Sketchnotes

This example is from a 4-speaker session at EduTech, 2016. Can you tell what it's about? Can you tell which sections were more important to me?

Sketchnoting

Sketchnoting is a way of taking notes using visual cues that are meaningful to the creator. The combination of words, pictures and symbols means that the creator can formulate their own links and ideas about the content being delivered. Due to its visual nature, sketchnoting provides handy recall "hooks" for the creator. It is also a great outlet for students who are visual learners, creative, or have trouble with written literacy.

One argument against sketchnoting is that it forces the creator to multitask, and this can result in them doing lots of things badly instead of one thing well. However, as it requires the creator to pay attention, listen carefully, and develop creative ways of capturing information, it could be argued that it is a more successful note-taking method than standard written note-taking.

Research suggests that note-taking via typing results in less retention and recall than writing long-form. The argument for sketchnoting is that, the combination of personally meaningful reference points and creating notes by hand, should result in greater retention and recall.

In my opinion, the definitive expert on Sketchnoting is Mike Rohde.

I started with Mike's notes online, then attended a session with Andrew On Yi Lai.

A quick Google search will present you with lots of other sources, tips and ideas.

It's quite easy to get started. You'll need:

Paper.
A pen.

There you go. That's it. If you want to get pretty, you might like to add some coloured highlighters or markers. I'd recommend a fine point pen as it's easier to fit more on the page, but it's really up to you. I do advise you NOT to use pencil. Don't worry about mistakes. It's supposed to be messy!

Here's what to do:

Arrive early and get a good seat with good lighting.
Prep your page by adding the presenter/teacher name and the title of the session/class.
Listen carefully.
Write down points that are important or use images to capture them. Choose in the moment. Don't worry if it's messy or disorganised, you'll improve over time.
As you go, visually draw links between concepts that match. Or use numbers, pointers, or images to show the direction of your thoughts.
At the end, scan or photograph the page and share it with the presenter. They will appreciate your take on their presentation as it often helps to highlight gaps or rambling for them. Doing this got me a gig sketchnoting for a conference brochure!

Before you go:

Practise creating shapes with the 5 main elements above. Pretty much every shape is made of these.
Get comfortable with your style and choose about 3 main fonts you can write with quickly and easily. I've included a few of mine to get you started, but keep an eye out online for more ideas.
Draw some little people. You'll use these a lot so keep them simple. They're handy for capturing motion and emotion.
Figure out some symbols or shapes you can use to draw attention to key points and ideas.
If you really insist on organising your thoughts, use one of the layouts pictured above. Otherwise just go with the flow and link it all together later.
Keep practising and sharing. You'll get better and it gives a great buzz when people love your creations!

That's about it. Above all, this should be fun! If it doesn't work for you, try it two more times with an open mind!

Some videos you can use to practise your skills:

I think we all need a pep talk by Kid President

Why you should care about whale poo by Asha de Vos

Forget multi-tasking, try mono-tasking by Paolo Cardini

Report abuse