A Habit of Note Taking ~ Dana Schreder

Why do you take notes during the message? Why did you start and what are the benefits?

Taking notes forces me to pay closer attention because I must seek out the main point. I have never learned short-hand so it is mission impossible to transcribe the sermon. I must sift through the words and consider which the key ones are. The less I write down, the more I can attend to the speaker so I want to be efficient.

This process started while I was in school because it helped me study afterwards. One benefit was that writing made a deeper memory than simply listening.

How do you pay attention to the message and take notes at the same time? Any special tips?

That is hard. Sometimes I must depend on the person beside me catching the point that I missed. Sometimes I can listen while I write, but not often.

Do you do anything with your notes after Sunday? If so, how has this benefited you?

Although I rarely review my notes, the simple act of writing helps me to remember. I date my notes at the top, but one time I wanted to go back to reread something, I couldn’t find them! I must admit that this was years later.

Notebooks since 1985:

Thank you for sharing with us, Dana!!

Next week we will have our final post from note takers in the congregation.

If you would like to know when new posts appear in the blog, fill out the subsribe form at the top of this page and receive posts by email.