In preparation for some upcoming assignments, I’ve been digging deeper into the world of graphic recording. (A graphic recording, for all ya’ll who may not have heard of it, is “documenting a group’s conversation and key ideas in real time on flip charts, large poster paper, graphic templates, murals, tablet PCs, and other visual media. Also known as ‘scribing.’” The definition is from the prestigious The Grove consultancy.)

The  graphic recorder is not a transcriber but more of a visual translator… turning phrases, expressions, and data into pictures. The shapes, colors, and lines of the recording itself should add to the overall message of the piece. When graphic recording, you are in hyper-listening mode, weeding out filler words, plucking out meaningful sentences, thinking of visual components to those phrases, and drawing… all in real time in front of people.

Because you can only improve by incessant practicing, I’ve been creating a few graphic recordings of my night-time TV watching. So, for fun, I thought I’d share the graphic recording of a “How the Brain Works” episode, hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

If you come visit me, you’ll see this very large graphic recording in my living room. Why buy art when you can make it yourself… and learn in the process?