Draw a line down a piece of paper about 1/3 from the left side.
Listen intently to your history professor's lectures. On the right side of the line, write down the main points of the lectures, leaving ample space in between for additional information.
Fill in the space between the main points as the professor talks about each point. Make note of any important dates, people or ideas.
Write quickly. You will not be able to write every word spoken, so focus on key ideas. You can use abbreviations and even skip certain parts of speech to speed up your writing. For example, you could write "Thom. Jefferson Dec. of Independence." This links Thomas Jefferson to the Declaration of independence without your having to write "Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence."
Take time to summarize your notes after class. Write a short summary about each point on the left side of the line on your paper. You can also write questions here for study purposes.