What is Graphic Recording?

Graphic Recording is a visual tool that helps groups meet their objectives during crucial meetings. It supports and invigorates the well-thought out process design of any successful meeting. Just as a skilled facilitator adds value to a meeting, so too does the graphic recorder, by creating an environment in which creative, critical and strategic thinking can easily take place.

A graphic recorder (also called a graphic facilitator or a process artist), visually records the key discussions and presentations of a meeting. Using large format paper, she captures and synthesizes information in real time, to create a visual "map" of the meeting using words, images and icons.

This highly visual format helps meeting participants understand the "gestalt" of their issues in a way that is impossible through a more linear process. A visual metaphor, diagram or image can reflect many levels of information that people can understand simultaneously. Seeing the "big picture" gives participants a shared understanding and allows them to quickly conceptualize complex information, see patterns and develop breakthrough thinking.

Having a graphic recorder dedicated to harvesting and organizing the content of a session means that comments and ideas are constantly on view, able to continuously inform and enrich the conversation. Equally important, no ideas are lost or marginalized.

Following the meeting, the charts are digitally reduced and distributed electronically. They serve as a way to communicate the meeting process and outcomes, and are often an essential resource for the group as they move forward, reminding participants of agreements, action items and key concepts.