1. NOTE-TAKING SKILLS Elizabeth Celeste Coiman –Lopez, BAT, MS.
Houston Community College
Fall 2017

2. Notes for presentations
1/15/2019
Use notes to remember what you are going to say.
Do no write your presentation word by word.
Use key words, short sentences, or even pictures.
Keep notes organized and list points in the order you want to speak about them.
Notes for presentations

3. Taking notes Write the most important idea of the lecture.
1/15/2019
Write the most important idea of the lecture.
Write only the key words:
dusky seaside sparrow extinct
Write phrases, no need for complete sentences:
Endangered Species Act
passed in the US
Use abbreviations or symbols: info=information, dr=doctor, w=with, < = less than, > = more than, ex = example, b/c = because
Taking notes

4. ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS FOR NOTE-TAKING
1/15/2019
Use the syllable of a word: pol - politics;
Use 1st syllable and first letter of the 2nd syllable: subj – subject; cons – conservative; ind – individual.
Use the beginning of the word: info – information; intro – introduction; conc – concentration.
Omit vowels from the middle and retain enough consonants: bkgd – gackground; ppd – prepared; prblm – problem
Leave out a and the.
6. Use an apostrophe: gov’t – govermment: am’t – amount; cont;d – continued; educat’l – educational;
7. Use ‘g’ for ing endings: ckg – checking; estg – establishing; expting – experimenting;
8. Use symbols: & - and; w/ - with; w/o - without; vs – against;
9. Leave out periods in abbreviation forms: eg – for example; dept – department; NYC – New York City
10. Use math symbols: + - plus, positive; - minus, negative; f – frequency; < angle; -> - approaches
ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS FOR NOTE-TAKING

5. OUTLINE FORMAT Write key ideas. Use abbreviations and symbol.
1/15/2019
Write key ideas.
Use abbreviations and symbol.
Use Roman numerals for main points.
Use capital letters for details.
Use numbers for more specific information.
OUTLINE FORMAT

6. 1/15/2019
A lecturer or presenter will usually signal important information you should take notes on:
Signal for Important Information:
Don’t forget that… Let me stress that…
It is important to note/remember that… You need to remember that…
Signals to STOP Taking Notes:
You can find this in your handout… This won’t be on your test…
You don’t have to write all this down… This information is in your book…
Signals when discussing something off-topic:
That reminds me… Incidentally… As an aside….
On a different topic… By the way… This is off the subject, but….
RELEVANT INFORMATION

7. RETURNING TO A PREVIOUS TOPIC
1/15/2019
Back to…
To continue…
OK, so to get back on topic…
So, just to restate…
Getting back to what we were saying…
To return to what we were talking about earlier…
RETURNING TO A PREVIOUS TOPIC

8. QUOTES, PARAPHRASES, AND summaries
1/15/2019
QUOTES, PARAPHRASES, AND summaries

9. HOW TO TAKE CORNELL NOTES
1/15/2019
HOW TO TAKE CORNELL NOTES

10. 1/15/2019

11. HOW TO TAKE CORNELL NOTES
1/15/2019
HOW TO TAKE CORNELL NOTES