Mind Mapping For Dummies

Chapter 1

Introducing Mind Mapping

In This Chapter

What characterises a Mind Map

How to create your first Mind Map

What you can use Mind Maps for

Would you like to know how to create a Mind Map? Before we get started, I first want to give you an idea of what a Mind Map actually is and how many different opportunities there are for using Mind Mapping. I can assure you: you’ll soon find this technique absolutely indispensable.

Presenting Information Visually

If you flip through the many Mind Maps depicted in this book you’ll notice that they look more like pictures than text. Mind Maps are a bit like a tree looked at from above, with its branches radiating out in all directions from the trunk. You’ll also notice that Mind Maps do contain actual words but that these are always reduced to mere keywords.

A Mind Map, for example the Mind Map specimen in this chapter, can contain the same information as the continuous text in the chapter itself. The main difference is that in a Mind Map content is not presented in lines and rows as in continuous text but is actually visualised. In addition to keywords, visualisation involves a sequence of graphic elements such as:

Colours

Symbols