I have been using mind mapping ever since I read Doug Hall’s Jump Start Your Brain several years ago (a great book on creativity, BTW). Also, check out this site for more on mindmapping as well as this Wikipedia page.
Mind mapping is a non-linear approach to brainstorming and note-taking. IOW, instead of starting at the top of the page and working my way down the page, I group thoughts/ideas together on the page as they connect to each other. I use mind mapping for brainstorming, project planning, my master to-do list (which I print weekly), research, paper/dissertation planning, sermon prep, and just about anything else that involves generating ideas.
For the past couple of years, I have been creating mind maps to use for my sermon/presentation notes, which I call StoryMapping. Here’s a recent example (PDF) of my map/notes. The image in this post is last Sunday’s map. To see how they’ve progressed, check out this an early example and even this earlier one. For other examples of maps for sermon notes, see this blog post at creativepastors.com to see how Ed Young uses mind maps. Ed also includes examples in his book, The Creative Leader.
On my maps, each section is color coded. I start at the top and work my way around the page, clockwise. My maps are a lot less complicated now than they were when I started. That’s due mainly to a change in my preaching approach (but that’s another story which I’ll write about later). My maps are currently divided into three sections: Introduction, Scripture, and Application/Conclusion.
I normally try to internalize (not memorize!) the map so I only use my printed MapNotes to read the Scripture text, but I have it with me in case I need to refer to it. I don’t normally include notes on what I want to say about the text, but if I’ve studied/internalized the text well, I pretty much know what I want to say about it. I do this because if I include too many notes (as I used to), I feel too constrained and scripted, and I don’t like feeling that way.
Using mind mapping for my sermons has been one of the best things I’ve done for my communication. I’m not suggesting it’s the best/only way to do it, but it has been helpful to me. I use a Mac OSX program called OmniGraffle to produce my maps. There are also some free online tools, including bubbl.us.
I hope this is helpful for other communicators. I’d love to hear your comments, experiences with mind mapping, questions about mind mapping, and/or recommendations of any mind mapping resources.