Graphic note taking

Graphic notetaking is the doodle, evolved and tamed. So it is no surprise that the many creative people and visual learners who attend TED conferences and locally organized TEDx events choose this method for capturing information.

What does a graphic notetaker do? They must majorly multitask: they listen to a talk, synthesizing everything a speaker is saying, breaking down everything into phrases and drawings, linking ideas and statements, and adding aesthetic details and colors. All of this is done in real time, with little to no briefing beforehand. It requires more than a good eye or artistic talent; you need an excellent ear practiced in active listening. An arsenal of visual vocabulary doesn’t hurt, either.

We’ve scoped out the wildest graphic notes floating around the TED ecosystem and culled great tips for graphic notetaking, from the masters themselves: