Visual facilitation

More than 80% of us are visual learners, yet our standard meeting structure is to get a bunch of people in a room or online and talk.

Sometimes, we include a presentation slide deck, but the slides are often just text with one or two images. Studies show that visual images combined with text increase memory retention up to 89% (Robert Horn, Stanford University). Before you suffer through yet another lengthy Zoom meeting, consider that there is a better way.

What we do

Visual facilitation is the real-time capture of conversations or presentations in meetings, using images and words, and it can be applied whether the meeting involves just a few people or thousands.

Visual facilitators listen for salient points in the group conversation, synthesizing them and translating them into a visual form. This can be done in person or virtually. When working with groups in person, our facilitator uses a massive sheet of paper in front of the room. When meeting virtually, we create digital drawings that can be shared in real time or at key moments of group reflection and discernment.

Here’s what visual facilitation can bring to your meeting:

By keeping the information and ideas that have been shared visible, groups can collectively discern based on the knowledge they have generated through dialogue and presentations.
Enhanced ability to retain and recall or review the content because there is a visual reference. In one view, you get the big picture rather than relying on written notes.
Transparency, trust, and focus are increased when the information is visible, allowing individuals and groups to see the “big picture.”
Increased engagement in virtual and face-to-face sessions because content is available in multiple forms, allowing for different learning styles. Language challenges are also supported by including visual synthesis.
For community engagement, seeing the thoughts and ideas captured enhances the sense of being heard and has the potential to decrease opportunities for conflict and misunderstanding.
The ability to communicate plans to a broader audience. Not everyone wants to read a detailed report or a strategic plan, but having a visual synthesis of a plan can be a way to expose a broader audience to the work being done and plans for the future.

Raftelis is one of only a handful of companies in the country that have an internal resource for graphic recording and visual facilitation.

Visual facilitation