by Lisa | Dec 26, 2018 | Business
With a new quarter approaching, there will be plenty of strategy meetings to add to your calendar. You and the team need to get organized and plan action steps to delegate across the staff. Without structure, your meeting could not only be a waste of time but could lead to no actual plan at the end of the time scheduled.
Don’t let your strategy meetings go stale, have a plan to make them successful. We have composed of three must-haves for your sessions to get you started!
- Have an agenda prepared before the meeting. This tip is key to ensuring that all of the information is covered and that your team is ready to go with their part of the program. Sending out a team agenda a week or few days before the strategy meeting will help team members understand what you will be discussing during your time together. It also provides a ‘heads-up’ to the company to have materials ready for the topics outlined, especially if their department is in charge of a particular line item on the agenda.
- Set some ground rules. Having guidelines can help keep the discussion on track and time efficient. Start a timer for each speaker during the meeting or tell everyone to hold questions until the presenter has completed their share of information. These rules also help develop a level of respect for other meeting participants while making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to speak and share their thoughts.
- Try the Parking Lot technique. Don’t let your meeting agenda get derailed with off-topic questions or ideas. While you want to make sure each team member feels heard during your meeting, you do not want to waste time on irrelevant topics when you are trying to strategic and handle the big picture. However, there are still ways to make time for these items purposefully during your meetings. Utilize the Parking Lot technique – outlined and explained HERE – to “put a pin” in that question and address it at the end of the meeting. Just remember to allow 10-15 minutes at the end of your agenda to handle these parking lot questions or comments.
Hope these tips help you prepare the right way for your strategy meeting! It is always fun to switch things up to provide a fresh perspective and renew engagement with your team members. Want more information on how to host a successful workshop? Schedule a free consultation, it’s easy!
by Lisa | Dec 12, 2018 | Business, Graphic Recording
Planning a conference can be a tricky job to pull off. From scheduling speakers to finding space, you have a lot to plan. The list goes on and on. Not to mention, you have to make sure the conference is a success with participant engagement. Engaging with those who attend your conference is crucial! You want to ensure that they get a lot of value out of the event and be excited to attend the next one.
A conference has a lot of moving parts and attendees can easily get overwhelmed. They may have trouble navigating to the right rooms or struggle to select the best breakout session for their needs and interests. Attendees can experience a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) and have trouble choosing a single session when there are multiple that peak their interest. A creative solution to this worry and problem is to incorporate visual notes into your conference. Graphic recorders can be assigned to each space, taking notes and creating a fun visual to share with the group. While participants in specific sessions will enjoy the creative aspect of note taking, people who were unable to be in two places at once can reference the final graphic recording. Here’s an example of our team supporting the Arthur Page Society for their Communications Conference.
Create a gallery wall in a common area of your conference to display all of the notes from each session. Attendees can take photos of the notes from the sessions and enjoy all of the benefits of the information even without being in the room during the original presentation. Post visual notes on social media as a way to share about the event. You can also distribute notes in a final printout when the day is over. This collection of visuals can provide a perfect takeaway for your event and help with signups for next year! Check out how one of our clients utilized graphic recording for their event HERE! Attendees loved taking photos and seeing the finished product! 
by Lisa | Sep 5, 2018 | Business, Facilitation, Productivity, Uncategorized
You have all of your content ready for your big presentation – graphs, stats and more. So how do you get your presentation noticed by the team? Keep your employees and co-workers engaged with your presentation thanks to these quick tips!
- Keep the colors simple – Use solid colored backgrounds for your slides, no need for a custom background. A strong palette can keep your presentation visually appealing. Refrain from using too many different colors. Stick to 3-5 different colors throughout your slides.
- Make it legible – Reading is fundamental! When creating your presentation, make sure people can actually read it. Font sizes are key to getting your message across. Keeping sizes large, about 30 pt size or larger, will allow team members to take notes and really see the information that you are sharing. Keep with the ‘Rule of 7’ for your presentation. There should not be more than seven lines of text and keep to seven words per line.
- Use visuals – Elements like bar graphs or photography and illustrations can draw attention to your presentation. When using visuals, make sure that they are high-quality files. Stay away from blurry photos. Test your slides out on the big screen before you present and make sure that everything looks crisp.
A few presentation bonus tips!
Infographics – Provide an infographic as a presentation handout. Allow your audience to follow along with your information in a fresh and visual way. Our team can help with creating these visuals for your presentation. Check out our services here!
Stay on time – While you may have a lot to share, watch the clock and keep it on time. There’s nothing worse than going over time when there are other presentations after you. Be respectful of your team’s time as well. This will also help keep them focused on what you have to say if you provide an expected timeframe for your content. You can also assign someone to be the timekeeper. This will be helpful to provide 10 and 2-minute warnings during the presentation.
Thanks for reading! If you find this valuable, please share this with someone you know.
Are you or maybe someone you know planning a conference? Keep the attendees engaged, they need to SEE the big picture. Just contact me for a free consultation. I’m happy to help (smile).
by Lisa | Aug 25, 2017 | Business, Education, Facilitation, Graphic Recording
What happens when you are running a meeting or a workshop and the group starts to stray away from the agenda?
Maybe someone mentions a topic and another person jumps in to add their thoughts. Before you know it, the entire group is now discussing something outside the scope of your meeting. I have seen this happen time and time again. And so have you right? When I am supporting a facilitator with graphic recording, I always offer to create a Parking Lot for the meeting.
The Parking Lot is a placeholder for capturing ideas that should be followed up at a later date outside of the meeting. It keeps your meeting on course and it shows the contributor that you acknowledge their idea/concern.
Here is a quick video that explains how to use the technique.
What’s your favorite method for keeping meetings on track? I’d love to hear it.
Facilitating a meeting involves juggling a number of moving parts. We hope this technique will help you during your next meeting or workshop. Learn how we can support you with visual notes and meeting design, click here
by Lisa | Jul 14, 2017 | Business
On July 10th I had the chance to provide graphic recording for NASSP at the National School Principal Conference. This conference brought over a thousand K-12 principals from across the country to Philadelphia, PA. In the evening, the NASSP had their Salute to Leaders Recognition and Awards program.
Here are some pictures from the event. I can’t wait until next year, I really enjoy sharing the power of visual learning with education leaders.
The Jostens Team (yes, the company you bought your graduation ring from!)
Display Setup in Expo Hall give attendees time to reflect.
Breakout session led by Jayne Ellspermann & Tom Dodd
Keynote Speaker Simon Bailey, “Releasing Leadership Brilliance”
NASSP Salute to Leaders, recognition and awards
Thanks for reading! I appreciate all the comments and feedback that you send me (smile). I love referrals too, please continue to spread the word about See In Colors.
If you want to use visual images for your next project, conference, or strategy session, just contact me for ideas. I’m happy to help.
by Lisa | Mar 12, 2017 | Business, Education
I love these kinds of projects, because I get to learn something new about business! I provided graphic recording for the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland at their Social Enterprise Symposium.
My favorite quote of the day came from the keynote speaker, Shannon Schuyler of PwC. She said “Creating a better world is smart for business.” I agree, 100%.
Great speakers and special thanks to lead sponsors Price Waterhouse Coopers, EarthColor, and Goodwill Industries International, Inc.
Click the image below to expand for a larger view.
Getting started with quotes from the keynote speaker, Shannon Schuyler of PwC
Thanks for reading! Let me know know your feedback, I’d love to hear from you. If you find this valuable, please share this with someone you know.
If you want to use visual images for your next project, conference, or strategy session, contact me for ideas.
