Note-taking

You should make notes while listening or reading. Here are a few good tips on note-taking:

• Don’t write in complete sentences. On an oral exam full sentences will be hard to follow and you may be tempted to read them out loud.
• Don’t overdo it! Just write down the key facts. Avoid information overload.
• Structure your notes. Use paragraph headings and underlining to make the meaning clearer.
• Use bullet points (see dash below) to summarize the main points.
• Use the dash (–), it can be very useful in note-taking, for example marking when you move from one point to the next, or to mark sub-points.
• Do not use so many abbreviations that your notes are meaningless.
• Leave space between each point – then you can expand your notes later. This will also stop your writing from getting jumbled up.
• Put each new idea on a new line