by Jane Howe, Heather Cummings, Augusta Horsey Nash, CONVERSATIONS THAT COUNT

What’s the value of a graphic recording to a successful workshop? Jane Howe, Heather Cummings and Augusta Horsey Nash, of CONVERSATIONS THAT COUNT know. These three professional coaches team up to lead conversation-based workshops or strategy sessions to promote their clients’ success. The CONVERSATIONS THAT COUNT process enables leaders to capture the wisdom of their team and reconnect organizations to their missions. Leaders find Conversation Cafés with their Boards of Directors especially valuable just before the groups begin strategic planning. Howe, Cummings, and Nash routinely engage Martha McGinnis of Visual Logic, Inc. to produce graphic recordings of their conversation cafés as a way to visually capture the essence and creativity of the participants.

The graphic recording, notes the team of coaches, begins modestly with a colored line on a mural-sized piece of white paper. Soon, lines connect to form words and symbols. The participants in the Conversation Café talk with each other in small groups, and it is their individual contributions that provide the content for the graphic recording. At first, the participants in the seminar appear to take little note of these colorful shapes and designs even though it is their words, ideas and thoughts that McGinnis illuminates. Gradually, participants begin to pay attention to the emerging pictures of their conversation, often with surprise that their words have been so beautifully captured. By the end of the Café conversation, a vibrant illustration emerges of the work that’s been done, by individuals and collectively by the group.

According to Howe, “the participants are intrigued, fascinated and inspired by what the recorder has captured. Their contributions have been recognized, and the graphic recording has affirmed their wisdom and creativity.” The graphic, skillfully and meaningfully preserved, becomes a catalyst for future conversations and a vital part of the work and learning.

Sometimes McGinnis creates a way for conversation participants to add to the drawing. She may, for example, draw a scroll to be signed showing their commitment to the outcomes of the conversation, or give audience members an opportunity to graphically depict their own thoughts. “Her creativity lends brilliant and inspiring energy to our conversation cafés. Participants often look back on the recording and integrate what they see into their conversations with one another,” notes Cummings. “In fact when the drawing is complete, it is so powerful that leaders often search for a place to permanently display their recording.”

Howe, Cummings and Nash have found the graphic recording to be a valuable tool for the leaders of the client organizations, particularly in sustaining the learning from their CONVERSATIONS THAT COUNT cafés. Days or even weeks after the café conversation is over, some find the graphic as impactful as the day it was created. Doug Middleton, Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse Georgia (PCA-GA), described the graphic recording as a “powerful take-away that allows you to relive the experience.” Said Middleton, “You can take people who were not present for the workshop to the recording and go back, recapture thoughts, remember, and explain.” Middleton has used his recording to both bring Board members up to speed who could not attend the PCA-GA Board Retreat as well as to share the results of the Retreat with staff. He sees it as a tool to use over time to keep the energy alive that was created at the retreat.

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