The Graphic Facilitator's Guide I Book Tip
In her book "The Graphic Facilitator's Guide", Brandy Agerbeck presents how to use your skills of listening, thinking and drawing to create meaning. The author looks back on 25 years of experience as a graphic facilitator. In addition to the three reasons why "Graphic Facilitation" is so successful, she also explains 25 basic principles for "Graphic Facilitation".- Graphic facilitators support a group by capturing the conversation live and in large format in words and pictures.
- Graphic facilitators work in the service of the group to make their meeting more effective and easier. The visualizations reflect the progress of the group.
- Graphic facilitators use text and images to clarify content. In addition, they use colors, lines and shapes to make their charts appealing.
- Graphic facilitators work with large-format paper. On the one hand, this makes their work easier to see. On the other hand, large-format paper also allows them to create a coherent "map" of the dialog.
- "Graphic facilitators help participants to concentrate and understand how their work is progressing.
The process is more important than the end result
Working as a graphic facilitator consists of equal parts listening (input), thinking (processing) and drawing (output). Since drawing is a visible and tangible skill that many people have lost, it is often overrated. Don't let drawing overshadow everything else, such as the importance of your ability to listen and perceive in the group, or to process and structure the ideas of a group. The communication process (of the group) has priority over the end product.
The strength of graphic facilitation
"Graphic facilitation is like an arrangement of lenses. Like a microscope, each lens brings the meeting to a sharper level and focuses on what cannot yet be seen. "Graphic Facilitation" brings emotions and the culture of the group to the surface. Like a telescope, each lens broadens your own perspective and shows the big picture. A graphic facilitator reflects on the course of the discussion, draws out the themes and puts individual pieces into context.
The power of being heard
We are all familiar with the process and the associated signs of fatigue in normal meetings: meeting - discussing - adjourning - and starting all over again. Each of us experiences such a meeting differently - depending on the objective, strategy, time pressure and distractions. We usually only process a fraction of what we hear. We select the pieces that are directly related to our area of responsibility.The graphic facilitator takes on the role of the public listener. He allows all participants to have an equal say and gives them the opportunity to be heard. Their contribution appears as a clear and distinct visualization on the large piece of paper. If someone feels "heard", they are liberated and can in turn listen better to others.
The power of shared understanding
We all want our work to make sense, to be understood and appreciated by others. "Graphic facilitators facilitate shared understanding by creating a common picture from individual voices.
Their large-format visualizations are pictorial records of the shared experience during a meeting, workshop or conference. Because everyone can see them, they support shared understanding and the group can build on this. Or to put it another way: "Everyone is on the same page".
The power of being able to see and touch your work
Seeing makes the work transparent. Touching it makes it tangible. Transparency and tangibility are valuable things in our complex world, in which we juggle too many roles, realize too many projects and ideas at the same time.Everyone sees the discussion take shape - sees how the work becomes tangible. We can touch it, add to it, roll it up and move it around. A well-structured visualization helps everyone to find clarity in the complexity. These images enable the group to follow their progress. They are also very useful for later reflection.
The guide for the graphic facilitator
If you are interested in graphic facilitation, graphic recording, visual facilitation and visual moderation, you should read this book. Brandy Agerbeck has been working as a graphic facilitator since 1996 and in this guide she opens up a treasure trove of her experience. Let the "rock star" of the American visualization scene take you by the hand and share in the diverse insights that Brandy has gained over the course of her many years in the profession.The book deals with fundamentals, insights and principles and contains many practical experiences. Ultimately, it is always about the task of serving the group: capturing every voice in the room and promoting shared recognition and understanding. All captured on a large sheet of paper.
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