What is graphic recording?

Graphic recording is the process of taking large-scale live visual notes during an event or meeting. These notes are giant - usually 4 feet tall and 8 feet long - and displayed prominently so that everyone can follow along as they take shape.

What's the point?

By distilling and synthesizing information and capturing it in a visual format, the graphic recorder helps your group stay engaged, feel heard, make new connections, gain insights, and retain information long after they leave the room.

Which events can benefit from this?

Bringing in a graphic recorder or visual note-taker can add value to all sorts of events. In general, if your presentation or topic is important enough to bring people together around, then it is likely worth the extra investment to add a visual element that will greatly amplify your impact and clarity for everyone in attendance. Consider including a graphic recorder the next time you host a conference, world cafe, community forum, strategic planning meeting, brainstorming or visioning session, orientation, training, or workshop.

Is it really worth it?

Yes! If you are already investing in an event, hopefully you want people to be fully engaged and to remember what they learned long after they leave. Scientifically, visuals have been shown to greatly improve learning and memory. You can dramatically increase your return on investment by including a graphic recorder to capture and synthesize information in a way that is both eye-catching and memorable.

I have been leading strategic planning retreats for thirty years but never used a graphic artist. Katie served as the graphic artist for a Kaiser retreat on Monday and she was amazing! She is an amazing artist but more importantly she knows how to illustrate the connections between mission, vision, values, goals, strategies. We ended up with two huge storyboards that were hung on Tuesday in the lunch room so the 250+ people who were not able to attend the retreat could immediately see the work... Every strategic planning retreat from now on I will use a graphic artist. I would love to have Katie at every retreat I do - she literally made it the best retreat ever!

- Janet Porter, PhD
Co-Director and Faculty of Leading Quality
Improvement Program at Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Katie captures information and give audiences a way to visually remember ideas from any meeting. This creative technique ensures that my confidence trainings will have a lasting impact, and that my audience can enjoy the experience without having to take notes.

- Traci Bagli Hooper
Keynote Speaker & Corporate Trainer

Katie is an incredibly talented listener and artist. When she joins me for a client workshop I know we'll have an amazing graphic representation of our discussion, and have fun pulling it all together. I highly recommend Katie for any strategy sessions, workshops or even meetings - they only improve with her collaboration.

- Susan Pierson Brown
Communications Strategist & Principal at Seven November, Inc.

How does the process work?

After going over your agenda together in advance and discussing your goals and priorities the graphic recorder will create any number of charts to capture the main points throughout your event. Still wondering what this looks like in real life? Check out the time lapse video below to see how one of these posters takes shape over the course of a couple hours...

Who have you worked with?

Here is a select list of some of the groups I've had the pleasure of working with recently: