Non-linear thinking.

Non-linear thinking. 08/21/2007

The first time this nerd encountered Mind Maps was in Stand-Up Comedy training. (Hey, give a nerd a break, here. I wanted people to laugh with me, rather than just at me.) Jeff Justice taught me so much about communicating and coming up with material. But he also taught me a lot about processes and shared some great tools that have helped me in business. Mind maps were one of my favorite. When you are writing material, they really help you build associations between concepts without worrying about the order of your thoughts. You can identify all of the words that come to mind and then choose those that sound the funniest. Gerbil and hamster are similar animals, but "gerbil" is funnier.

But being a nerd with geek tendancies, I am even more excited by automated Mind Maps and one of my favorites is the Visual Thesaurus. Although I am a tad offended by their definition of Nerd, when you type in the word "nerd" on their free trial you get some interesting synonyms. Each time you click on one of the designated synonyms, you get it's definition and then links to more synonyms. You can keep going for hours.

Don't worry if you start to feel like a recluse as a result of getting addicted to the Visual Thesaurus. Calling yourself a "solitudinarian" has a much nicer ring to it.

Comments

Bill link

09/14/2007 05:55

Geni, you are right on about mind mapping as a great tool to organize what you say. Half of writers block is getting the first sentence out. I have used it for business writing for over twenty years and often taught it to people who worked for me.

Try using it to take notes on some text...even technical...that you are working on. I used it on a chapter in a statistics textbook once, and discovered that the material was not very difficult, it was just very poorly written.

I'd love to watch a stand up comic doing a mind map. Maybe that's a kind of niche market for some comics...

Air Jordan link

01/22/2011 18:20

It is not enough to do good; one must do it the right way. Do you think so?

Air Jordan link

01/22/2011 18:26

It is not enough to do good; one must do it the right way. Do you think so?

Geni Whitehouse
Countess of Communication

Brotemarkle,Davis and Co. LLP

Author of How to Make a Boring
Subject Interesting : 52 ways
even a nerd can be heard

Read about my next book and evil plan - hatched on Pi day of 2011.

I am an accountant on a mission. I want to permanently remove the blight of BORING that has attached itself to members of my profession.

But the boring blight doesn't stop there. It's everywhere. I've found it in wineries (although it's a tad more palatable when served with alcohol), in science labs, even in Art museums. And technology people carry the "B" gene too. But the condition need not be fatal.

I work with CPAs through my strategic partner, Mentor Plus, an
organization that has been providing
CPAs with the skills their clients
crave for more than 19 years.

I lecture around the country to
accountants and technology
audiences and I have a ball.

I was a partner in an Atlanta CPA firm when I realized technology was
my true passion and I have been
fighting the nerd versus geek battle
ever since.

And through some stroke of absolutely amazing luck, I now find myself in Napa -- the most gorgeous, hospitable place imaginable.

Are you on Twitter?

You can follow my nerdy life
there : evenanerd

Contact me

geni@evenanerd.com

I am a graduate of the Jeff Justice
Comedy Workshoppe and the
Persuasive Speaker course taught
by Speechworks. I highly recommend both of these organizations.

I am not unbiased, nor do I wish to be. I have done work for anyone and everyone in the software industry or the accounting profession. But if I am not impressed by what you do or can't find an angle that is interesting or unique, I won't work for or with you. And if you are stodgy or boring, there are not enough dollars or even euros to make me help you.

See samples of my
writing here:

www.salestaxradar.com

www.mybizcounts.com