Visual Thinking & Sketchnoting for Business Leaders

Master seven gemstones of knowledge to learn sketchnote creation, gathering information and arranging it, then presenting processes, highlighting key points, and using symbols and metaphors in structured visuals.

Learn to differentiate information with containers, build notes as rectangles, and apply drop shadows to group content. Use documents, nodes, and earmarks, then structure arguments and two-column layouts.

Sketch three containers, placing text before the frame, using a rectangle and bullets a, b, c, and form the third container as a node, with timed practice.

Show how to visualize a multi-step process using numbered steps, arrows, and framing, with block text and two-dimensional layouts for clear information flow.

Practice exercise 2 consolidates processes by drawing three processes, each with three steps labeled one to three, using distinct frame shapes and arrows; repeat until sketching from memory feels easier.

Guide your readers through structured visual thinking with grid layouts, mind maps, and front-to-back layering, using arrows, gaps, shadows, and dashed lines for clear, engaging information flow.

Develop a three-layer mindmap by placing a central container, drawing two arrows to secondary containers, and numbering a three-step path with final shadows.

Master visual thinking by separating important from unimportant information, using color, shadows, and container accents to emphasize ideas, with clustering and wallpapering techniques for faster, cost saving sketchnotes.

Explore how to highlight key ideas using text styles, headings, colors, and containers, then apply marker highlights and shadows to your outlines in a timed practice exercise.

Explore visual thinking to represent speech, whispers, and thoughts using speech bubbles, thought clouds, ovals or rectangles, and brainstorming layouts.

practice exercise teaches how to represent spoken and thought content by drawing speech containers and thinking bubbles, selecting shapes, and applying outer shadows within timed steps.

Learn to represent people, groups, and their interactions in sketchnotes using simple shapes, arrows, and accessories to assign roles and place figures on the floor with inside shadows.

Practice exercise 6 trains visual thinking and sketchnoting by illustrating three diverse people with different body shapes and a happy figure, including a customer wearing a crown, with inner shadow.

Distill abstract ideas into simple symbols and metaphors using basic shapes with labels. Create picture landscapes and road maps to communicate milestones, risks, resources, and next steps.

Draw three symbols with clear metaphors for design, ideas, and resources—such as a compass, a light bulb, and a suitcase—and add inner shadows.

practice live sketching the design thinking process, focusing on five steps—empathize, define, find ideas, prototype, and test—using layout cues, symbols, and frames for clarity.

Celebrate completing the assessment and your skill to sketch, which improves communication through visual notes and integration into life; save your sketches in a sketchnoting library titled my sketch journey.

Present four assessment sketch-note examples, from arrows and icons to symbolic layouts, emphasizing symbols, headlines, and clear outcomes.

Develop visual thinking and sketchnoting to summarize, structure, and present ideas; connect workbook exercises, symbol library, and real-world stories of feedback-driven product changes.