Sketch Noting has been trending for quite a while - but what is it actually? Mike Rohde defines it in his book as an illustrated way of note taking. He thereby combines drawings, typography and structuring items like lines, arrows, dots and so on into a one maximum two page painting that summarises the talk he attended.

Why should this be better than regular “word based” note taking? Years over years I wrote down a lot of word during talks and meetings and spend a lot of energy on writing and listening at the same time. Sketch notes give you a way to listen more carefully and focus on the relevant things to capture. Combining the words written down with drawings and typography helps you even more to remember what you heard. Both can be achieved with way less energy as writing nearly every word. In addition just text notes is something you hardly revisit, once recorded. And text is way harder to search than pictures and illustrations. This technique allows you to “code” feelings into your notes in a natural way. Something that has not been easy in simple text. Illustrations really helpful.

Mike Rohdes book can be read very fast - It took me an evening to do that. However putting his words into practice is not that easy. It takes some energy and discipline to change your way of note taking. Once it is natural for you, you will be amazed in how many situations you can apply your newly gained knowledge. Personally I use Sketch Notes for presentations and while moderating meetings. Of course it works well for attending meetings, conferences and even webinars.

Finally I do use Sketch Notes for songwriting. It is an ideal tool to capture not only the first ideas for lyrics but also record the mood you would like to combine with the words. Yeah, it is hard to sketch down a melody that way, but it is not my intend to completely write the song in this manner. I like to catch ideas for songs and snippets of lyrics or changes.

In conclusion, it is a great quick read that shows a new tool for tool belt. Mikes focus on sharing your sketch notes and building a community is definitely his personal thing. So go grep and read the book. By the way, stay away from the kindle version - get the paper back. It feels more natural reading it this way.

Unfortunately there is no embedded link available for this book, so I do link directly:

Cheers !