Summarizing information is a crucial skill across many disciplines. From business communication to academics, everyone wants to make an impact with fewer words but complete information.
The summarization process starts by understanding the source material thoroughly, and then distinguishing between essential and non-essential details.
However, many are unaware of how this process truly works. Thus, they cannot distill large data into a concise format, leading to ineffective communication efforts.
In today’s post, I offer effective strategies to summarize information accurately while maintaining word clarity.
Steps to Summarize Accurately
Below, I talk about all the steps you need to take to write a well-crafted summary. The end goal is to contain the message as is, while significantly reducing the length of the original text.
1) Understand The Source Material
Start by reading the source content thoroughly. Try to find the main idea of the text; the core key points that the author wants to convey. Highlight them so that you don’t miss out on them later on.
Also, look for repeated themes and information in the source material. If there are graphs or charts in the content, study them in detail and see how the trends are indicating toward a common meaning.
Understanding the essence of the source material may sometimes require you to reread the content several times, especially when the words or information is complex.
2) Differentiate Between Major And Minor Details
Refer back to the key points you highlighted in the text. Underline the ones you think are crucial to carry the meaning or crux of the text and truncate additional details. These may include:
- Anecdotes
- Dialogues (some may be included in the summary.)
- Repeated ideas to coerce a concept (mostly in academic texts.)
- And so on …
Anecdotes or personal stories of the author may also be added if you feel that they convey one of the central themes or messages of the text. Finally, jot down the major details in chronological order to start effectively crafting the summary.
3) Paraphrase The Key Points
The major details you just noted are exact words from the source text. You can use the same sentences if you’re guided to write an extractive summary.
However, abstractive summaries (or most summaries in general) require you to paraphrase the key points in your own words to create unique content.
Paraphrasing the points means that you’re simplifying the language used in the source material by avoiding jargon or complex words. This helps attain clarity in your summary, making your work appealing to the audience.
You also keep a straightforward approach in conveying the key points, all the while maintaining the same core meaning as the original text.
A quick way to paraphrase the main points is to get some assistance from the online tools. When you paraphrase online, your mind will get new ways to write the same old points with more clarity and originality. Thus, making your abstractive summaries more engaging.
4) Focus On Objectivity
Summaries are mostly written without a personal opinion. There is a sense of objectivity that leads the reader straight to the core message without too much beating around the bush.
So, you must ensure that you’re staying neutral in the summary without depicting any heavy biases for the main theme.
Secondly, you must not overgeneralize the information. This is very important since many people omit details from the summary for concision. But they also forget to stay specific and true to the original content.
Example: “The source material discusses how urbanization has caused the decline of the bee population in Europe. “
You can’t simply state the main idea of this text to be the ‘decline in bee population in Europe.’ This would be an overgeneralization of the content, leading to an ineffective and inaccurate summarization.
5) Maintain A Logical Structure Throughout
While you’re creating your summary, it is important to write logically; one point after another. Use transition words to maintain a consistent reading flow for the audience. These words and phrases may include (but are not limited to):
- However
- In addition to this
- Contrastingly
- Therefore
- Similarly
- Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly
- And so on …
Using transitions is important in a summary but paragraphing also needs work. Mostly, summaries are divided into an introduction, body paragraph(s), and then a conclusion.
However, the number of paragraphs you write also depends on the task at hand and the length of the original content you’re summarizing.
6) Get Assistance From An Online Tool
If you’ve read everything so far and are still confused with the summarization process. Then, don’t worry, I’ve got a solution for you.
When I was learning summary-making, I came across many online summarizers that could prove beneficial for the process. These tools concise information quickly and accurately without missing the beat.
So, you can aptly learn the summarization process simply by observing how the tools work. Then, try to mimic their functionality to summarize texts efficiently.
Using the online tools is also beneficial for your critical-thinking skills as you’ll start noticing the differences between your summaries and the ones done by the tool. Later, implement the changes found to further refine your summarization process.
Final Words
Summarizing information accurately is a crucial skill that requires a deep understanding of the source material.
By differentiating between major and minor details, paraphrasing key points, maintaining objectivity, and focusing on a logical structure, one can easily craft an effective summary. Utilizing online tools can also assist in honing these summarization skills.
That’s all from my side! I hope you enjoyed reading my work!
