1. Enhance your
communication
skills with
sketching
Rebecca Jackson @_rebeccajackson
Product Anonymous @prod_anon #prodmgmt
March 19 2015

2. About me
• Into community management,
social media, intranets, UX,
product management…
• Rediscovered drawing a few
years ago
• Twitter: @_rebeccajackson

3. About you
• Say Hi to the people next to you
• Exchange names
• It will make things easier later on :)

4. Agenda
• Why visual communication is awesome
• How to introduce sketching back into your life
• Examples
• 7 steps to sketchnoting
• Practice time
• Resources

5. Why visual
communication is
awesome

6. Promotes creativity
• Drawing from imagination flexes your creative
muscles
• Drawing what you see builds your visual memory

7. It’s good for your brain
• People who doodle, recall
information than those who don’t
• Absent doodling can help you
concentrate better
• Drawing your notes helps to
remember content better
• The brain makes connections
between your drawings and the
content

8. Will help you explore
and iterate
• Drawing is associative
(rather than linear)
• In a group, you can
collaborate on an idea

9. It’s engaging
• Sketched notes look nicer than pages of writing
• People are drawn to images
• And images are a universal language
• Low fidelity is better – it’s more relatable

10. How to introduce
sketching back
into your life

11. Just start to draw again
• Doodle in the margins
• Sketch instead of taking notes
• Draw instead of taking photos

12. Use the whiteboard and
butchers paper
There are opportunities to draw
everyday
• Ideation
• Story boards
• Wireframes
Instead of reaching for the mouse,
find a marker

13. Try sketchnoting
• Meeting notes
• Conference presentations
• Videos
• Books
• Experiences

14. Examples

15. Eva-Lotta Lam ‘My contribution to Mike Rohde's Sketchnotes Handbook’ https://flic.kr/p/dL6gvR CC BY-SA 2.0

16. Matthew Magain ‘Innovation: A Global Perspective’ https://flic.kr/p/e4E9is © All Rights Reserved (Used with Permission)

17. Caroline Sewell ‘2014 TypeCon, Sketchnotes 3 of 5’ https://flic.kr/p/ppAM7H CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

18. Mauro Toselli ‘Design Thinking MOOC - WHAT IS Week 3 recap’ https://flic.kr/p/re3ofi © All Rights Reserved (Used with Permission)

19. Ivan Seymus ‘Walkies in Rome’ https://flic.kr/p/pPpEWE CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

20. Rebecca Jackson My First Sketchnote: How great leaders inspire action https://flic.kr/p/eA57Gp © All Rights Reserved

21. 7 steps to
sketchnoting
Tips and tools

22. Choose your weapons
• Something to draw with
• Something to draw on
• A hard surface helps
• Don’t forget spares
• Markers are good for
highlights or a bit of
colour

23. Pre work
• Save time and get a head start
• Research if you can
• Fill in before hand
• Title
• Portrait of speaker
• Location and date

24. Choose your seat
• Comfort really helps
• You need good light (can BYO)
• Close enough to hear well

25. Pace and use your space
• Are you limited in page space?
• Watch the clock
• Decide what pattern you want to follow

26. Outline first, detail later
• Where time is limited, economise
• Draw the basics in session
• Fill in gaps later on

27. Embrace your own style
• The beauty of sketchnotes is their uniqueness
• Each person has a varied style
• It’s not about a perfect representation
• A good enough representation will communicate
the same message as detail

28. Practice, practice,
practice
Like everything, the more you use it the better you
become

29. Practice

30. Watch,Listen Record
• Put the title on the page
• Pick out the “chunky” bits
• Use images, key words, icons

31. Video 1
Kelly McGonigal- How to make stress your friend
https://youtu.be/RcGyVTAoXEU

32. Discussion
Talk with the people next to you that you met earlier
• Was it easy / hard?
• How did the process make you feel?

33. Video 2
Shawn Achor - The happy secret to better work
https://youtu.be/fLJsdqxnZb0

34. Resources

35. Books
• The Sketchnote Handbook and Workbook - Mike Rohde
http://rohdesign.com/books/
• The Doodle Revolution - Sunni Brown
http://amzn.com/1591845882
• 143 Visuals – Scott Torrance and Mirka Voláková
http://www.slideshare.net/ScottTorrance/ebook-143-visuals
• UX Sketchnotes - Matt Magain http://uxmastery.com/ux-
sketchnotes-a-free-ebook-containing-50-sketches-of-
inspiring-ux-talks/

36. Interwebs
• The Sketchnote Army sketchnotearmy.com/
• Sketchnotes subreddit
www.reddit.com/r/sketchnotes/
• Twitter:
• @SketchnoteArmy
• #sketchnotes
• #todaysdoodle

37. Presentations
• Drawing in class - Rachael Smith
youtu.be/3tJPeumHNLY
• Hack your life with visual thinking - Claire Holgate
youtu.be/YxZSme_KJik
• Doodlers unite! – Sunni Brown
youtu.be/7fx0QcHyrFk
• Why what you draw is good enough – Jeannel King
youtu.be/MbjGth5LLxQ

38. Thanks for
sketching

39. Thanks to Product
Anonymous and
Brainmates

40. How to find me
• Twitter: @_rebeccajackson
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccajljackson
• Blog: rebeccajacksonblogs.wordpress.com
• Email: rebeccajljackson@gmail.com
Share your sketchnotes on
Twitter #sketchnotes
#prodmgmt
@_rebeccajackson

41. References
• The Sketchnote Handbook, Mike Rohde
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/10/10/things-
you-can-accomplish-with-hand-sketching-doodling/
• http://makeapowerfulpoint.com/2014/04/16/an-argument-
for-visual-thinking-in-business/
• http://www.thebookoflife.org/why-you-should-stop-taking-
pictures-on-your-phone-and-learn-to-draw/
• https://designschool.canva.com/blog/7-ways-doodling-will-
change-your-life
• http://uxmastery.com/why-sketchnoting-makes-you-a-
better-ux-designer/
• http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,188212
7,00.html