison all use the major elements of Mind Mapping.

Tony Buzan also displays dismay at our lack of brain usage and lists the multiple intelligences we can develop.

Verbal Intelligence

There is a strong link between the word power of an individual and success. If you can express yourself well, you’ll get ahead and achieve what you want to a great deal faster.

Numerical Intelligence

Our ability to use numbers is much greater than we believe it to be. Those who can think without computers and calculators will have an immediate advantage over those that can’t.

Social Intelligence

The more skilled we are at getting along with others, the more successful we will be in every social situation

Personal Intelligence

You need to be your own best friend and colleague. You are often alone in business and you need to like yourself, if you don’t want to be in deep trouble.

Physical Intelligence

Physical Intelligence is having strength, flexibility, overall health and, above all, stamina. This requires a good cardiovascular system. Politicians of the last 20 years have realised that being fit and strong makes them more powerful leaders.

Sensory Intelligence

Sensory, ethical and spiritual intelligence measures compassion, concern and social responsibility. This will grow your love for your team and people generally.

Modern leaders and multiple intelligences

Barack Obama is a good example of someone who has developed his multiple intelligences. According to his friends, he is witty, speaks well, is fit and is verbally and mathematically intelligent.

Tony Buzan practices what he preaches. He rows 10km every day, does martial arts, swims long distance and goes to gym regularly.

His diet consists of vegetables as its base, lots of fruit and nuts, and fresh fish and fresh meat. He consumes very little gluten and dairy, and writes poetry.

Utopia for him would be for all the intelligences to be raised in everyone, everywhere, with a resultant intelligent use of resources and a more artistic, musical, healthy, sensual and energetic world.

In Tony Buzan’s recent visit to South Africa, he stated the we are at the end of the Informaiton Age. Information overload is the ‘death knell’ for the Information Age.

Even billionaire investor Warren Buffett says “in future you’ll be able to recognise billionaires because they will be the only ones without a mobile”, alluding to the fact that we are surrounded by technology that constantly disrupts thinking.

Develop your Multiple Intelligences

Now have a look at the Mind Map below of your different intelligences and start putting a plan in place to grow each one of them.

Presentation Power: Getting the message across

Posted by Faizel Mohidin on Jun 13, 2009 in Mind Maps at Work | 0 comments

This is a continuation of my previous article on Presentation Power and is part of the ‘Mind Maps at Work’ series.

The Big Idea

Whenever you are making a presentation, your first task is to identify The Big Idea. This is the idea that you want the audience to ‘get’, even if they don’t get anything else.

You will probably present this idea in several ways throughout your presentation and spend quite some time proving it.

You may not even mention the point specifically. However, it is critical that you know what it is and that you understand that your goal in the presentation is for the audience to get The Big Idea.

Visual Aids to Strengthen Your Message

This is your second task when preparing a presentation. If the audience is presented with good visual aids during the presentation, their ability to remember the message will be strengthened dramatically. People’s memory is very short lived and facts, details and information quickly fade, unless reinforced.

Tony Buzan, in his Book Mind Maps at work asks the following two questions:

1. What do I need on this note page to help trigger my imagination?
2. What do I need on this note page to help me associate those things that have triggered my imagination?

The answer to the first question includes:

• Images
• Colours
• Codes
• Key Image Words
• Symbols
• Visual Rhythms

The answer to the second question includes:

• Lines
• Arrows
• Connections in space
• Numbers
• Colours
• Codes

If you put these all together, you get a Mind Map!

The type of visual aids depends of course on your audience and the material you have available. The following guidelines can help you.

Small Informal Groups

Whiteboards, chalkboards and easel boards can all be used. These are great if you have not prepared presentation material beforehand and build the picture as you go along. This is usually best for presenting relatively uncomplicated material.

You could get a bit more complicated if you had Mind Map notes from which you are working from. You can build this Mind Map for your audience as you go along.

Small Formal Groups

Prepared Flip charts, posters and overhead transparencies or slideshows allow complex information to be presented quickly and completely.

Large Formal Groups

Slideshows are the best for large audiences, as they allow the widest range of graphics and provide the best quality. Having a computer and a projector available allows you to give presentations of the same or better quality as professional presenters.

Try not to turn the lights down too much. When it gets dark, people go to sleep!

Audiovisual Do’s and Don’ts

Do:

• Check the equipment beforehand
• One idea per slide
• Dark background and light lettering or light background and dark lettering
• Maximum of six lines per slide
• Maximum of six words per line
• Change slides regularly (every 15-20 seconds)
• Use build up slides for complex points
• Use bar charts, pie charts, etc.
• Use special effects for emphasis
• KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Don’t:

• Turn off the lights
• Crowd information
• Read the slides
• Turn your back to the audience
• Distract attention with a pointer
• Back up to previous slides. Use copies if you want to repeat

Use title slides before each major section. Use of a standard border and logo and the same colour background throughout gives a professional image.

When using graphs, bar charts, pies, etc. make sure your message comes across and the audience does not have to solve a cryptic puzzle to ‘get’ your message.

Vary your slides so that you have a mixture of text, graphs, illustrations and special effects.

Ensure that your message is telegraphed to the audience by using good headlines.

Finally, ALWAYS check your equipment prior to presenting. If you can have backup equipment available, even better. Use a remote controller if possible. If someone else will be controlling the slide, ensure that they know the script.

Handouts

The use of handouts can be tricky. They can be useful as it is always great if you can leave your audience with high quality material that will reinforce your presentation.

The downside is that the audience will read any material you hand out as soon as they get it. This could be before your presentation begins, or even worse, during your presentation.

If you have a small group, you can hand out material as you progress through your presentation.

If your group is large, handing them out at the end of the presentation may be an acceptable alternative. This will ensure that they are focused on the presentation and still have the opportunity to reinforce the ideas later.

I hope this article and the previous one, makes your presentations a bit easier and a bit more exciting. If you have any questions, you can always drop a comment on the post found at www.mindmaptutor.com or use the contact form.

Mind Maps at Work: Presentation Power

Posted by Faizel Mohidin on Jun 7, 2009 in Mind Maps at Work | 0 comments

The number one fear (even more than death) for most adults is public speaking

Yet the ability to communicate to groups can make a huge difference to our careers and our ability to accomplish our goals and dreams

Speaking to a group makes us vulnerable. Failure and humiliation is a definite possibility.

Traditionally, public speaking follows a course that has been determined beforehand. And once the presenter is on this course, there is no veering off course or turning back. This applies whether the presentation is good or bad.

When speaking to an individual, you can read body language and get responses that can change your course, but when presenting to a group, it is not that easy.

In the next few articles, I will be covering various issues on this important topic. I will also show you how you can use Mind Maps to help you present better, whether it is a formal presentation or a short talk you have to give without presentation aids like projectors, etc.

Death by Powerpoint is a term that has arisen in recent times with the increased use of Microsoft Powerpoint as a presentation tool. Even though we have technology on our side, we are still delivering the same linear, boring presentations that we did decades ago.

The Mind Map can help you change all of this.

A Mind Map allows you to speak freely on your topic. You don’t have to ‘read’ your presentation. By focusing on Key Words, you are able to string together sentences that come naturally to you. You can use your own language – a language that you are comfortable with.

Your presentation does not have to be linear either. In other words, it does not have to start at one point and end at another fixed point. You are able to adjust to responses by the audience, as you have the whole picture in a Mind Map. With a Mind Map, you are able to jump to any branch at any point in the presentation.

Whether you use your Mind Map as slides, or simply to guide you through the planning and deliver of your presentation, the use of a Mind Map can be indispensable.

Almost every speaker, regardless of experience, still gets butterflies before they have to present. The difference is that they can get the butterflies to fly in the direction they want!

There are three main principles which allow us to control the formation of the butterflies:

• Purpose
• Attention and Memory
• Organisation

Statement of purpose

This is the most important part of planning a presentation. You have to understand why you are giving it and why anyone would listen to it. This ensures that you won’t be wasting your time, or that of your audience.

A good tip is to write down your statement of purpose in one sentence.

Most presentations are done for the following purposes:

• To Share Information
• To Educate
• To Motivate
• To Encourage Action
• To Entertain

You could formulate your statement of purpose by using these as starting points. E.g. “The purpose of this presentation is to share information on…” or “The purpose of this presentation is to educate the audience on…”

Based on your purpose, you could have very different presentations. A presentation to educate people on a new piece of legislation will be very different one that is trying to convince them to vote for it. The first presentation will cover a lot of detail about the legislation to get them to understand and remember all the important bits. The second one will be packed with emotion and emphasize the impact it would have on people’s lives.

People normally attend presentations because they are required to or because they want something.

Don’t bore them, con them or treat them like school children.

Improving Memory and Retention

If you want people to remember your presentation, you have to know a bit about how memory works. If you want people to stay awake, you need to understand how attention AND memory works.

The items in the following list are referred to as memory supports. They support the memory process.

• Repetition
• Association
• Connection
• Intensity
• Involvement

These memory supports are also influenced by position. i.e. where you place the information is placed in your slide. The material at the beginning and end of your presentation is remembered better than the piece in the middle. If you want people to remember more, place important information at the beginning and end of your presentation.

If you have a long presentation, break your presentation into chunks, thereby creating multiple beginnings and ends. Use something between these chunks like humour, case studies, cartoons, etc. This will create many ‘beginnings’ and ‘ends’, which will be remembered better.

Repetition

The old cliché, ‘tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them,’ holds true. You should however not repeat the same words. The beginning should be an appetizer, the middle should be the main course and the end should be the dessert.

The beginning should whet their appetite for the main message and the end should reinforce that message.

Association & Connection

Associating and connecting information to what the audience already knows will ensure that they better understand it and make it easier for them to retrieve. Stories or analogies are a good way to do this.

Intensity

Adding emotional content is a great way to get people to remember what you are saying. This is true even if you are giving a technical presentation. By brining in an emotional quality, you turn on the right brain and take the message to an entirely different level. If you are passionate about your message, it will be reflected in your voice.

By using a Mind Map for your notes, you will be able to bring this passion about naturally, as you won’t be ‘reading your speech’.

Involvement

Involving people’s senses re a good way to get involvement. Try to appeal to a wide range of senses. Some people process information visually, others are auditory, processing information through the actual words or sounds used and some are kinesthetic (processing information through feelings and emotions). By appealing to a wide range of senses you ensure that as many people as possible ‘get the message’.

Organising your presentation

Mind Mapping can help you organise and present your material so that you can take advantage of the above points.

You can use Mind Maps as you structure your presentation. By using Mind Mapping at this point, you can ensure that you include emotional involvement. In fact, you can even make a branch called ‘emotions’ or ‘feelings’, which allows you to explore the emotional content of your subject.

You can then build a presentation map that represents the presentation you want to make. You can draw it a couple of times, adding colours and symbols until you have it firmly in your memory. Once you are able to draw this map, you will have the presentation memorised. This will increase your confidence levels enormously.

You could also draw or display this map for your audience as you do your presentation. This gives them a visual structure and guides them, if they need to take notes.

You should use colours and pictures as much as possible to make it visually pleasing.

If they need to remember what you are presenting, you could ensure that you use different colours and keep the branches in different segments on the page. Many people will remember a topic because it was the ‘blue stuff in the top right hand corner’, for example.

Conclusion

I hope these tips can help you create presentations that are exciting, stimulating and fun. Look at the other articles in our ‘Mind Maps at work’ series to put the fun back into your work.

I will continue with Mind Maps for presentation power in my next article.

In the meantime, I suggest you enrol for our Free interactive Mind Mapping course. It will enforce the Principles of Mind Mapping and teach you the Seven Steps in creating a Mind Map.

How to Mind Map your Business Ideas

Posted by Faizel Mohidin on May 29, 2009 in Mind Maps at Work | 2 comments

Do you have a business, or are you thinking of starting one? Then Mind Maps are the perfect tool to get your idea off the ground. It could also be invaluable to you if your business is stuck in a rut.

The world is in one of the worst recessions in years. Yet now is the time to revisit your business ideas, whether you want to start a new business, or plan a way to just survive.

Here is a brief outline of how you can use Mind Maps for your business idea.

Start with a picture of your company, your product, you, or anything that represents your idea. Put this picture in the centre of the page. Don’t forget to turn your page sideways (landscape). If you have Mind Mapping Software, use it. I recommend starting with the free ones, Xmind and FreeMind, if you are not using any software yet. After you’ve gained some experience using computer generated Mind Maps, you can test drive the commercial ones. There are reviews of both commercial and free software on this site.

If you don’t know how to Mind Map, or are new to Mind Mapping, do our free Introduction to Mind Mapping Course, or read the articles on this site to intuitively learn how to Mind Map.

Draw a main branch from your central image and label it ‘unique’. Off this branch you can note all the reasons why your business or idea is unique. You can also mention how it is better than the competition’s.

Draw another main branch from your central image and label it ‘customers‘. Use sub-branches to establish exactly who your customers are, what they want and why your business or idea is the one that they should choose. You could also add some financial data if you have it. Note what you would like to receive from each group of customers. You could also do some research to see what other existing business are doing and earning in each of your chosen areas.

Draw your third main branch and call it ‘offices’. This can be a home office or a premises which you intend to rent or purchase. You can go into the details of the space, equipment, financing and even marketing on this branch.

Draw your fourth branch and label it ‘structure’. This will deal with the workforce you intend to employ. This will also include any partners that you have or may want to bring on board. You can include the experience that you, or your partner may have. Work out the roles of the team that you need to implement your idea. Even if you are a ‘one man show’, it is a good idea to map out the roles so that you can hand it over to somebody else as your business grows.

You can include recruitment strategies, different levels of skills and qualifications you may need, as well as full time, part time, freelance and contract employment.

I will go into the details of using a Mind Map to draw up a business plan in another article. For now, have a look at the ‘starter’ Mind Map below:

How to Mind Map your skills

Posted by Faizel Mohidin on May 28, 2009 in Mind Maps at Work | 1 comment

Mind Maps at work must start with you.

Start by doing a Mind Map of your skills.

You will use this Mind Map to work to your strengths. By focusing on your strengths and highlighting them on a Mind Map, you will be able to stimulate your creative brain to use this positive reinforcement to guide your success.

As usual, take a blank piece of paper and turn it on its side (landscape). If you use Mind Mapping Software, use that. Look at my free Mind Map software recommendations on this site.

Draw an image of yourself in the centre of the page. You could also use something that represents your industry or profession.

Remember to use different colours. It stimulates the brain and also helps to reinforce the image you want to portray.

Choose a colour and draw a curved branch from your central image. Write down Key Words that relate to you your various skills. Your branches could be something like:

• Experience
• Knowledge
• Education
• Goals
• Interests
• Presenter
• Etc.

Now draw branches coming off each of these and add details. Use one key word per branch, as it allows more associations and is much better at triggering thoughts.

Draw pictures throughout your Mind Map if you want to. The images will assist and prompt your imagination. Don’t worry whether you can draw or not. It only has to make sense to you and they are just used to prompt your memory.

Notice how different this is to drawing up a CV or resume. Hobbies and interests are normally added at the end, instead of being part of the true representation of who you really are. With a Mind Map, you will have a more holistic picture of you as a person. It will also show everything that you have to offer and where you want to go.

If you are new to Mind Mapping have a look at Mind Map Principles or enrol for our free Introduction to Mind Mapping course.

Here is an example to get you started.

My Skills