Figure 3-4: Mind Map with symbols.
Your personal set of symbols
In Mind Mapping, symbols are small graphics like the familiar icons in computer programs. Symbols have exactly the same function as icons on a computer. Using symbols means that you can quickly and easily add further content to a Mind Map visually. Because of their visual nature, symbols stand out from written text and are quickly and easily recognisable. So, symbols not only allow you to pack more meaning into a Mind Map but they also make the map quicker and easier to read. Symbols can be utilised in two ways:
Symbols are drawn under, over or beside the word on a branch and so include additional meaning.
Symbols stand alone on a branch in place of a keyword.
The important thing is that the symbols used should be meaningful to you, the creator of the Mind Map, and you can identify and easily recognise them. The symbols don’t have to be comprehensible to everybody. A Mind Map is first and foremost a chart of your own thoughts. Therefore, it’s essential that the symbols used should mean something to you personally.
Figure 3-4 demonstrates how symbols can be used in a Mind Map.
Figure 3-5 summarises the meaning of the ...
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