This may sound slightly counter intuitive, but when you are charged with reporting on an event, consider taking fewer notes. Rather than judiciously writing everything down, capture the key point or points from the event, meeting, conference, or whatever it is you are covering. This serves a number of purposes, and adds value to the people who will read your roundup.
First, if you write down less rather than more, that means you are actively listening and know how to fill in the blanks, if called upon. Second, you perform your editing function actively if you take a smaller number of notes – your mind is editing as the speaker is speaking, so you mentally cut out what is not needed during a presentation rather than afterwards. Finally, by jotting down fewer words, you are forced to understand the concepts under discussion.
As a journalist 25 years ago in Washington, D.C., I regularly covered Congressional hearings on environmental issues. I would grab written testimony and listen actively, taking meticulous notes as the hearings droned on and on. A New York Times reporter often sat with us at the press table. He was older than us young bucks, seasoned and savvy, and he got the tone of the hearings accurately on a consistent basis. I marveled at his note-taking.
He carried a small flip pad. He wrote in big letters, just a few words to each page. I couldn’t figure out how he made sense of the hearing when he wrote the story up later that day for the morning edition.
Now I do. I follow his routine. That means: Understanding the issues. Developing a strong background so you know the terrain. Drill down into what’s most important. Recognize the tone and tenor of what is being said. Then fill in the blanks in a way that builds the story and captures the essence of what occurred and the most important things said.
You won’t be perfect. Reporting and writing never are. But using this technique will help you keep improving, and simplify your writing when you get in front of your desktop, laptop, iPad to make sense of it all.
First, if you write down less rather than more, that means you are actively listening and know how to fill in the blanks, if called upon. Second, you perform your editing function actively if you take a smaller number of notes – your mind is editing as the speaker is speaking, so you mentally cut out what is not needed during a presentation rather than afterwards. Finally, by jotting down fewer words, you are forced to understand the concepts under discussion.
As a journalist 25 years ago in Washington, D.C., I regularly covered Congressional hearings on environmental issues. I would grab written testimony and listen actively, taking meticulous notes as the hearings droned on and on. A New York Times reporter often sat with us at the press table. He was older than us young bucks, seasoned and savvy, and he got the tone of the hearings accurately on a consistent basis. I marveled at his note-taking.
He carried a small flip pad. He wrote in big letters, just a few words to each page. I couldn’t figure out how he made sense of the hearing when he wrote the story up later that day for the morning edition.
Now I do. I follow his routine. That means: Understanding the issues. Developing a strong background so you know the terrain. Drill down into what’s most important. Recognize the tone and tenor of what is being said. Then fill in the blanks in a way that builds the story and captures the essence of what occurred and the most important things said.
You won’t be perfect. Reporting and writing never are. But using this technique will help you keep improving, and simplify your writing when you get in front of your desktop, laptop, iPad to make sense of it all.