Listening: 3 Reasons to Take Notes

There I am at the front of a classroom, lecturing a group of university students about business communication. The students sit at their desks, smiling and nodding about the information and stories I am providing. Most of them are paying attention, and some are even asking engaging questions.  However, what surprises me is that the vast majority of the students do not take notes. This is unfortunate because according to an article in The Harvard Business Review,

"immediately after the average person has listened to someone talk, he remembers only about half of what he has heard—no matter how carefully he thought he was listening".

The article goes on to say that most people forget one half to one third within 8 hours.

Learning proper note-taking skills has so many benefits for everyone, not just students.

3 Reasons to Take Notes

1. People who take notes become better listeners.
   They move from being passive listeners to active listeners for several reasons. First of all, their bodies have to actively engage and lean forward to write in their notebook. This physical activity results in excellent non-verbal communication as well. When the speaker sees they are listening and actively taking notes, it leaves a very favorable impression. Also, being an active listener also helps the student stay focused. For example, they stay intent on figuring out the main ideas and writing them down. This prevents day-dreaming. Also, taking notes prevents drowsiness because the eyes and hands must stay active.
2. Note-takers learn better organizational skills.
   It is clear that note-taking is a skill. Instead of being passive listeners, people who take notes will learn to organize the information in their own mind. They will listen for the main idea, supporting ideas and be able to sift the important details away from the non-essential. Note-taking helps with essay organization as well because the student will see the information well-organized on the page and be able to mindmap.
3. People who write notes by hand also have an easier time recalling information.
   According to researchers from Princeton and University of California, writing notes is much more effective than typing. Taking handwritten notes forces the listener to use critical thinking because they cannot write everything that is spoken. Instead, they need to actively listen and engage with the content to write down the important details. People who can type tend to type everything spoken without actively engaging with the content.

It became clear that note-taking on paper is a skill that is being lost. People rely on handouts or PPT presentations to be shared after the lecture. However, this does not help people to stay organized or retain information.

I know this because I have three teens who did e-learning during COVID.  When I tried to help my son with math, I asked to see his notebook. He gave me a blank stare. His notebooks were virtually empty and he said there were files somewhere on the Cloud but he could not locate them. Therefore, we had to resort to YouTube maths tutorials that took an incredible amount of time to navigate and sort through. From talking to other parents, I know I was not alone.

Also, I watch my business communication student at university. They sit at their desks, smiling and nodding about the information and stories I am providing. However, the vast majority do not take notes. This is very unfortunate because according to an article in The Harvard Business Review, "immediately after the average person has listened to someone talk, he remembers only about half of what he has heard - no matter how carefully he thought he was listening". The article goes on to say that most people forget one half to one third within 8 hours.