When someone briefs me on a new presentation design project, I usually do not scribble in a note book during the conversation. One, it prevents a direct dialogue. The client is not passing on his food orders to a waiter who looks down at a piece of paper all the time. And, when you write down, it is hard to inject questions. But there is a second reason.

Writing down your impressions after a discussion 10 minutes after the meeting is over is a wonderful way to let your brain do the first sorting of what is important, and what is not. I don't write down the entire conversation sequentially, rather, I write down the big ideas that struck me. They are not in the right order, they are not at the same level in the story hierarchy, they overlap. Still they are all thoughts that "need to go in somewhere'.

Ten to fifteen minutes is the optimal delay, after that your memory starts fading and you will lose that thought.

Art: Jean Siméon Chardin, Soap Bubbles, 1733