What is Sketchnoting?
Sketchnoting is a style of notetaking that uses both words and pictures to create visual summaries of information. You may also hear it called visual notetaking, scribing and when done on a large scale it is often also called graphic recording or graphic facilitation.
Sketchnoting is a very powerful technique that you can use to improve your study, be more effective at work, and add some creativity to many aspects of your daily life.
You don’t have to be an artist to Sketchnote. You don’t even have to be able to draw a straight line – as I always say, ‘straight lines are over-rated, give me a line with personality’.
There is a formula you can use to create sketchnotes and I can teach it to you.
Why should I learn to sketchnote?
Have you ever written down a bunch of notes in a meeting at work or in a class only to look at them later and find you can’t remember what half of it even means? Yep, pretty sure most of us have been there! That’s where sketchnoting is useful. It’s not like mindlessly scribbling down a few bullet points, the process of sketchnoting activates much more of your brain, meaning you can process and make sense of information much faster and your memory recall of it later will be significantly higher.
That is why I playfully say sketchnoting is like building a time machine, because something magical happens while you are taking notes in this way so that when you revisit your page later, it can be as if you are transported back to the place and time where you took the notes – I can sometimes look at a sketchnote from years ago and I can remember where I was when I drew it, who was there, what I was wearing – I can sometimes even remember chunks of the conversation – no kidding! Imagine how much easier your study or work could be with this kind of power in your notebook?
Sketchnoting can also be a powerful communication tool.
You can use it as a live skill to help a group of people work through and make sense of information in a meeting, workshop or class.
Or you can produce sketchnotes to share with your colleagues, stakeholders or network to:
> share information,
> explain complex concepts,
or
> summarise a conversation.
Our brains can make sense of a visual scene in less than a 10th of a second, more than 50% of our brains are used in visual processing and almost 70% of all our sensory receptors are connected with our vision – so you can imagine how much more powerful a sketchnote is than a giant pile of text at getting your message across!
Learning to Sketchnote was a total game changer for me and my career. I began making sketchnotes for myself during work meetings and events – I couldn’t believe how well it helped me to remember things! Over time people started asking me for copies of my sketchnotes, then they started paying me to come to their events and make sketchnotes for them to share with their attendees – before long Thoughts Drawn Out was born and I’ve been Sketchnoting and delivering other forms of visual storytelling for clients for more than 6 years now, and it still lights me up every day! That is why I wrote a book about it and I started running workshops on how to do it. I wanted to sing its praises from the rooftops, actually I still do! That’s why I built Sketchnote Fundamentals – a self-paced, completely online course teaching you to Sketchnote – step by step. I want to teach the world to Sketchnote because I know how powerful a skill it is to have – and I want you to have it!
What will Sketchnote Fundamentals teach me?
I’ve spent close to a decade experimenting and building out the techniques that I teach in Sketchnote Fundamentals.
- It starts with some theory so you have a base knowledge of how pictures work to help you build meaningful pictures.
- We talk materials.
- I take you through a full toolkit of drawing techniques so you will learn what makes a good icon, how to break down images into icons, and how to draw them.
- I take you through a process for creating your own repeatable human figure and how to give them a variety of emotions and pose them into a variety of actions.
- I teach you about humanising icons so they can resonate more deeply with your audience.
- I go through page layout, technique for live capture, we do some memory exercises to help you rely on your memory while processing a lot of information rapidly.
- We go through colour theory and developing your own style.
- I break down the 3 major narrative levers you can use to unlock the power of storytelling in your sketchnotes.
And I give you plenty of tips along the way for how to build an effective sketchnoting practice. Sound like a lot? Yeah, it is.
- There’s 15 videos – all sketchnoted so while you are learning about sketchnoting you are also watching sketchnotes being produced in real time before your very eyes.
- There’s also an additional 17 Sketchnote illustrations across your 15 workbooks.
- And there’s 23 exercises designed to help you incrementally build each skill.
Yes my friends, this course is epic! I’ve put everything I’ve learnt into here for you.
How does it work?
Simply sign-up on the Thoughts Drawn Out website and you’ll immediately receive course access. You can start straight away! All modules are available from the get-go so you can work through them at your own pace – as fast or as leisurely as you please. Your access doesn’t expire either so you can re-visit these materials time and time again if you need a refresher!
What will I be able to achieve when I’m done?
By the End of Sketchnote Fundamentals you will:
- have developed a toolkit of Sketchnoting skills
- have developed a personal style so your pages will be unique to you.
- be ready to build sketchnotes from static content as well as live capture information into sketchnotes.
This is the woe-to-go of sketchnoting skills to not just teach you how, but also to get you doing!
So what are you waiting for? The time to Sketchnote is now…