Taking Visual Notes

The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation conference was held last weekend at a hotel in Atlanta. I flew down as a part of a crew of graphic recorders to capture visual notes on large whiteboards during the workshops and keynotes. I also presented a solo reflection and action-focused workshop on the last day.

Graphic recording a workshop starts with listening a lot, writing a little, and being willing to do it in front of others. It’s a pile of skills that can be learned and practiced - lettering, layout, icons, color, containers, etc.

The more powerful part is doing it in front of people not really knowing what will happen in the room and that you are seen. The notes I take are filtered through my brain and so are inherently from my perspective with my biases and misspelled words. A graphic recording chart is a collection of tiny choices that - if you are in the room - you can see me make in real time. I’m aware that people are watching me thinking, and yet, my focus is less on the watchers and more on the content, thinking, and the board.

Note-taking moves information inward and makes it meaningful. Doing it publicly and visualizing invites others to join in the conversation. Often conversations about the what and how of graphic recording, which is fun 🥳.

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Building a Business

Deliberate skill-building requires strategy and planning. A strategic approach to which skills I want to build and what I want to be different through building those skills. And then making a plan to practice and building the supportive structures for accountability and guidance.

It’s making choices and those choices showing up as actions.