Visuals for a Better World
I got an email this week that gave me goosebumps. My graphic recordings were part of a final report, and it turns out that when the Big Decision Maker saw the images, she was moved to tears – saying she could “see” the voices in the meeting talking about the impact their sector is making. … Read more Starting Your Graphic Recorder Career – first projects and wise practices
Next Generation Meetings: 8 Wise Practices and Creative Tools Here’s my webinar for Tech Soup Canada: Improve online gatherings and foster connection! This far into a pandemic, we’ve all changed our perspectives on what makes a good meeting. Do you find yourself wondering, “What is this meeting about? Is this the best use of our … Read more A new, free facilitation resource for creative meetings in 2022
What do we get when we combine text and drawing … and learning? Sketchnotes! I recently gave a webinar for Wacom Canada called Drawing on the Right Side of Learning: Sketchnoting, Visual Thinking and Making Learning Connect, and here’s free resources for educators from that talk: webinar recording what’s a sketchnote? a free sketchnote template … Read more How to sketchnote – free template and Wacom Canada webinar
Graphic recording helps us see complex information in new ways. It creates more understanding, helps us hear each other and can connect us to purpose – while inviting in more creativity. After hundreds of online meetings during the pandemic, here’s 10 things I’ve learned about adapting graphic facilitation to an online world. Graphic facilitation can … Read more 10 Things I’ve Learned About Graphic Facilitation in a Virtual World
Why strengthen your consensus skills? Better communication! Especially when you want more of a win-win. Here are some of my favourite consensus resources: – when consensus works – when it doesn’t – how to use a gradient of agreement to gather information instead of yes/no/abstain voting – options for disagreement. Plus, here’s my favourite meeting … Read more Supporting Group Decision Making – Consensus Skills
Earlier this year, someone (brilliantly) said to me that when we meet online, we have the opportunity to create good meeting habits, and leave our bad meeting habits behind. So I asked the facilitators and graphic recorders I look up to, “What have you noticed that we need to do more in 2021?” Big themes … Read more What will make better meetings in 2021?
Zoom Tech Hosts are the new standard If there’s one big takeaway for online meetings that I want to share, it’s this: Don’t run an important Zoom meeting by yourself. You can be the very best in-person meeting facilitator or meeting chair, but if you try to do it all yourself in an online environment – … Read more It Takes Two to Zoom: Why Standards for Facilitating Meetings are Changing
Indigenous Cultural Safety is a core skill for graphic facilitators Sharing wisdom from talking circles at Drawing Change workshops (2017-2019) Graphic facilitators in Canada and the United States need to have skills in Indigenous cultural safety to do our work well. Since 2017, Drawing Change visual facilitation training workshops (hosted on unceded Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and … Read more Graphic Facilitators Supporting Indigenous Cultural Safety
“Could this meeting have been an email?” Sometimes ….yes. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be this way. When you need to meet, make it count. Maximize your time together – and bring a sense of usefulness, a higher level purpose, or connection in how you gather. Here are some quick tips to diagnose if this … Read more Things that pretend to be good meetings – and how visuals make it better
My first freelance facilitation project, twelve years ago, was for a 3-hour offsite meeting. I charged them 3 hours to design and facilitate a 3-hour retreat – but I charged them $25/hr because that was the hourly rate of the office staff. A grand total of $75. It was a rookie move. I remember some … Read more Business skills for creatives and graphic facilitators
When it started getting dark at 3pm, we knew it was time to reach out to our graphic facilitation community and compile our annual wrap-up post. This time last year, we asked what the field of visual practice needed to do next – but was avoiding. This year, we wanted to know what advice … Read more How to Have Better Meetings in 2019
Updated September 2019 with some new titles! Summer is in full swing – hopefully this means you’re working at a slower pace lately, and maybe have a little extra time to flip a few pages at the beach. Personally, I’m trying to catch up on my reading-for-fun. Here’s a few books that Drawing Change graphic … Read more Our Favourite Visual Facilitation Books
It’s time for a Frequently Asked Questions! Summer roundup of questions I’ve been asked from folks new to the field lately: I’m new. How do get started as a graphic recorder? I love this question Welcome, fellow visual thinker! Six opinionated ideas and highly subjective advice: Start. I want you to START drawing! I am … Read more How to Get Started as a Graphic Recorder
Most creative people want to make stuff, not run the business side of things. Maybe this is familiar: you’ve launched your visual practice business (great!) and it’s been more than a year (congratulations!) and now maybe you’re wondering – how do I get more of the work I really want? I’m home from teaching “Beyond … Read more Growing your Visual Practice Business
It’s time for the annual wrap-up from some of my closest graphic facilitation and graphic recording colleagues. Last year, we shared what we noticed about about human nature or communication (because we’re at hundreds of meetings!). This year, the questions are a little harder. Consider the work of visual practitioners we admire: how do they … Read more 2017 Trends in Graphic Recording