Have you ever tried to communicate a complex idea to a large group when language is the major barrier?  I have....

I was recently in Taipei for business and after I had run a client workshop we had an internal meeting to discuss what was required to be produced to enable us to progress to the next stage with the client. 

I had begun to communicate my viewpoint which was proving to be challenging in a roomful of people whose first language was not English, so I decided to use the whiteboard and drew a quick Mind Map with the BOI’s of the topic (only had two colours though).  I asked if everyone was happy with the initial main ideas which everyone agreed with a bemused look on their faces.  I asked a couple of pointed questions which I recorded the responses and immediately I was being bombarded with information that needed to be recorded.

Normally I would explain briefly the concept of what a Mind Map was, but in this instance I decided to just use it as a form to take notes so that it was being recorded and in a matter of minutes it became apparent to everyone how it worked and the ideas started flowing freely, generating new ideas, identify relationships and coming up with concepts that were outside the normal mindset. 

It was like they had being using Mind Maps for years and what really impressed me was that they recorded the information as a Mind Map and came and asked me for more information on how it worked

Mind Maps – Brain friendly in any language