Giving the main points of a message or taking notes on what we are told or have heard is a very important skill when using English in business. Taking notes on what we've heard is more difficult than making notes on something we've read.

Which of this advice do you find useful?

1. Never write in complete sentences.

2. Don't use so many abbreviations that your notes are meaningless later!

3. Use key words like because, therefore, but or and to indicate the relations between ideas.

4. Use the dash - . It is the most useful punctuation mark in note-taking.

5. Use a lot of space - then you can expand your notes later. Put each idea on a new line.

6. Use the layout: paragraphs, headings and underlinings to help make the meaning clear.