Idea 79: The art of summarizing
A summary is a useful tool. It is a bare outline of the main points without details, an abridged or condensed statement of the issues at stake or what has been agreed so far.
It is in fact, if you think about it, a rare gift to be able to condense into as few words as possible an extended train or complex web of thought. It is a valuable tool to have in your toolkit.
Don’t always leave your attempt at a summary to the end. One important way of guiding a discussion is to summarize progress so far, so that the remaining agenda or issues stand out clearly. Thus a summary given during a meeting â rather than in conclusion â can act as a trumpet sounding the recall or a signal for a new line of advance.
But the ...
