As we move into March business gets back to normal and conferences and seminars swing into full production. Due to technology developments people are more visual these days and prefer images over text. Try to remember the last seminar you attended and returned home with stack of presentation handouts. You probably didn’t go through them so that information was possibly not retained. If you are looking for a better way to retain information then visual note-taking may be the answer.
Visual note-taking also known as Scribing or Graphic Recording is a way of retaining information in a visual format allowing you to easily review it after the conference. Instead of lots of text you can use images, words, or even paste in pictures that all tell the story of the event and summarize the information. This forces you to focus on the highlights and offers a visual picture afterwards. It is very popular at conferences and events and I even use it to organize my thoughts.
How does it work? You don’t have to be an amazing artist to do this, in fact even stick figures will work and we can all do those. All you have to have is paper, a pen, and a couple of highlighters to make this work. It really is about how you organize the information. I like to start with a title at the top of the page, an image of the presenter in the middle, and then fill in the information around them. You can use symbols, pictures, and captions to record the information. The note-taking is only for you so it doesn’t have to be good, but it will offer an amazing picture of the information afterwards.
I recently did this for a school for Black History Month. I would ask the students about their favourite black musician or actor and draw a caricature of them on the wall. On one side I added all of their professional accomplishments and on the other side I added personal information. We then taped them to the wall for all to see. This kept the students engaged, they were allowed to look at their phones to find information and the visual notes were displayed to spark conversation afterwards.
The next time you are in a meeting or seminar and want a fun way to retain information then try visual note-taking. If you are holding a conference and want a fun way of summarizing the information for everyone then hire a graphic recorder to draw for each presenter.
Here is more information on graphic recording with a caricature flair.
Are you going on vacation for March Break? If so why not buy the kids sketch books and have them draw out the memories as you have that great vacation. What a wonderful way to remember a beautiful family holiday. Not only do you get a wonderful memory of the trip but it will give them something to do in those down times.I used to do it for all of our vacations.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a professional cartoonist from Burlington Ontario Canada. He offers services in caricature entertainment gift caricatures, and graphic recording services. You can learn more about Bruce and all his work at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com
Bruce Outridge Productions 