4 Steps to Great Stories (Even if You’re Not Good at Storytelling)

Have you ever nailed a pitch? I mean, really crushed it? You saw that person you were talking to light up? 

Chances are, you told a great story, quickly, in a way that resonated with your audience.

I get to work with incredible clients with important stories to tell. And…it can be hard. When you’re working with complex stuff, it takes skill to tell a great story in a minute or less (stoichiometry and microbial symbioses, anyone?). 

Almost without fail, “communicating to the public!” is an outcome I hear regularly at workshops I’m facilitating.  Those groups have spent a lot of time getting really, exceptionally good at what they do, which isn’t communicating to the public. Why do those same people expect to suddenly be great at something they’ve never practiced? 

If you’re not partnering with a professional storyteller or communications firm, and you’re ready to level up your storytelling, here’s a technique I taught last year at IFVP’s online conference to help my peers simplify and get confident with their science communication skills. 

The Feynman Technique

Richard Feynman was a physicist and voracious learner. He also seems pretty humble and down to earth. Gotta love those folks. He developed this strategy to improve his own learning, and it’s a killer way to outline your story. 

• Choose your topic. What’s your story about? I suggest making a mind map of everything you know about it, then…

• Teach it to a kid.  Three hot tips to help them understand:  

  • Use plain terms, no jargon.

  • Be quick about it, you (probably) aren’t working with a long attention span.

  • Before you start teaching, clarify and write down exactly what you want them to learn. If that’s hard for you to do, you know you can improve. According to the medium article I linked above, “This is also where the power of creativity can help you reach new heights in learning.” Boom.

• Fill in the gaps and keep learning. Not knowing everything doesn’t mean you’re dumb, it means you’re human. 

• Organize, simplify, and use analogies. Try teaching that kid again and get their feedback. Make a new mind map. Draw a picture. And keep iterating until it feels simple, clear, and your audience gets that sparkle in their eye that means they GET it!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Adobe Creative Campus Collaboration - Summer 2021: Where campuses from around the continent reflect on what’s working, where they want to focus, and how to support creativity in learning for all!

Facilitating Microbiologists: Working on a grant proposal for microbial symbioses in the environment. Here’s a snapshot of the Miro board we worked in over two days to brainstorm, make decisions, and outline a writing plan.

In the Studio: Working on several videos. Here’s a sneak peek of one I just filmed as a trailer for a virtual field trip for the Park Service in Alaska. It’s about climate change, brown bears, and what they eat!

Arizona HIV Leadership Academy: Supporting the closing of a program reflecting on what they’ve learned and want to carry with them as leaders in the community.

Creating a Proactive Roadmap, Especially into Uncertainty

You know when you hear a word once, then all of a sudden keep hearing it a few more times in the next few days? And it feels like a sign you maybe want to pay attention to that idea? 

I’ve been hearing the word “proactive” quite a bit lately. As we begin to see the light at the end of the covid tunnel, the way our future will unfold continues to feel uncertain. Will we fall back into comfortable patterns of the Before Times? Will we use this time of disruption as a window of opportunity to evolve and innovate? What will the After Times look and feel like? 

As clients I partner with are shifting their eyes to the horizon of the future, approaching in a proactive way sounds good. Doesn’t it? But what does that mean? How can we be proactive if we have no idea how things will look?

I don’t have the answer, but I do have a suggestion: Imagine different scenarios.

Working through a Scenario Planning session doesn’t give us 100% certainty — it DOES provide space to:

• Think about our deepest fears for the future and get them down on paper to then let go

• Imagine different potential futures and brainstorm how we might move forward in each

• Create a foundation from which to adapt with agility as the actual future emerges

Sounds good, yes? But how do you actually DO scenario planning? 

Working with a professional facilitator to design the process, hold space, and push your group deeper can be a great idea. If you don’t have capacity for that, or want to give scenario planning a try on your own first, here are my tips to get started.

• Make four quadrants and label them with elements that are important, something like this: Best/Worst, Lots of XYZ/Very little XYZ

• Fill in your initial thoughts on each scenario — don’t stress, but DO give yourself time to return to this with different perspectives.

Potential questions to think about in each quadrant:

• What do you have control over? What is outside of your control?

• What do you feel like in this scenario?

• Who’s “on your team”/what resources already exist?

• How likely is this scenario to occur?

• How would this scenario impact your organization/life? 

• Are these impacts acceptable?

• What might you/the organization do to build resilience?

Tips:

• Allow yourself space to feel and sit in the discomfort of the worst case scenario (lower left in my image above)

• Then allow yourself to be relentlessly optimistic for the best case scenario (upper right in my image above)

• If you don’t know what would go in the other two quadrants, that’s okay – this is a starting point

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Urban Ecology for Positive Futures: Supporting a new, global, and transdisciplinary network of researchers and practitioners exploring urban ecology in different ways. As they begin their journey, defining HOW to work together, and what they might explore for a positive impact.

University of New Mexico Tech Days: We covered topics from pro cybersecurity tips and suggestions, to creating a positive environment for women in technology, to a reflection from the CIO of the past year and how the organization adapted.

Visual Storytelling for Impact

Have you ever worked on a project for multiple weeks, months, years, even? Then when it’s time to report on your work, or a friend asks you what you’ve been up to, you have no idea where to start explaining? 

For the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a team at Boston University convening a network across the country to change health care systems to better support families and children with complex medical needs. 

As you can imagine, this project is complex, full of nuance…and the core team needs to be able to show how they’ve used the funding. A multi-year pilot working with teams across the US…systems and culture change…collaborative innovation…

Yeah. It’s complicated. And it’s a story that needs to be told.

So, we sat down for 90 minutes and the core team told me their story. They told me about what they heard from families, from care providers, from partners. They shared data in the form of lived experience and from tools they developed.  

The result was messy, but the main messages had become clear. Add in a few rounds of revisions, and we had a one-page illustration that could be used to tell their unique story to funders, families, and so others could learn and improve on what they started.

What did the team have to say?

“I could cry with pride and happiness seeing our family engagement work laid out so beautifully and clearly by Karina. Well done…and many, many thanks!”

— Meg Comeau, MHA; Boston University School of Social Work

What’s the story you want to share? How might you map it out visually to illuminate the impact you’re making?  

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

TREETIME: In May, I got to co-create with a brilliant group of ecologists, biologists, and other researchers preparing for a large grant proposal. The goal of the workshop was to build a network across fields of study that will explore environmental changes over different time and phenological scales. We created a massive Miro board that the group fully leveraged!

On the River: Yes, again! Last year we got lucky and pulled a permit to raft through Dinosaur National Monument, but the trip was postponed due to the ‘rona. So we got to go this year instead! Unplugged, refreshed, and ready for June! Here’s a watercolor I made on the river a few years ago - looking forward to making some more!

Why You Should Write That Down On Paper

Coming at you with a little visual thinking science this week, sparked by this article from FastCompany exploring new research about the power of writing things down on paper. I was really curious to read this research, as I’ve been working almost 100% on the iPad this past year.

The study compared people taking notes on paper with those taking notes either with a digital keyboard or stylus on a large phone. An hour later, they were asked about the information they took notes on while in an MRI scan. 

The results? People taking notes on paper remembered more accurately…and took notes more quickly!

Why? According to the article, “Your memory loves one-of-a-kind spatial and tactile details,” and having a finite space like a notebook page helps trigger visual memory of where information was on the page. Additionally, the kinesthetic act of writing out different letters triggers our memory, and including elements like arrows, bullets, doodles, and colors helps spark that recall even more. 

Take a few seconds to think about how you take notes on paper – what the action feels like, how you revisit the information, how you feel. Now, think about what that experience feels like using a tablet, stylus, or digital keyboard. For me, the tactile feel of paper, the smells of paper and graphite, and the experience of moving the page around come to mind, versus the stylus gliding across my iPad screen, and pinching in and out to zoom. 

People working with visual practitioners experience the benefits of visual notes for memory and deeper thinking directly – using colors to connect similar ideas or themes, including illustrations of stories to improve recall, and creating a shared visual metaphor all contribute to more focused and collaborative processes. In fact, the lead researcher says “For art, composing music, or other creative works, I would emphasize the use of paper instead of digital methods.”

For those of you thinking “Okay, but isn’t there a time and a place for working digitally? I mean, covid times, right?” Absolutely! Check out this post I wrote based on an interview with Austin Kleon about when analog and digital can support the creative process. With similar results to this research, Kleon recommends starting with pen/pencil and paper to spark ideas and thinking creatively, then using digital tools to refine your work. 

What do you think? How do you work most creatively? What are your tips for remembering information from classes, meetings, or workshops? 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

In the Studio: Wrapping up two illustrations – one of a Vision Statement for a team working in the health sector, and the other an explainer of the concept of carrying capacity for a scientific article for young readers. The Vision Statement is not fully out in the world yet, so here is a snippet:

Core values and vision for supporting families and children with medical complexity.

And here are the brown bears and sea otters!

Carrying capacity explained via brown bears and sea otters in coastal Alaska.

NYC Stormwater Resilience Plan Officially Released: In 2018, I was part of an incredibly talented team of researchers, modelers, and the NYC Mayor’s Office working toward a data-informed, equitable, and safe stormwater resilience plan. After years of iteration and refinement, the Plan was officially released last week! Here is a graphic from the stakeholder workshops. To see and read the Plan as a PDF, click here. 

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

How I Prepare for Live Graphic Recording: Visual Notetaking Tips You Can Start Using Today

If you and I have met and had a conversation about visual thinking, there’s a good chance I’ve enthusiastically shared that I believe anyone can draw, and anyone can take visual notes. 

Aside from the fact that we are innately visual creatures and a few tips can spark creativity, I’ve learned through the years that there are things I can do that help me feel more confident and consistently help me produce my favorite work. 

One secret is that taking time to prepare before live graphic recording really helps me set myself up for success. These are strategies I use all the time that you’ll be able to implement at your next meeting to infuse your own notes with some visual flair. 

Each tip is followed by a snippet from my sketchbooks as an example. Here we go! 

Look through an agenda and practice sketching ideas for how to visualize concepts that will almost certainly come up – specific animals, equipment, or activities.

Play with potential layouts – even if I don’t know how the conversation will emerge, if I have some ideas sketched out I’ve found I’m more confident and it’s easier to adapt or add more detail if I’ve already spent some time thinking about it. 

Pick your colors – as Brandy Agerbeck says, use color MORE, rather than using more color! Pick colors for very important ideas, or to add patterns in the background. This is especially helpful when working digitally and you can use literally any color – paring down up front helps make decisions quickly in the moment. 

Draw out session titles and key names/affiliations if you know them, that way you’re not trying to spell someone’s name correctly while listening to their brilliant ideas and trying to get it all down.

Keep scratch paper nearby for taking notes. I do this less working digitally as it’s easy to move or erase ideas, but it’s still helpful to have a sketchbook nearby to jot down a great quote or statistics to incorporate later. 

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Back from Idaho: Where we spent two weeks unplugging and whitewater rafting! Here’s a shot from the South Fork of the Salmon River. Photo: Josh Metten

Procinorte: Even though I was offline most of the time, I was still able to jump back into Zoom for two days of agriculture and climate researchers from Canada, Mexico, and the United States discussing how to improve collaboration across borders for food and climate security. 

I’m Out of the Office for a Little Time on the River

Hello!

I’m taking some time off through the end of April to unplug, recharge, and spend time in nature on rivers.

If you’d like, check out this post about how time in nature fuels my creativity. Here’s a post about how whitewater rafting and running a business are similar. And here’s a link to my most recent post with a reflection template to think about what seeds you want to plant and nurture for yourself this year. Need inspiration? Here’s what Emily created with her kindergarten class!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Before we headed out, I had the pleasure of graphic recording for several fantastic projects! Here are a few highlights:

Adobe Creative Campus Collaboration: Learning and sharing how campuses are infusing creativity across majors and classes toward creativity for all. The conversation about STEM, STEAM (adding art), and STEMM (adding medicine) was especially lively!

Inclusion Café: Working with a US government team to facilitate dialogue about building a more inclusive and welcoming culture for ALL people.

Thinking Out Loud: A Clubhouse conversation about trends and observations in tech from cancel culture to the future of AI romance.

iMasons APAC Annual Summit: The Infrastructure Masons annual member summit for the Asia-Pacific region explored the future of Edge technology, growth, demand and training the next generation of data center leaders.

What Seeds Are You Planting? A Custom Reflection for You!

The seasons are changing.

It feels miraculous every year when we see small shoots of bright green poking up through the soil. 

It also feels like we can see the light at the end of the covid tunnel here in Colorado with more and more folks getting vaccinated.

As things return to more normal, it may feel like the pace of life will pick up (or maybe it already feels fast to you as we’ve adapted to remote work and the new patterns that has brought). 

As we’re shifting seasonally, this can be a moment to think intentionally about what’s next for you. Here’s a visual template to take a few minutes to reflect, which I’ve found to be incredibly powerful as a business owner, especially when things feel like they’re moving quickly.

RIGHT CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD

Right click to download and print!

Right click to download and print!

If this doesn’t serve you – that’s okay too! You do you. Here are the questions:

• What seeds do you want to plant now that will sprout and grow this year? 

• What have your roots quietly been up to beneath the soil and frost of the winter? What are things that aren’t visible yet, but are forming who you are and want to be? What keeps you nourished or gives you strength?

• What does it look like to nurture those roots so that as they wake up, you can bloom this year? What do you need to do for yourself?

Together, we have weathered some big storms this year. And you already know, weather patterns in spring are anything but stable – there’s bound to be another snow or cold snap this season. And as more of us are getting vaccinated and feeling more confident to see those we care about, there’s almost certainly something unexpected in our future we’ll need to shift around. 

And we know we can! 

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

If this reflection resonates for you, let’s connect to talk about designing custom processes and visuals for you or your team.

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Pacific Northwest Fire Science Symposium: Helping co-design and co-facilitate a 3-day symposium for Burn Bosses and other Fire Science professionals across the US Forest Service and partner organizations. We used Mural to collectively share and reflect resources and ideas throughout the week. 

Community Outreach: With a non-profit client looking to redevelop an outdated building to better serve their own community, and the folks in the neighborhood. We used Jamboards to explore options, concerns, and build consensus around what makes sense as the project moves forward!

Head’s Up: Time Out of the Office in Late April. I’ll be out from April 19-30 spending time in nature on rivers and will not be checking my email or phone regularly during that time. Thanks in advance for your patience on communication!

Have You Seen this Button? How to Create a Custom Background in Jamboard

Have you hosted a virtual meeting and felt like you knew people had really good ideas, they just weren’t speaking up? 

Regardless of whether the meeting is virtual or in person, not everyone feels comfortable speaking in front of a group. Add unmuting, raising hand, distractions, etc. in virtual spaces…and it’s easy to just not say anything.

One of the simplest ways I’ve seen engagement and energy skyrocket in a virtual meeting is to create space for people to add their ideas to the conversation in a virtual whiteboard. ­

Google Jamboard is free and doesn’t require folks to log in to access it, however I was really frustrated with Jamboard because I couldn’t “lock” anything down.

Until I noticed a button and discovered a simple solution.

Now I can create custom visual templates for breakout groups and embed them as the background so participants don’t accidentally move it around and confuse the group:

Here’s how you can embed your own image to create a branded, beautiful, or curated experience in Jamboard:

Step 1: Find the Set Background button.

Step 2: Select your own image. 

It’s. That. Easy! 

Okay, but maybe you’re thinking “Yeah, great Karina, you can draw up a template and embed it. What about someone who doesn’t want to/have that skill?”

I’m so glad you asked! You can embed any image as your background – your logo in the corner or an inspiring scene. It’s easy to do a Google image search right in the Set background tool. Then, once your background image is set, you can create shapes as boxes for text, and add a fill color to make them pop over the image, like this: 

Once you’ve created the shape from the toolbar on the left, click on it so it’s highlighted. Then, this toolbar will appear at the top, and you can choose a fill color, like so:

And, of course, if you DO want a custom visual experience for your next virtual meeting, you know where to find me. 

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

iMasons Global Member Summit: This year the iMasons focused on gender parity in the datacenter field, exploring equity vs. equality, how to foster inclusive spaces, and how having a more diverse workforce is better for your business.

Client Spotlight: Check out how the National Parks Conservation Association leveraged the graphics created during a Zero Landfill Initiative retreat a few weeks ago! Major round of applause to Karen at NPCA for her creative communication for “the best meeting notes I’ve ever seen!” according to one participant. See the entire report here. 

Zoom, obvi: March 20th is International Day of Happiness, and Zoom asked me to illustrate what their employees (they call themselves Zoomies, which I love), said makes them happy. Here’s the image I created, and you can see the time-lapse on Zoom’s Insta and Twitter feeds!

Pacific Northwest Fire Science Symposium: I’m currently in the midst of co-facilitating a three-day workshop with training sessions and building a deeper network in this community working on resilient landscapes across the region.

3 Tips for Getting the Most out of Your Virtual Whiteboard

By now, most of us have experienced more video conferences than we can count (why, in the name of all that is holy, would we ever have the desire to count?). 

Which means over the past year, as a graphic facilitator in the digital sphere, I’ve collaborated with clients to create custom templates for virtual whiteboard platforms for events where participants say things like: 

This was the best zoom meeting I’ve been to!

- Participant at the 2021 Zero Landfill Initiative Retreat

And…

I had the Miro board up throughout the entire 3-day conference!

- Participant at the 2021 Zusman Neuroregeneration Symposium

So, how can we get these same exclamations at your virtual event? 

Let’s go ahead and take some work right off your plate and share what I’ve learned through trial, error, and following discoveries of others experimenting in this space. 

Hot tips: 

• Include important logistics such as the agenda, zoom links, survey links, etc. I create a custom layout with visual elements for specific sessions or for general feedback. In addition, I’ve learned it’s helpful for participants to be able to easily navigate the multiple links, web pages, and documents if they’re all linked into the board you’re using.

• Build time to engage with it into your agenda. This is KEY to successfully using a virtual whiteboard. To make the most of this tool you’ve invested in using, BE SURE to include time(s) each day to engage with the whiteboard. Whether it’s an activity, or just time to network, 10 minute blocks of time can make a huge difference to help participants connect. BONUS: Remind people where to find it – drop the link in to the chat box regularly.

• Add a new element each day. In a multi-day virtual event, once participants start to get the hang of navigating your whiteboard space, create new elements for them to interact with each day. Make them delightful and useful – asking specific questions about content or simply providing a space for a morning/afternoon reflection creates a reason to draw people back in, and more opportunities to connect with each other.

Curious which virtual collaboration platform is right for you? This post contains a brief pros and cons of a few popular ones here. Have a tool you love? Please share it with me, I always enjoy learning from the Brain Trust (all y’all).  

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Houston Methodist Neuroregeneration Symposium: Capturing key ideas from heady talks about how to repair neural function after spinal cord injury. My favorite thing about this workshop is how focused it is on creating space for collaborations between labs and fields of study!

Friends of Refuges Annual Meeting: For the Suwannee and Cedar Key Friends of Refuges, covid didn’t keep these folks from sharing updates and anthropological research from the area in a virtual setting! Did you know that Swallow-Tailed Kites migrate 5,000 miles over 2 months to get to Brazil each winter? 

Ready to create a unique and engaging virtual whiteboard for your event?

How to Help Participants Cocreate, Connect, and Inspire at Your Multi-Day Event

The full synthesis map from five days of the virtual GCSE+Drawdown conference.

Once again for the people in the back, you CAN have an interactive and participatory virtual conference with over 3,000 participants from all over the world! 

In early January (let’s talk about how these folks know how to start a new year!), the Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE), and Project Drawdown brought together researchers, leaders, and community members to learn, share, and create solutions for people and planet.  

As a visual thought partner for the virtual event, I wanted create ways that graphics could support meaningful work with the huge number of participants and volume of content. There were eight Thematic Pathways with concurrent sessions, and more than 50 simultaneous Collaborative Action Groups which emerged from brainstorming sessions over the course of the week. 

How could we work together to look for patterns and themes across multiple, very full days? 

How could we make sure participants could see their ideas emerging throughout the week? 

And how do this as just one recorder? 

We needed a plan!

The organizing team and I collaborated before and during the conference to develop communication systems, like a designated note-taker in each Pathway with access to a shared Google Doc template for key ideas. I could then distill and illustrate these notes, and combine them with insights from real-time graphics of plenary panels and keynotes (these drawings were included in the final piece as well). 

Communication of key ideas? Check. 

We decided to use Miro as a virtual platform to host the emerging map. Similar to shared Google Docs or Slides, with a shared link we dropped into the chat each day, participants could view the Synthesis from start to finish throughout the week. They could zoom in to see details in graphics I had drawn real-time in plenaries, or zoom out for the overall flow, and could share it with others they thought would be interested.

Participant observation? Check!

The result was a massive Synthesis Illustration mapping how research feeds action for climate solutions, which participants could SEE AS IT GREW throughout the week on the conference website’s gallery, as well as via the link shared frequently in the chat box throughout the conference. 

So, what emerged as key themes for science and solutions for people and planet? Explore for yourself! For me, a theme I’ve hear not only at GCSE+Drawdown, is that for these solutions to work, it comes down to one thing: people working together. 

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Adobe Creative Campus Collaboration: Learning from creative educators and students how to nurture the “magician” in each potentially creative student. 

Filming a New Drawing Connections Video: Did you know that mosquitos are not native to Hawai’i? In the newest video with the NPS, I can’t wait to take you through a journey of endangered birds, avian malaria, and climate change. 

Natural Areas Strategic Vision: I’m delighted to finally be able to share this studio illustration created last year in partnership with the City of Greeley’s Natural Areas program, showing the history of the land, input from the community, and vision for the future.