As I wrote in my description of Look At My Notes, I’ve been taking visual notes since 2017. The note below is my first after initially studying some visualization techniques.

You can see that it is not very visual, but it is still a visual note.

• I sketched a plane dropping a bomb to represent military readiness.
• I added a container around a key thought.
• I drew a map with a locator pin to illustrate being in a position.
• The watch represents waiting.
• Finally, I used a different font to emphasize the key takeaway from the sermon.

Research suggests that an effective summary is one that combines both textual and visual elements vs. text alone or pictures alone. Regular text and emphasis text are both essential components of a visual note.

The easiest way to get started with visual notes is to start adding visual elements to the text-based notes you’re likely taking now. Ask yourself, “How can I represent this visually?”

Another great way to jump start your visual notes journey is to pickup a copy of Look At My Notes.