I’ve been recently sharing some of my personal digital sketchnotes with communities like the #MadeForMore Facebook group by Rachel Hollis. Most people haven’t heard of the term ‘sketchnoting‘ before and I also received some questions about what you can use sketchnotes for. I thought this question might come up again in the future, so in this blog post, I will try to give you some examples of what sketchnotes can be used for.
Personal Use of Sketchnotes
In the pictures below, you can see some examples of how I use sketchnotes in my personal life. But you can also use sketchnotes for:
- Bullet journaling or visual diaries in general
- Party preparations
- Private notes and notes at school, university, and work
- Shopping lists
- Recipes
- Wedding or party invitations
- Podcast, book and YouTube Video Summaries
- Postcards or thank you cards
Business Use of Sketchnotes
Sketchnotes are probably more commonly known in a business setting. Maybe you’ve seen it already at a conference, you just didn’t know what it was back then. Or you heard a different name for it? People also refer to sketchnotes as graphic recording, visual facilitation, visual protocol or visual summary. I will explain some of the differences between these terms in a future blog post, but for now, let’s just stick to sketchnotes.
Sketchnoting for business is even more useful since it not only reduces complexity for one person but for a whole group of people, or an entire community. So what can you use sketchnotes for in your business? Just to name a few, sketchnotes in business can be used for:
- Creating a visual summary for conference participants (Graphic Recording)
- Pumping up your PowerPoint presentations
- Creating a protocol of your meetings
- Visually facilitating workshops on a flipchart or a tablet (Visual Facilitation)
- Visualizing all types of processes such as operating instructions
- Creating unique flyers and marketing materials
How to get started?
Hopefully, now you have a clearer picture of what shetchnotes can be used for. In case, you’re interested in learning how to sketchnote and improve your visual skills, there is one piece of advice that I can give you: Practice makes perfect. When I started, I just practiced adding tiny doodles to my bullet journal entries. Over time, I found more inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest… All of a sudden I started seeing ideas everywhere: street signs, restaurant menus, posters. Sketchnoting, just like drawing, is a skill that you slowly develop over time. The more you practice the better you become.
If you’re still looking for more resources to get started, click on the button below to see the resources page, where I list all the books I recommend for visual thinkers:
Are you looking for someone for your business to create a comprehensive visual summary? Get in touch with me by filling out the contact form and telling me what you need help with:
