As an accomplished taker of meeting notes (although I’ve never quoted that on a CV or mentioned it during the course of an interview), I was unaware of the role that James Madison played in the development of the American Constitution until 2018; an advocate of developing your note-taking skills no doubt.
When James Madison and the other 56 delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in May 1787, they intended to amend the Articles of Confederation.
They ended up creating a new constitution and Madison, representing Virginia, became the chief recorder of information.
He took A LOT of notes.
As the president of the Constitutional Convention, George Washington rarely actually participated in the debates.
However, when the Constitution headed to the states for approval, Washington took an active role in the ratification process.
It was actually the notes of Madison that allowed Washington to get a clear understanding of the outcomes of the proceedings.
Why worry about Developing Your Note-Taking Skills?
Continue to develop your note-taking skills as you’ll never know what MASSIVE IMPACT they could have at a later date.
Only record the keywords that you need to get an idea of the point.
Take notes in your own words.
Structure your notes with headings, subheadings and numbered lists.
Code your notes—use colour and symbols to mark structure and emphasis.
Use colour to highlight major sections, main points and diagrams.
Underline, circle, star, etc. to identify key information, examples, definitions, or other important materials.
If you miss something, write key words, skip a few spaces, and get the information later.
Leave a space on the page for your own notes and comments.
