Start Taking Visual Notes

Our favorite resources for starting your visual notetaking journey.

Visual notetaking involves capturing key insights with words and visuals for personal notes, small meetings, large conferences, and change initiatives. Studies have shown that capturing information visually improves information retention and even shortens meeting times.

Imagine the good you can do in the world just by capturing information in a way that will be remembered and appreciated.

Take a Workshop

Join our waitlist and share feedback to help us schedule our next public-facing workshop for budding and beginning notetakers. 

Graphic Jam Challenge

Seven free video lessons to equip you with basic drawing skills and grow your confidence in using visuals to take notes and communicate ideas.

  • Visual Notetaking

    An umbrella term for taking notes with both words and images. 

  • Graphic Recording

    Visual notes done on large “butcher block” paper or foam boards.  

  • Digital Scribing

    Visual notes done on a tablet using a drawing application. 

  • Sketchnoting

    Small-scale visual notes done in a notebook or on a tablet. 

Release your inner critic. 

You CAN draw, you just forgot how. 

Everyone has an inner critic, the negative voice inside your ear that sounds like Mrs. Craft, my second-grade teacher who reprimanded me for drawing my letters too close together, or Mr. Daley, my elementary school art teacher who yelled at me when I used too much glue (yes, both of these are true). 

Own your inner critic. Give them a name. Then pat them gently, while kindly, but directly, saying, “I know you are here but I don’t need you this moment. Just for now, I’m going to sit you on this shelf, so that I can listen and be present.” 

Visual notes are not about being pretty. They are about getting intentional about how you take notes so that you (or those reading your notes) can remember the information better. 

Your early stuff is just for you. You don’t have to show your notes to anyone, although we recommend that you do. Feedback is the gift that keeps on giving.

Purchase supplies. Grab your books. Find training.   

Now that the inner critic is secured on the shelf, we can have some fun! It’s just like going back to school. You will recognize the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and hear that first crack of a new book binding being broken for the first time. It’s a magical time. 

Below is a list of FUN-damental resources, plus lists of supplies, books, and training programs customized for those wanting to learn sketchnoting, graphic recording, and digital scribing. 

If you’re brand new, start with sketchnoting in a notebook. If you’re adventurous, start with graphic recording on large paper. If you are struggling with your inner critic, avoid digital scribing at first, as it can be frustrating to master drawing and a new tool at the same time. How long should you wait? You’ll just know when you’re ready for more. It could take two weeks, two months, or, in my case, two years and a global pandemic. 

Need a digital workaround? If digital scribing is what you seek, but you’re not ready to buy an iPad, grab this document camera. It will enable you to share your analog sketchnotes as your camera feed during a web meeting. A high-definition, swiveling webcam pointed at your wall works great for graphic recorders. Also check out this video on “Working Online with Markers and Paper.”

Start small! Pick one or two books and one or two training programs that sound interesting to you. You will be surprised at how quickly you will absorb the information. Come back to this post whenever you want more. We keep it updated regularly with new favorites!  

Practice and connect! 

Find opportunities to practice that fit within your routine. If you attend meetings (and who doesn’t?!), you have a practice space. Volunteer? Attend church? These are great spaces to practice in, as well. When you get going a bit, offer your services pro bono to nonprofits and associations. You will be a hero, and it will boost your confidence to get your work out there on a larger scale. 

The International Forum of Visual Practitioners is considered the formal institution for our community. To get and stay connected, aim to attend this conference every year for the first few years and every two or three after that. You will be embraced and leave with a ton of new friends you never knew you needed. 

Join communities of practice, such as the Graphic Facilitation Facebook Group. Introduce yourself to the group and ask if there are any Slack, Signal or other forums that the group recommends for your location or area of study. 

Steal like an artist. Look at what others are doing and save your favorites to reference as models. I like to print my favorite reference graphics on 5x7 paper and keep them in a small portfolio in my kit. 

Follow your fellow scribes on social media. On Instagram and Pinterest, the hashtags #sketchnotes, #visualnotes and #graphicrecording work great. 

We are also happy to offer you one free 30-minute feedback session on a few of your notes. While we do not currently provide one-on-one mentoring, we have colleagues who do, and we are happy to put you in touch. Contact us for more information

You don’t have to draw well for someone to look at your notes and say, “Wow!” You provide value simply by giving this a shot, so just start.

Attend our Visual Meetings in Motion Workshop

January 9-11, 2025 in Arlington, VA

Our one- to three-day workshop focuses on developing visual notetaking skills for professionals who want to take visual notes for meetings and meeting facilitators who want to grow their confidence in drawing live and on the fly. Attend Day 1 to learn basic drawing skills in one day, or join Days 2 and 3 for a multiday visual skills training experience.