TOEFL lets you take notes in every section, and in the integrated speaking and writing tasks the audio plays once. Whatever you did not capture is gone. That makes note-taking the highest-value mechanical skill in this exam, and it is entirely trainable.
Use a two-column page. Reading on the left, lecture on the right, so a point and its counter-point sit opposite each other. This is not an aesthetic preference: the integrated writing task asks how the lecture responds to the reading, and a two-column page answers that question by its shape.
Write structure, not sentences. Three symbols do most of the work:
- an arrow for cause or consequence
- a slash or "≠" for contrast, which is where the lecture usually goes
- a number for each main point, because the tasks nearly always have three
Abbreviate ruthlessly and consistently. Drop vowels (gvt, envmt, exp), use symbols (↑ ↓ = & w/ b/c), and keep the same abbreviations every time so you can read them back at speed. Invent them once in practice, not in the exam.
Capture the signposts. Lecturers announce structure out loud: "there are two main reasons", "however", "on the other hand", "the key point is", "for example". Those phrases tell you a main point is coming before the content arrives, which is exactly when your pen should move.
Do not transcribe. A student trying to write every word hears none of it. Aim for the skeleton: the claim, the reason, the example, and any number.