Archive for Mind Mapping Tips
For Some Mind Mapping –
Two Heads are Much Better than One!
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I do a lot of Mind Mapping, and use it for a variety of tasks.
- Strategic Planning
- Problem Solving
- Decision Making
- To-Do Lists
- Vacation Planning
- Developing, Practicing and Delivering Presentations
- Coaching Business Clients and a Host of Brain Related Activities
I have found the expression, “Two heads are better than one,” really does apply when using Mind Mapping for some, if not all tasks. The main reason for this is that you’re too close to your own work. You are emotionally involved and it’s tough to stand back and ask yourself tough questions. It’s hard to ask yourself new questions, also.
Here’s a personal story that illustrates this:
I was sitting at my computer one day and received an email from a good friend asking a question. I can’t remember the question, but I knew the answer so I typed it into the email and clicked the “Send” icon.
Several minutes later, I received a one word response from him: “WOW!”
I looked at that for a moment and thought to myself, “What’s WOW?” I typed that into the email and sent the question back to him.
Probably ten minutes later I received his answer, which had a profound effect on me. It read:
“Sometimes you’re so close to your own knowledge base, that is so wide and so deep – You don’t know what you know!”
Think about that statement: “You don’t know what you know!” It’s true for each and every one of us!
The fact is,
“Your everyday could be someone else’s payday.”
“Your everyday could be someone else’s Ah Hah! moment.”
If you’re Mind Mapping alone, you probably won’t keep probing with questions to yourself like, “What else?” and statements such as “So what.” Another person, if they’re trained to, will keep digging at you to literally and figuratively get everything on the same Mind Mapping page. They’ll see qualities, good and not-so-good, in you that you can’t see looking in the mirror.
I always tell prospects and clients that if We Mind Map together, We will develop the maximum number of ideas and solutions to their opportunities and challenges.
What are you so close to that you don’t see?
I’ve Described the Relationships Several Times –
They Still Don’t Get It!
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Use a Mind Map to Show Those Relationships!
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People learn differently, and there are three learning styles.
- Some are Auditory Learners.
They need to hear something. - Others are Kinesthetic Learners.
They need to feel something. - Many are Visual Learners.
They learn better by seeing something.
Usually a person’s learning style is a combination of the above, with an emphasis on one of them. The more learning styles your message communicates, the more likely the recipients of that message will Get It!
A Mind Map visually shows those relationships. Even if someone you’re communicating to is not primarily a visual learner, the use of this visual will reenforce your message and increase the odds they will Get It!
Looking for ways to make a Good Mind Map –
Better?
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There are Lots of Ways to enhance your Mind Map.
- Color
- The lines and objects can be color coded. This makes it easy to differentiate between the different sections of you Mind Map.
- For instance, I use the following coding for many maps
- Blue – Personal
- Red – Problem Areas or Potential Problems
- Green – Opportunities (Green – the color of money!)
- Black – Business
- That simple coding has served me well for many years. It allows me to see those four large aspects of each day on one map. Read More→
- For instance, I use the following coding for many maps
- The lines and objects can be color coded. This makes it easy to differentiate between the different sections of you Mind Map.
Mind Mapping a Speech
Posted by: | CommentsMind Mapping a Speech
Basic Speech Template / Click to Enlarge
A Mind Map is the perfect tool for developing, practicing and delivering a speech.
Here is a Mind Map of a basic speech.
When it’s available as a template in a software package, as this one is, it’s
easy to ‘fill in the blanks’, edit, and update.
It can be ‘customized’ with graphics, colors, key words and other things that will remind the speaker of their message.
Instead of having your speech on notecards or key words highlighted on several pieces
of paper, your entire speech can be on
one sheet of paper!
It is then very easy to see the components of your speech, making delivery far easier and effective than merely looking at w-o-r-d-s!
For more on Developing, Practicing and Delivering a Speech, with “No Sweat!” go to
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Exporting – A Mind Mapping’s Software feature
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Each Mind Mapping software product has their own features and benefits.
One of the features I particularly like is the ability to Export to Word.
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I use Inspiration software and, by clicking a button, the graphic mind map and the diagrammed text is placed into a Word document.
Once the map and text is in Word, you can edit the content; adding verbiage and moving around text.
It’s great to be working with a client, and let them know, up front, that when you’re finished Mind Mapping their strategic plan, new product introduction, or any other brain activity, you’ll be able to send them a copy.
The mind map can also be emailed as a PDF and, if they have the same software program you’re using, it can be sent as a file.
Since most mind maps are somewhat organic and subject to change as real life challenges and opportunities are, this ability to constantly revisit and update is a very positive feature of Mind Mapping software.
Links in a Mind Map
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One of the neat things about Mind Mapping software is that it gives the ability to have links in your map.
You can link:
- websites
- documents
- other mind maps
Some Personal Uses of Mind Mapping
Posted by: | CommentsUses of Mind Mapping
Mind Mapping has many uses, both business and personal. Some of the things I’ve used Mind Maps for personally are:
- Shopping
- To-Do Lists
- Trip Planning
- Household Projects
- Vacations
- Home Inventory
Mind Mapping an Agenda
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One way I’ve used Mind Mapping effectively is for making the template of a Meeting Agenda.
It was very helpful in Toastmasters to have a template that I could update each time I was to lead a meeting.
Starting with the Gavel at 12:00 and going clockwise, I could easily see where I was in the meeting and what was next.
Meeting Agenda / Click to Enlarge
How To Mind Map / Step by Step
Posted by: | CommentsThis slideshow is a short, step by step guide to Mind Mapping.
A Mind Mapped Template for Selling
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Template For Selling
One of the neat things Mind Mapping software allows you to do is to make Templates.
If you offer a variety of products and services, one idea is to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with your prospect, with your template open on your laptop.
Explain, “This is everything we offer. Not all of it may be a fit for you. Maybe none of it.”
“I don’t want to overlook anything, so this is why everything is on one screen. What do you want to talk about first?”
You may find out that your agenda is not where their interest lie.
With the template, you can eliminate the products and services they don’t want to discuss right now, and concentrate on their interests and solving their problems.
Of course, when you email the prospect, you can include a map of the services they passed on for now – planting seeds for future sales!
One of the cool things about using mind mapping software for a sales template is that links to urls, documents, and other mind maps can be built into the template. This can greatly help the sales process by literally and figuratively having everything available for the client/prospect at the click of a button.
The first question to always ask the prospect is. “What’s changed?”
