Mind Mapping For Dummies

Colours – not just pretty to look at

If you generate Mind Maps with a pen and paper, your basic kit should include a couple of different coloured pens. Drawing Mind Maps with several colours can have a number of objectives:

Distinguishing the main branches from each other: This is the principal use of colours. Each main branch and all its sub-branches are drawn and written in one colour. This helps with quick visual differentiation of themes and also makes the Mind Map more varied.

Highlighting particular meanings with different colours: In many situations it’s sensible and possible to associate a colour with a particular meaning which the colour stands for in the Mind Map. Thus, when you read your map you can identify at a glance the various aspects of a theme by the colours used.

• You’re using Mind Maps to take the minutes of a meeting in your company. Two groups, marketing and R&D, with different opinions on a subject, take part in this meeting. Now, for example, you can use the colour blue for marketing and green for R&D. The arguments of each group can then be added in the relevant places by using the right colours.

• You’re using Mind Maps to take notes as you read a textbook. You reserve a particular colour for your own thoughts and ideas and one for your objections and ...