You have got to love a sketchnote. These friendly, colourful records of a meeting or discussion are so much more than the sum of their parts. With a sketchnote you get all of the benefits of working visually, namely greater understanding and greater retention, for yourself.
Sketchnotes are also a great way to share your business stories.
If you’re not familiar with sketchnotes then here some I did a little while ago at a TEDx event in Liverpool.
The sketchnote I've pulled out here is from a talk by Steve Clayton who is Microsoft's chief storyteller (cool job eh?) Now it’s likely that none of you reading this were actually at this event, so take a moment and really have a look at it.
From a standing start, do you now think you know what the talk covered? Maybe.
If not, can you see some of the main points of the talk? Probably.
Do you have a sense of Steve's view on life and work? Yep, you probably do.
Do you think you could now share a couple of simple points about this presentation with a friend over coffee? I’m guessing so. Pretty impressive considering you weren’t there don't you think?
Now you might be thinking “It’s all very well for you, but I can’t draw!”. Don’t fret, it’s really not an artistic exercise at all. Even the most basic stickpeople (along with words) will help to jog your memory and make your notes much more useful to you.
(Of course if you do want to become a sketchnoting whizz and you'd prefer some training than going it alone, take a look at our Be a Graphic Recorder online course, where you get online support from me directly).
There are plenty of reasons why you should use sketchnotes and here are my top three…
1. pictures and words together tap into multiple learning styles.
2. visual information is more easily retained than words alone.
3. and of course, it’s much more fun to review your notes when they are sketchnotes.
So if you haven’t tried it already, and find yourself in a situation where you might usually scribble some written notes, why not have a go? You just might find that it really is ‘sketchnotes to the rescue’.
Here at Graphic Change we work with individuals and businesses helping them to get the benefits of working more visually.
Find out more about our online courses over at the Graphic Change Academy.
Or buy my book Draw A Better Business.
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