Mind Mapping

Today I'm speaking at She Speaks and one of the things I'll be leading my audience through is a simplified version of the mind-mapping process.

A mind map is a diagram used to represent ideas, tasks, or other items related to a central key word. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas. They're an an aid to organizing information, solving problems, planning, making decisions, or brainstorming.


By presenting ideas in a graphical, non-linear manner, mind maps encourage creativity in brainstorming. They can also display a lot of connected or related information in a one page format.

You can use a mind map in many ways - as an info-graphic, as a to-do list, or as a speech or writing "outline." Take a look at the examples below.

Here's a pretty elaborately drawn mind map of the topic of Creative Intelligence by Alan and Amy Burton:

Here is a more simplified version of a mind map - this is just someone mapping out what they need to do to prepare for an upcoming trip:

And here Mark Jaffer shows his mind map of a sermon he preached: Jaffer's sermon mindmapping.

So what can the mind-mapping process help you do?

55 Possible Reasons to Mind Map

1. Explore a subject
2. Study or learn a new topic
3. Plan your schedule
4. Innovate or invent
5. Expand existing ideas
6. Consolidate your existing knowledge
7. Summarize your skills
8. Plan your career
9. Plan your learning
10. Outline your business, or a potential new business
11. Outline your writing
12. Outline your goals or hobbies
13. Study for, and pass exams
14. Boost your memory
15. Unlock your potential
16. Solve problems
17. Increase motivation
18. Take notes and create overviews
19. Develop your creative thinking
20. Plan speeches or presentations
21. Fire up your imagination
22. Clarify your thoughts
23. Simplify your life
24. Summarise your budget
25. Create targets
26. Teach others
27. Improve thinking skills
28. Control time management
29. Plan story writing
30. Plan an event
31. Summarize books you read
32. Catalog your past experiences
33. Plan a party
34. Take meeting minutes
35. Investigate what makes you happy
36. Investigate what makes you unhappy
37. Discover what you want to do with your life
38. Plan a blog post
39. Summarize an event, like a wedding
40. Plan a website
41. Pinpoint your values
42. Unlock associations
43. Pinpoint your goals
44. Outline daily tasks
45. Create teaching overviews
46. Plan and present your resume
47. Create year summaries
48. Investigate lessons learned from failures
49. Summarise content of sermons or classes
50. Meal planning for the week or month
51. Plan a diversified exercise regime
52. Create a journal of self discovery
53. Plan Christmas gifts
54. Organize your life
55. Shift your thinking from "left brain" to "right brain"

I learned the mind mapping technique in an undergraduate communication class (it was taught by the man who turned out to be my future husband). And I've used it off and on since then. If you're interested in some professional training on it, I can recommend Kim Cordes as a coach/consultant.

Finally, here is a mind map on reasons to mind map. Google the term to learn more about it. You'll discover there are several mind mapping software programs out there. Here is a review of over 50 of them by CNET. But paper and pen works just fine too. So why not give it a try?