Visuals for a Better World
It’s the middle of an important meeting. Heads are bowed. But unfortunately, it’s in Blackberry prayer. An effective and gentle way to help a group refocus is the role of Synthesizers. Synthesizers are people who support the facilitator and summarize the main points and emerging themes for the group. They speak for 1 – 2 minutes … Read more Adding the role of Synthesizers helps groups focus
There’s a graphic facilitation/ graphic recording technique that lets me be in two places at once. It’s called template work. I wasn’t able to join the Surrey Welcoming Communities event in person, and we all wanted visuals to complement the facilitation at this cross- cultural, multi agency gathering. I proposed a custom, graphic recording template. … Read more Adding visuals with graphic recording templates
The Fraser Basin Council in Williams Lake hosted a forum on diversity, multiculturalism and anti-racism. I brought graphic recording to support their discussion and dialogue. This diversity forum covered a lot of ground. Participants talked about vocabulary and ‘words that hurt’. Iris from PeerNet BC facilitated great discussions about systems of power and privilege that … Read more Embracing Diversity – graphic recording and dialogue
At some point in writing a PhD, it’s safe to say you’re going to get writer’s block. Wouldn’t anyone? So when an old, trusted friend was stuck in his writing process, I asked him to experiment with me: could graphic facilitation could get his ideas from his head onto paper. I put up giant paper. He … Read more Using graphic facilitation for writer’s block
This January I joined Brandy Agerbeck, graphic facilitator extraordinaire, and 5 learners in her graphic facilitation “Lab”. The Lab is a 3 day retreat/ training/ challenging and supportive environment where graphic facilitators can try new things and grow our visual practices. My big takeaway? Emphasizing synthesis as well as capturing information. Let me explain a bit … Read more Graphic Facilitation Training in Brandy Agerbeck’s Lab
Graphic recording is a visualization process – I draw ‘live’ in front of groups. But I also find it’s a powerful tool for transforming written reports into visuals. It’s a completely different challenge. For example, a team has worked on a project for months. It’s the collective effort of many stakeholders. The report results are … Read more Use visuals to bring reports to life
This month I’m working with five organizations as a graphic recorder. More than ever, I’m convinced about how graphic recording excels at giving a fast, effective visual summary between events. Here are two examples of graphic recording as a powerful summary tool. In September I worked with a group of organizations in dialogue about about healthy … Read more Graphic recording and the power of visual summary
I’m often asked if it’s possible to integrate small group work and graphic recording during the session. It is possible – and in fact it’s very successful. I can work with facilitators ahead of time to integrate small group work, and sometimes it happens on the fly. One of my favorite parts of being graphic … Read more Graphic recording and small group work
This is graphic recording at a Provincial Health Services Authority-Aboriginal Health conference. The conference was called Transforming the Dialogue and builds on their online indigenous cultural competency training. I visited concurrent sessions, took visual notes and drew 6-foot images that summarized the workshops. Two themes emerged while I drew: Transforming the dialogue means working towards a critical hope, … Read more Live Graphic Recording – Transforming the Dialogue conference
This week, over 80 youth and 60 community/public health workers gathered at an important conference: giving input into an online wellness tool for indigenous youth. Karlene Harvey from the interim First Nations Health Council and I were on hand for graphic recording. Graphic recording is drawing in front of the room, in real-time. As people talk, they ‘see’ … Read more Graphic Recording: indigenous youth wellness