Mind Mapping® to Organize Your Presentation

Mind Mapping®, developed by Tony Buzan, is a visual method of taking notes and developing concepts. You can use mind mapping to organize your presentation. Mind mapping works especially well for hierarchical presentations. (See my tip on Creating a Web-Style Presentation.) Here’s the basic process:

At the center of a large sheet of paper, write the main topic and circle it.
In different colors, make branches off the center topic. At the end of each branch, briefly write topics (also called “chapter headings”). If possible, add images to these topics.
Branch off sub-topics from each of the topics.
Draw lines to connect sub-topics with each other.

The result is a visual representation of the ideas you want to convey. Mind mapping can also be used for planning, teaching, and problem-solving. You can also use software to create mind maps. Here are some helpful mind mapping links:

Ellen Finkelstein can train you or the presenters in your organization to create high-impact, engaging, professional presentations for training, sales, business, or education. For more information, please click here.

Joe Kirby

May 6, 2011 at 11:49 am

I wanted to let you know there is nice 5 minute tutorial on using mind mapping as a visual design aid at the Articulate site.

http://community.articulate.com/tutorials/courses/using-the-mind-map-template.aspx

Sam Eskridge

October 11, 2011 at 10:54 am

I use ConceptDraw at work. Mind Mapping is a terrific way to capture idesa visually, and mind mapping software make taking meeting minutes a breeze. ConceptDraw also exports to PowerPoint with a single button click, so a finished mind map can be presented back to the group almost instantly. This is particularly effective when you use the brainstorming feature. The audience’s thinking can be presented back to them almost instantly for action planning.