5 ways to boost learning retention with sketchnoting
What's the story
Sketchnoting, a powerful visual note-taking method, blends the creativity of sketching with the structure of note-taking to supercharge your learning.
This technique harnesses the brain's natural preference for visuals, making information recall feel like recognizing a familiar face.
By turning concepts into visual stories, sketchnoting dramatically boosts learning retention.
Ready to revolutionize your study sessions? Here are five effective ways to get started with sketchnoting.
Basics
Start with simple shapes and symbols
Start your sketchnoting journey with simple shapes and symbols.
Circles, squares, arrows, and stick figures can be powerful tools for capturing ideas. You don't need to be an artist to use them.
This way, you eliminate the fear beginners usually have, and nudge them to create their own visual vocabulary.
Eventually, you can mix and match these simple elements to represent more complex ideas.
Color strategy
Use color coding wisely
Color coding in sketchnoting helps distinguish themes, categories, or priorities.
Key is not to use more than three or four colors to avoid overloading the visual field and making note interpretation confusing.
Assign a specific meaning or category to each color and use it consistently throughout your notes.
This way, you can add clarity and aid recall without introducing unnecessary visual clutter.
Metaphors
Incorporate visual metaphors
Visual metaphors help you anchor abstract concepts in reality by associating them with concrete, familiar images.
For instance, picturing a lightbulb for an idea or chains for relationships between ideas can make these concepts more graspable and memorable.
The trick is to pick images that hold personal meaning or emotional resonance, as these will stick in your mind more easily.
Listening skills
Practice active listening
The key to sketchnoting is active listening. You have to process the info on the spot and decide how to draw it.
Don't try to catch every detail. Listen for the big stuff and how it connects.
The more you practice, the better you'll get at picking out what's important and getting it down fast.
Review process
Review and refine your notes
After creating your initial sketchnote draft, it's important to go back and refine it.
This step helps eliminate messy elements and further solidifies the material by revisiting it. It also allows you to address any gaps in understanding before the memory fades.
By actively listening, drawing, and then reviewing, you strengthen recall and comprehension.