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Have you ever been in the position of having to digest the content of a book in a short period of time?

When you provide professional development you find this fairly common. I have been invited in on many occaisions and been handed a book with the preface, “this is what we base our model on.” But, more often than not the book in question doesn’t outline a model at all. Instead it is an autobiography or a narative about a previous successful venture.

If I want to keep my client happy and provide a product that will work for them I must develop techniques for digesting this kind of material in short order.

Here are a few of my favorite strategies:

1. Change the headings and subheadings into questions. Instead of “Establishing Goals and Expectations,” I substitue “How do I establish goals and expectations?”
   • preview the chapter. 
   • take a piece of painters tape and stick it over the heading
     • Avery labels work well for permanet changes
   • write directly over it with a pen or marker.
2.  Eliminate the Superfluus. Instead of highlighting key points, mark through unnecessary information.
   • use a soft artist pencil and mark right through the superfluus
     • You can use a piece of clear acetate if you don’t want permanent changes (but I don’t).
3. Use an Information Timeline.
   • building a timelines helps make logical use of names, dates and important events and creates visual connections.

I hope you find this useful. What tips can you share?

This entry was posted on Friday, August 31st, 2007 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Elemental Truths, Reg Adkins, tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.