Breakthrough Visuals

Your eyes are on the presenter, but your mind is wandering.

As your thoughts drift to your weekend plans and upcoming appointments, the speaker’s words melt into a stream of ambient noise. It sounds, when you’re aware of it at all, like the “wah wah wah” effect heard when adults speak in animated Peanuts cartoons.

Suddenly, you’re jolted from your reverie by the sound of applause, and you realize you’ve missed everything that happened during the past half hour.

Congratulations! You’ve just experienced “Peanuts Syndrome”.

But when a graphic recorder is in the room, things are different.

Because the graphic recorder is listening and, at the same time, transforming the presenter’s words into colorful and creative visual notes that capture the highlights and takeaways of the presentation.

Instead of completely zoning out, you glance over at them as they work. And even though your attention is momentarily diverted from the presentation, the visuals direct you back to it, keeping you present and engaged.

When the presentation is over, you marvel at the finished chart, an act of creative alchemy that both reflects what’s been said and makes it into something more.

It’s exciting and even, dare I say, fun.

Graphic recording has many benefits, but keeping an audience engaged in the moment is one of the most important. After all, your event will have far less impact if the attendees can barely remember it.

You’ve invested too much in your next conference, seminar, or meeting to have it sandbagged by Peanuts Syndrome.

Want to explore how graphic recording can keep your audience present and on track? Get in touch now to schedule a free introductory call!

Well, Summer 2026 is on the books, culturally if not meteorologically. Despite meltingly hot temperatures and drifting Canadian wildfire smoke, it was a good one for Breakthrough Visuals. I took visual notes at events in Nashville and Charlotte, and all around Southeast PA and New Jersey, for organizations ranging from small non-profits to large corporations. I became well-versed on the issues facing all of them, at least until the events were over. But judging by the gratitude and excitement clients have expressed, verbally and in writing, I’m confident the work I did was and remains valuable.

The Fall schedule is filling up, but I still have space for new clients. If you’re planning a conference, meeting, retreat, seminar, or really anything that involves presentations or discussions, I’d love the chance to talk about how graphic recording can make it more engaging, memorable, and productive. Schedule a free half-hour meeting and let’s connect!

The week before last, I spent three days on the campus of The University of North Carolina in Charlotte, NC, taking visual notes at a conference of executives working for Ahold Delhaize USA. ADUSA is the American division of an international grocery store and product holding company that owns grocery store brands like Stop and Shop and Food Lion. As a regular patron of my local Giant, an ADUSA brand, I was fascinated to learn something about the business behind my groceries. Turns out it’s no small task to stay on top of a dynamic and unpredictable economy and to accommodate customers’ ever-changing needs and desires.

There was a ton of excitement and enthusiasm throughout the three days, and the facilitators made sure my visual notes were a big part of it. The boards were displayed on easels throughout the conference space as soon as they were completed, were incorporated into slides, and, maybe best of all, set time aside for a gallery walk on the last day, which gave all the participants a chance to think about and discuss them. It was a great example of how to take full advantage of visual notetaking, and very gratifying to experience.

Thanks to Ahold Delhaize for including me in the process! And if you’re inspired to explore how visual notetaking can elevate your next conference or meeting, get in touch!

Last Thursday I was at Moravian University in Bethlehem, PA, graphic recording at Sustainable Energy Fund’s (SEF)Powering America’s Next 250 Years Conference. The sponsoring organization, Regenerative Energy Initiative (REI), is SEF's main educational program, and the conference featured speakers covering everything from the history of Pennsylvania’s energy industries, which were heavily based in coal and petroleum, to the future, which will increasingly rely on renewables.

It was a fascinating day, and I learned about all sorts of emerging technologies, from rapidly improving and ever-cheaper batteries to portable solar panels you can mount on your balcony. Given the current administration’s disdain for any energy source developed since the 1890s, it was really encouraging to see that, while the momentum towards more sustainable energy in this country may have slowed, it’s hardly been stopped, and we, like the rest of the world, will inevitably be using a lot less fossil fuel in the future.

As I walked out of the conference late that afternoon into near-100-degree heat and an enveloping orange haze of Canadian wildfire smoke, I could only be happy about that. Thanks to Kelly Sanders for having me up for this fantastic event!

It’s been a busy few weeks here at Breakthrough Visuals. On May 27, I spent the day at Villanova University, taking visual notes at a meeting of Catholic leaders from the Office of Mission and Ministry, thinking about how to bring the University more in line with the Augustinian teachings of Pope Leo, himself a Villanova graduate. It was a lovely gathering, especially for someone like myself who is unfamiliar with Catholic teachings.

The next week, I traveled to Penn State for the Social Science Research Institute’s CERAP Summer Research meeting, where I captured presentations and discussions about how social science researchers can more effectively connect with the communities they study. It was my second year working with the Social Science Research Institute, but the first working in person.

It was quite a diverse set of material, and it really shows how visual note-taking works with just about everything. It’s always fascinating to go through the process of starting an event feeling like I know nothing about the subject matter and, by the end, feeling like I’m almost as knowledgeable as everyone else in the room. It would be nice to retain all that information, but alas, it only sticks around as long as it’s needed. I’ll almost certainly be back to not having a clue by the time I arrive home.

Last week, I was back at Technical.ly’s Philly Tech Week. This time, I took visual notes at the opening presentation of The Builder’s Conference, a part of Tech Week devoted to storytelling.

The panel presentation, which was also a podcast, was called “Can Entrepreneurship Save the American Soul?” It was a fascinating discussion about how people are currently thinking about entrepreneurship, and how getting beyond those sometimes ambivalent and contradictory ideas can help revitalize all levels of society, and maybe even save the nation’s soul.

Thanks to Chris Wink and Technical.ly for welcoming me again to this vital and exciting event!

On Monday, the Male Contraceptive Initiative (MCI) had me back to virtually capture a session on what research tells us about South African adolescent male attitudes towards s*x and relationships. The researcher and presenter, Dr. Tsidiso Tolla, PHD, from the University of Cape Town School of Public Health, discovered her interviewees had views that were quite different from what is stereotypically assumed. They:

👉 Valued romance and relationships as much or more than s*x
👉 Were quite concerned with the well-being of their partners
👉 Wanted to avoid pregnancy
👉 Were open to using contraception, including contraceptive drugs

The conversation was both interesting and moving, and I learned a lot. I'll be recording more sessions for this organization later in the year, and I'm really looking forward to them!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of once again taking visual notes at a meeting of Philadelphia Ceasefire, a community-based organization that works directly with members of affected communities to prevent gun violence. There is a lot of evidence that the efforts of Philadelphia Ceasefire and organizations like it are a big reason that violent crime in Philadelphia and other cities has decreased to rates not seen since the early 60s, and I’m grateful to have made a small contribution to the effort.

I’ve done a lot of work with Philadelphia Ceasefire in the past few years, but this is the first time I’ve worked with them virtually. I don’t do as much virtual work as I used to, so this was a welcome opportunity.

There are pros and cons to virtual versus live graphic recording, but one of the pros is that it's easy to fine-tune the chart. I’m quite happy with the way this one turned out. Thanks to Marla Davis Bellamy for bringing me in once again!

I was delighted to take visual notes on Tuesday at the Empowering Nonprofits Conference again this year at the Temple University campus in Ambler, just outside of Philadelphia.

I captured the opening keynote, a fascinating and inspiring talk by Ann Gingerich, MSW. She made a convincing case for the importance of nonprofits to Pennsylvania's economy and outlined strategies for reaching legislators. It turns out there are plenty of reasons for hope in these crazy times!

Thank you to Kim Celano for having me back once again! It's always a pleasure and an inspiration to be around so many folks who are working for positive change. And if you were there and are interested in visual note-taking at your next event, let's connect!

As they entered the conference room, I could tell the team was nervous.

A division of an important department in a big company, they were troubled by a number of issues they felt hadn’t been properly addressed. How was the stranger with the big piece of foam core supposed to help?

But the team’s trepidation evaporated as the meeting—and the visual note-taking—began in earnest.

They described how management was disregarding their concerns and not supporting them when they were called to take risks. As they saw their comments transformed into visuals, participants became both fascinated and inspired. They started engaging not just with each other, but with the images as well.

An attendee’s statement that “no one wants to get thrown under the bus” would normally be merely a briefly noted figure of speech. But as a drawing, it had an emotional resonance that really highlighted what was at stake. That one image became a touchstone for the entire meeting and was referenced repeatedly for the rest of the afternoon.

By the end of the session, there was a new resolve to work together for change, and gratitude for the experience everyone had just shared. The group that left the room wasn’t the same as the one that entered it.

Visual note-taking is a powerful tool for making meetings truly transformative. If you’re interested in exploring the possibilities, let’s schedule a call!