Once I have a good amount of random thoughts on the page, I start loosely grouping things or drawing associations between topics that might have some interesting relationship. I open up a blank map in Freeplane and put my topic in the middle, and then I just start vomiting ideas onto the page without any concern for the structure of them. Usually I have some kind of broad idea of what I want to present but don’t have a clear enough outline to start building slides or setting up the scaffolding of a talk. This method is easier when diagramming a group brainstorming session. Or you can go old school and use paper or a whiteboard. It’s an online tool rather than an installed app, and it’s free for limited use. My coworker Nick uses a more general purpose charting tool called Lucidchart. It only takes a little bit of time to get comfortable with the interface and keyboard shortcuts. It is designed at its core to be specifically for creating mind maps. I explored several open source options and Freeplane was my favorite. I use an open source tool called Freeplane. There’s a lot of crossover between sketch notes and mind maps, as you can see from a google image search. If you speak about technical concepts to groups of people, you need to read it.Īround the same time I also saw several examples of sketch notes created by artists at conferences, and heard a talk about them as well. I first learned about mind maps in a book called Presentation Patterns which is a fantastic read and a great reference to keep around. Categories can represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items related to a central key word or idea. Major categories radiate from a central node, and lesser categories are sub-branches of larger branches. A mind map is often created around a single word or text, placed in the center, to which associated ideas, words and concepts are added. From wikipedia:Ī mind map is a diagram used to visually outline information. What is a mind map? It’s basically a branching diagram. Mind maps help me take broad, abstract ideas and turn them into concrete, real world examples that I can use to help tell a story. You can put all your nodes on the right side of the map, if you like, using this technique.About a year ago I started using mind maps to help me organize presentations, meeting topics and blog posts and I’ve found that it works really well for me. Roll the mouse over a node and type and a left or right arrow key. The alternating node behavior on the main bubble is sometimes unruly grouping thoughts in a logical manner. There is an “Undo” button under the “Edit” menu, to fix any inadvertent deletions. If you want to delete a node, roll the mouse over it and press the “Del” key. Just grab other nodes an move them, as needed. FreePlane will push other nodes around as you move your selected node, which can get annoying. Left click to grab the node to move it to another spot. You can move a node by rolling the mouse over the head of the node and grab the little loop that appears. New nodes will pop up on alternating sides of the main bubble. Something like “Create Slides,” might be appropriate. Add a description for the node, like “Speech Outline.” Press “Ins” again to add another node to the “Speech Outline” node.Ĭlick back on the main “Conference Presentation” bubble and type “Ins” to add a new node below the “Speech Outline” topic. A blank node will appear on the right side of the main bubble. To add a node, press the “Ins” key on your keyboard. For example, you might type in “Conference Presentation.” Press “OK” for the default template.ĭouble left click and replace the “New Map” text with your main project idea. To create a new map, select “New Map” under the File menu item. Next, hit “Mark All Upgrades.” Finally, finish up with the “Apply” button.ĭepending on your system you’ll start the program from the main desktop menu or the command line. Then search for “Freeplane” and mark it for installation. Start Synaptic and press the “Reload” button to make sure all the repository lists are up to date. I use Synaptic under Xubuntu on my Linux notebook. Most modern Linux package managers can load Freeplane. The Freeplane webpage states that it will run on any operating system with a current version of Java. I use the technique for coming up with new story ideas and consolidating projects. It has a hierarchy and relates one piece to another. Mind mapping is a visual way to organize your thoughts. You can also go the high-tech route, easily allowing edits and the ability to send the file to others. Practice makes perfect and you’ll find it gets easier and faster over time. Doing your mind map this way is hard at first. The best way is to let the ideas fly without judgment or critique, getting them recorded as fast as possible. You won’t believe how fast it is, once you get used to the process.
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