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At some point you decided to learn more about visual expression, growing your visual vocabulary and learn ways to apply your visual skills in your work.

Perhaps for the purpose of visual facilitation, maybe you started to design flipcharts, or perhaps your participants have been delighted to engage easier because you provide visual templates to facilitate group processes.

I am quite certain you have experienced an increased impact and received positive feedback on the ways you apply your skills. This may have helped you grow your confidence and encouraged you to continue. Slowly you have started to feel comfortable expressing yourself with the visual vocabulary that you know. But you also sense there is more to it. A larger vocabulary would help you become more resourceful, more attuned and certainly more playful with your increased variety in expressing yourself visually.

I am wondering if you recognize any of the following signs 3 signs that tell you you are ready to expand your visual vocabulary?

SIGN 1 – YOU USE THE SAME VISUALS

TIP:

Grow your visual vocabulary. This doesn’t work much different than with a spoken language. In many languages you can have all sorts of conversations when you know about 4000 words. Sounds like a lot, but that amount is obtained quite fast. If you learned another language than your mother tongue, you might have noticed that at some point it because easier to express yourself without thinking too much. You had more variety and could express the same thing also in different words. Think of visual vocabulary in the same way. With an expansive visual vocabulary you can bring more variety to your work. 

 

SIGN 2 – MY CALENDAR IS ALREADY FULL

TIP:

Every material allows certain ways of usage. Some have more options than others. Combining materials increases the possibilities, yet at some point, you have ticked off all the options. When you keep doing the same things over and over again, you might be wanting different approaches, because they give different outcomes and effects. You can do two things. 1) Experiment with the materials you have and try out new combinations and ways of using your markers, paper, tape, etc. and 2) Research what other materials are (new) on the market and order a piece or two. Try it out, combine it with other materials and integrate it in your work.

 

SIGN 3 – SO MANY OTHER TASKS ARE MORE IMPORTANT 

TIP:

Being too much in your comfort zone might be a sign you are ready for expanding your vocabulary.
I mean, there is nothing wrong with being comfortable with the way you visually express yourself, but if it means you are being comfortable and consciously postponing to grow further, it might be time to tickle or even challenge yourself a little bit. Getting input from others, exploring, experimenting and co-creating with other visual practitioners evokes a new wave of creative energy in a very playful way. You easily move from your comfort zone to your learning zone again, yet in a joyful way. 
 

MAIN INSIGHTS

You know you are ready to expand your visual vocabulary when you …

INSIGHT 1 ⚡️ Repeat the same visuals.

INSIGHT 2 ⚡️ Use the same techniques

INSIGHT 3 ⚡️ Easily express yourself but know you could do things different.

 

My name is MIREILLE VAN BREMEN

I believe that with empathy, clarity and transparency in our communication, we experience and reach more understanding, connection, inclusion, participation, leadership, creativity and trust in our relationships, communities and society.

My clients hire me to design infographics & visual summaries, illustrations and visual tools.

My participants join the online and live communication programs in my Online Training Platform

My programs help to increase impact by communicating both empathically and visually.