July 7 5:30PM EST - Virtual Facilitation Open Space!

In partnership with the NOVA Scribes Meetup group, Lizard Brain is hosting an Open Space on all things related to Virtual Facilitation!

Open Space is a meeting format that sets up multiple simultaneous discussions on whatever topics you have interest and energy in. You suggest the topics for multiple breakout discussions, then you participate and discuss those topics with others that share your interest. This isn't a workshop or a class! It's a time to work within the community of virtual facilitators to share ideas, ask questions, and get answers.

The Open Space will be hosted on Zoom on Tuesday, July 7, from 5:30PM to 7:30PM. 

If you'd like to attend, please register at  https://www.meetup.com/NOVA-Scribes/events/271503005/ 

It's free to become a NOVA Scribes member; cost to attend the Open Space is $20 with the proceeds going to scholarships for visual facilitation training.

Space is limited; sign up soon!

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Attend this year's IFVP online conference for free as a NOVA Scribes Scholar!

How would you like to a scholarships to attend the upcoming International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP) online conference for free? This year, NOVA Scribes is sending 5 of its members to attend IFVP. 

Why 5? It's what we can afford. Plus, we loved the loose reference to Willy Wonka's 5 golden tickets.

Haven't heard of the IFVP before? It's awesome. Graphic facilitators and graphic recorders from all over the world get together to connect and learn from each other. It is THE place to make lasting relationships and learns methods to put into your daily practice.

The conference is from 11AM EST / 8AM PST to 6PM / 3PM PST on June 27, July 25, and Aug 22. 

To apply for the scholarship, send me (brian@lizardbrain) a sketchnote that explains why you want to attend IFVP. Don't include your name in the sketchnote itself for anonymity: I'll send the sketchnote on to our impartial panel of NOVA Scribes Organizers to decide the top five. Sketchnotes will be judged on the basis of thoughtfulness, creativity (but not artistry), and its ability to convey your desire to attend IFVP. If possible, include this year's IFVP themes of resilience, reinvention, and living virtually.

Send me your sketchnote by June 25th: the first day of the conference is on the 27th! 

To be eligible for the scholarship, you must:

  • Be able to attend all three days, 

  • Share a few of your learnings and insights on the social media platform of your choice (and please tag NOVA Scribes!),

  • Be a NOVA Scribes member (it’s free; sign up here),

  • Have attended at least one NOVA Scribes webinar or live event (it's not too late: there's some coming up: https://www.meetup.com/NOVA-Scribes/events/),

  • Be new to the world of graphic facilitation (3 years of experience or less), and

  • NOT have attended an IFVP in the past (we want to expose this to new folks.)

Good luck!

--Brian

Lizard Brain has been a proud sponsor of NOVA Scribes since the group began in January 2016.

A Place to Practice Your Online Facilitation

Hopefully, your first time delivering content ONLINE or facilitating a group process VIRTUALLY isn’t for the client who’s paying for it.

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If you’ve got a 30-minute to 3-hour workshop, training, or facilitated process you’re working on and would like to pilot before delivering it to a live studio audience, NOVA Scribes might be the place. Since it began in 2016, NOVA Scribes has been a forum for graphic facilitators to share their knowledge and practice their skills. Today, facilitators, trainers, and consultants have all used NOVA Scribes to demonstrate new offerings before taking them to their clients and to the broader public. You get to practice delivering new content and get feedback; NOVA Scribes members get to participate at a discount.

…oh yeah, you’ll make a little money at it, too. Presenters get 60% of the proceeds, the remainder goes to NOVA Scribes for scholarships and to build the community of visual practitioners.

There’s only two requirements: First, your content can't be death by PowerPoint. It has to have an interactive and a visual component. Second, the topic has to be something that other facilitators would find interested. Here’s a few sample topics, but don’t be limited by this list!

  • Facilitating diversity and inclusion conversations,

  • Brainstorming and participatory decision making,

  • Managing group dynamics,

  • Team culture and team building,

  • Design thinking and prototyping,

  • Leadership development and self-awareness,

    …or any facilitation method with a visual component.

If you’re interested in practicing with NOVA Scribes, please send me a note: brian@lizardbrain.com

Thanks!

More about NOVA Scribes

NOVA Scribes is 640 people who use visuals to move others: consultants, facilitators, graphic recorders, scribes, and sketchnoters. We're all volunteers: anyone can be an organizer or presenter. The proceeds from the events go to the presenters and into the group for scholarships and to help build the community of visual practitioners. We have organized classes, graphic jams, open spaces, and webinars to share skills and learn from each other. We record our webinars and post them for anyone to watch later, whether you are a member or not.

Check out a few of our recent recorded webinars here:

Lizard Brain has been a proud sponsor of NOVA Scribes since the group began in January 2016.

New eBook on Digital Scribing by Malgosia Kostecka

Friends, I’m very happy to share with you Digital Graphic Recording Quick Start by Malgosia Kostecka of illumistories.

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Malgosia has written an accessible, easy-to-use, step-by-step guide on digital scribing: the art of electronic illustrated note taking.

She demonstrates using an iPad Pro and Procreate, which are fast becoming the industry-standard for digital scribing. Having said that, except for the most technical tips, the techniques she shares are universal. They translate to other tablets (like Microsoft’s Surface or Wacom tablets) and other drawing apps (like Sketchbook Pro, Notability, Concepts, Adobe Draw, Adobe Photoshop, and even PowerPoint.) So regardless of your hardware and software preferences, you’ll get a lot out of this book.

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Malgosia’s book is visually stunning. Each page has been beautifully illustrated using the same tools and techniques she explains. It’s well-organized and easy to read. And don’t let “quick start” fool you: it’s not superficial. It will get you started fast, but even with just 32 spacious and digestible pages, there’s a lot of good content in here that you can go deep into.

But this isn’t just a static, read-only eBook. She includes links to nine Procreate demonstration videos, covering creating a canvas, the drawing interface, adding guide lines, customizing brushes, color palettes, main controls, layers, tips and tricks, and connecting to Zoom.

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Huh? What? Connecting to Zoom? Thaaaaaat’s right. Malgosia shows you how to connect to Zoom seamlessly so you can scribe live events. And the way she does it, the interface isn’t clunky, jaggy, or crowded with tools. It’s clean, crisp, and uncluttered. Amazing.

Best of all, when so many people are needing this exact skill set, Malgosia has set up a pay-what-you-want payment system. She has a suggested price, but I think it’s worth a lot more than what she’s asking. I’m touched by her generosity at a time when it’s good to remember we all could use a little help.

Bottom line: If you’re thinking about getting into digital scribing or even if you’ve been doing it for years, you’ll get a lot out of Digital Graphic Recording Quick Start. This needs to be on your eBookshelf. Highest possible recommendation.

Way to go, Malgosia.

5 Steps to Stay Focused When Teaching Online

We are excited to share our newly published article which applies High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to virtual meetings and classes!

The world of fitness has tapped into a workout model designed to maximize results through balancing performance and rest.  In this article, we apply the HIIT model to virtual meetings in an effort to help everyone do their best work from home. Balancing work and breaks enables participants to be cognitively ready to give their best effort to their work, particularly online. If it helps our bodies, it can also help our minds and our focus.

Enjoy and please feel free to forward!

https://hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/5-steps-to-stay-focused-when-teaching-online

All the best,

Brian, Rae, and Lauren

The HIIT model of virtual facilitation

The HIIT model of virtual facilitation


Virtual Pizzazz for Teachers - episode 1: Your Presence and Mindset

My colleague Rae Ringel and I are launching a series of quick videos for teachers and instructors called Virtual Pizzazz for Teachers. We’re sharing our best tips on how to bring what you do in the room online.

In episode 1, we cover Your Presence and Mindset:

  • Managing energy (yours and your students),

  • Getting yourself ready and showing up,

  • Voice and appearance on camera,

  • Creating a space for learning, and

  • Translating lesson plans to the virtual space.

In future episodes, we’ll cover Designing for Success, Tools for Engagement, and Reading the Room.

Please enjoy, and if you like it, please share!



Take your facilitation practice online! If you can do it in the room, you can do it virtually. Our 3-hour Virtual Facilitation Workshop will show you how to shift your favorite in-person modalities into a virtual environment. Click here for details.