by Emily Mills
VENTS
• Air blowing on you or your notebook pages
• Abrupt temperature changes
• Noise
When I have a choice of seating and can arrive before an event begins, I like to introduce myself to the people working the sound booth and ask them where to sit to hear clearly. Often, the best seat is close to the booth itself.
GET A SCHEDULE
One of the most common questions people ask when they see my work is, “How do you know how to space everything out so perfectly?” Easy: planning ahead! I always get an event schedule ahead of time. Schedules are a goldmine of necessary information for visual notetakers! A schedule usually has speaker names, the talk titles, and time frames. I can populate my visual notes with this information before the event begins.
Once you know how long the session is, you can plan your visual notes. I very loosely plan my space in 5- to 15-minute intervals. I write out the times in pencil across the pages or board so I know if my spacing is on track with the time remaining. I generally do one notebook page of visual notes for every 30 minutes of content.
Room temperatures for meetings and conferences can fluctuate, so it’s helpful to dress in layers to stay comfortable.
LISTENING
There is one more essential step to learn before putting pen to paper, and taking effective visual notes all hinges on this one skill: listening.
THREE STEPS TO GOOD LISTENING
There are three steps to good listening:
1) Hear: The first step to good listening is being in a good position to hear well. If you’re in a smaller setting with no sound system, get as close to the presenter as possible. Move away from noisy areas or people. If you’re in a large room, make sure you’re near or under a speaker.
2) Focus: Remove any distractions. Put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode.
3) Listen: This is the final step to good listening—actually listening! There are two kinds of listening: head-to-heart and head-to-hand.
HEARING VS. LISTENING
Have you ever zoned out while “listening” to a colleague in a meeting? Or thought about what you wanted to order while “listening” to your friend at lunch?
In these instances, you’re not listening—you’re hearing. Hearing is what happens when you receive sounds. Listening is what happens when you intentionally focus on the sounds.
HEAD-TO-HEART LISTENING
This is the default listening method for most people. First you receive sounds in your ears. Next the sound travels to your brain, where the information is processed. You think about the information, forming your own opinions, judgments, and even arguments. Then you process it in what you might call your “heart” or “soul”—thinking about how the information makes you feel on an emotional level. You might even start thinking of other people who need to hear the information too. Only after you’ve considered the information in your head and heart will you write something down. This process happens very quickly, but there are many steps involved, and that’s why it’s not effective.
When information enters your head and heart, it gets stuck and lost along the way. By the time you write it down it’s a fraction of what was said, and you probably stopped listening to the speaker as attentively because you were focused on your own thoughts and feelings about the information.
HEAD-TO-HAND LISTENING
Head-to-hand listening is also called active listening. You’re completely focused on the message of the presenter. The information bypasses your thoughts, judgments, arguments, and feelings and goes straight into your notes. More information comes out in your notes because it doesn’t get lost in your head and heart. This is what we’re going for! When you take visual notes, you want to go straight from what you hear on the stage to the page.
When people see my visual notes after a presentation and talk to me, our conversation is often like this: “Did the presenter actually say that? I don’t remember that!” My answer is always, “Yes! I don’t add anything myself in my notes—I capture what I hear.” People are always surprised at how poorly they paid attention when they see how thorough my notes are.
HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’RE DOING IT RIGHT
During presentations, do you catch yourself saying, “I think this guy is wrong because…,” or “I think Suzy really needs to hear this talk,” or “I wonder when lunch is?” or “Oh, that was so good. I need to form that habit.” If so, you’re letting your head and heart get a say in the information—and they aren’t invited! Refocus your attention to the present and what the presenter is saying.
LISTENING CUES
It’s impossible to capture everything that is said on a stage or in a meeting—we simply can’t write at the speed of spoken word. Luckily, capturing everything isn’t the point of visual notes. When you take visual notes, you’re going for the main ideas and recurring themes, not every detail. Don’t worry about trying to write down every word, just focus on the important stuff!
The next question you’re probably asking is, “How do I figure out what’s important and what isn’t?” I have found this mostly comes with experience and practice. Over time, you’ll learn to identify important themes in the moment, but there are also a few listening cues to help you identify these important points.
It might surprise you to know that you can listen with your eyes too! Watching a speaker will help you listen and once you know what to look for, listening becomes so easy that it’s almost like cheating! I call these “Listening Cues,” and they are behaviors that you need to learn to identify. Let’s get into it!
VERBAL
The easiest listening cue is one you don’t have to work for—the presenter will tell you what the big ideas are. Listen for phrases like:
• “There are three steps to solve this…”
• “My first point is…”
• “If there’s one thing I want you to remember, it’s…”
• “To sum it all up, this is all about…”
These phrases give you the structure of the talk, so you don’t have to listen closely for it. Some, but not all, experienced presenters verbally share the structure. Others use a storytelling format with less structure, so you’ll have to rely on other listening cues as well.
REPETITION
Presenters want you to understand what they’re saying, so they’ll often repeat their ideas more than once. Experienced presenters know it takes longer to write than to talk, so they’ll often use a repetition method called “bookending.” This involves introducing the big idea, talking about it, and then repeating it again before moving on.
PAUSING
Presenters who are about to share something important sometimes pause before and after they share it. This could be intentional—they want the idea to have “room to breathe” and time for you to soak it up. Or it could be unintentional—they are gathering their thoughts to share the big idea in the best way; for instance, they may pause after sharing the big idea as they consider the best story to explain it.
ON SCREEN
Another listening cue is visual—presenters often put the most important information on their slides or in a video because they want to ensure you understand the key points. It’s a good rule of thumb that if something is on a slide, it’s important, BUT you have to use your best judgment. I’ve attended presentations with hundreds of slides and tons of information, both written and charted, and it was impossible for anyone to read or keep up with. In cases like this, you’ll have to discern what is most important to you at the time.
GESTURES
When presenters get to important points, they often use gestures and movements with their hands and body to help communicate. This could be as simple as holding up a finger, as if to point out something important, or it could be a full-body motion to get you to notice and pay attention.
SPEED & VOLUME
Some of the subtler listening cues to recognize are speed and volume. People who are talking about something t
hey care about change the pace and they often get louder. A presenter who normally speaks fast might slow down to make sure you get the point. A presenter who normally speaks slowly might speak faster to bring energy to the point they are sharing. You can bet that when a presenter gets louder, they’re trying to get your attention. Notice it, and see if the volume corresponds to something you need to capture.
WHAT ABOUT STORIES?
Many speakers open with a story, but the stories don’t always relate to their topic. Sometimes the story is to warm up the crowd or for the speaker to get comfortable. When a speaker starts with a story, wait for a few minutes before you take notes. If they spend more than a few minutes on the story, it usually relates to their talk. Capture the big ideas from the story or a small related picture—but not every detail.
WRITING
This is it! This is when you finally get to start putting pen to paper! If you don’t like your handwriting or are worried about legibility, fear not! With practice, anyone can master taking visual notes that everyone can read.
PRINT
While it might have been decades since the last time you practiced writing your ABCs, let’s do a quick refresher. Practice the following alphabet:
If you draw your letters differently than the above example, that’s okay! I still encourage you to practice this classic alphabet and try it in your notes at least once before going back to your default handwriting. It’s important to try new things that stretch us creatively—even when it comes to penmanship!
One thing that helped me relax was to not think about it as writing letters, but drawing them.
REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE
Here is the first page of visual notes I ever took during a sermon at a church (next image). You can barely read my handwriting! Once I realized wanted to share my notes, I knew my handwriting would have to improve. Even though I was slower at first, I completely changed my style of writing to something more legible (second image).
CURSIVE
Now try cursive! Not everyone was taught how to write in cursive in school—if this is you, don’t panic! It seems complicated, but with practice, you’ll pick it up quickly. Practice the following cursive alphabet.
Now that you’ve got down the ABCs, practice writing some words in cursive and see how the letters link together. Here’s a list of words you can practice with if you need some ideas:
joker
short
zoom
systems
gratify
trade
fine
offering
ultimate
thematic
breathless
fox
BLOCK LETTERS
Now you can begin to create different kinds of letters for more variety (and fun)! Let’s start with block lettering. Think of block lettering as a bold version of basic print. Block letters are great for creating emphasis and calling attention to something. I often use block letters for the titles and headers of my visual notes. There are a few methods to create block letters.
TRACE OVER Write a letter in normal print. Then use a writing tool with a thicker stroke to trace over it. This method is quick, but not always very clean looking.
BLOCK LETTER Draw the outline of a block letter. You can leave it blank inside or fill it in. This method is more difficult and comes with practice!
DOUBLE LINE Write a letter in normal print; then trace the letter just outside the lines, creating a double-lined letter. If your writing tool is thinner, you can fill in the lines for a solid block letter.
SERIF LETTERS
Another way to embellish letters is to add serifs, which are the “feet” at the ends of the letterforms.
LINE SERIF This style is easiest because you simply add a small line to the ends of your letters. This looks best in smaller sizes when you use a single stroke for each letter.
CLASSIC SERIF This style is probably familiar if you’ve ever used Times New Roman. The easiest way to create a classic serif is to add a small, curved triangle to the ends of the letter’s lines. As you practice, try curving the line to create a tapered look.
BLOCK SERIF This style is like a bolder version of a line serif. Instead of drawing a line, draw a box at the end of the lines or on angles and intersections.
EMBELLISHMENTS
Let’s add some embellishments! These extras will help add emphasis and visual interest to your visual notes.
SHADOWS Shadows are one of the most eye-catching embellishments to add to text. When used well, shadows can make the right parts of your visual notes stand out.
To add a shadow, pick one side or two adjacent sides of each letter of the word. Add a gray or black mirror of each letter behind it. You can also add a flat shadow along the bottom (baseline) of your words.
Making embellishments can be a distraction and cause you to not actively listen. Focus on getting the information in the moment, because you can always make it look cool later. I only add embellishments if there is a lull in the presentation or afterward. If I know I want to add embellishments somewhere, I leave a larger blank space and jot down the idea in pencil; and then I move on.
TEXTURES Adding a texture helps break up the uniformity of letters. Textures work best on white or “empty” letters.
The possibilities for texture are endless! You can use dots, lines, or shapes to add variety. For a dramatic effect, try using the texture in a gradient.
COLOR Selectively coloring your writing is also an easy way to add emphasis. Just be sure not to overdo it—choose a select few colors that work together. Make sure the ink has enough contrast with the paper to be legible!
Embellishing cursive is a little harder, but not impossible. One simple method is to add another line on one side of each letter, creating a hand-lettered look.
You can also use brush-style markers or other nib styles while writing to achieve different weights and effects when you write in cursive.
If you’re interested in mastering cursive, calligraphy, or hand lettering, pick up some other books and guides to get a more in-depth look at how to create these effects.
HIERARCHY & COMPOSITION
Hierarchy is a system of organization to help your readers quickly and easily understand the importance of the information.
Visual notes with good hierarchy are easy to read and follow. The information isn’t overwhelming because there is visual balance—a mix of large and small writing. As you begin to take visual notes, I recommend using three writing sizes. These title sizes are used across journalism, programming, and writing fields and may be familiar to you! Overall, make sure your writing is consistent. Too many styles and sizes create chaos and make your notes hard to read—and we don’t want that!
HEADLINE The largest size you write in. This could be a block letter or have serifs. Use this size for the title or header, as well any central ideas, themes, or words.
SUBHEADLINE Smaller than the headline, but larger than your body copy. This could be a block letter or serif. Use this size to write important phrases, quotes, or action items.
BODY The size of your normal handwriting; usually has no embellishment or style. Most of your content will be in this size.
EXERCISE NO. 1
Read the following paragraph. Create some written blurbs and use hierarchy to show importance. Remember: the most important points and central themes should be larger than everything else.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
—Excerpt from “Citizenship in a Republic” Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
EXERCISE NO. 2
It’s one thing to read information and be able to put it into a hierarchy, but it’s another to hear it! Find a famous speech or a conference talk on YouTube™. Practice writing the information you hear in a visual hierarchy. Don’t worry about drawings, color, or layout just yet—focus on making sure the writing hierarchy portrays the importance accurately.
DRAWING
“I can’t even draw a stick figure!” is one of the most common things I hear when people see my visual notes. The point of visual notes is to focus more on accurate information than on illustrations. Visual notes are as effective with simple drawings and stick figures as they are with professional drawings.