In this post I’d like to share with you what’s going on inside of Verbal to Visual throughout May of 2026. I’m trying some new things this month that I’m pretty excited about.
First of all, I’ve identified a theme for the month, and that theme is Design Your Learning Arena. That concept of a learning arena comes from the book Visual Collaboration, which I talked about it in my last video. It’s all about creating the physical environment that supports the visual thinking work that you’re up to. Throughout the month of May, I want to help you set up your learning arena.
We’ll accomplish that goal in a handful of ways.
A Workshop Dedicated to the Theme
I’ll be hosting a workshop dedicated to the topic of designing your learning arena. That will take place on Thursday, May 14th at 9 a.m. Pacific Time on Zoom, and it will be recorded with the replay posted afterward.
Prior to that workshop, I’ll be asking you and other participants to snap a photo of your current workspace so that we can see what everyone has going on. Then I’ll walk you through an activity to find opportunities to improve your space just a little.
We’ll bookend that workshop with office hours on May 7th and May 21st, where you can bring questions related to any of the courses that you’re working through, or get feedback on a current visual thinking project of yours.
We’ll end the month with a book club event. This quarter we’re reading Rapid Viz and How to Make Sense of Any Mess — two visual thinking skill-building books that will introduce some strategies you might be able to apply in your own work. You can pick one or both of those books to read, and in this event we’ll be discussing the middle third of each.
If you’re already a member of Verbal to Visual you can RSVP to those events here! If not, here’s where you can sign up for a free week-long trial.
Weekly Sketchnoting Challenge
We’ve also got some fun things going on outside of those live events, including a new weekly sketchnoting challenge. Each Monday I’ll post something for you to sketch out — something like an article, a podcast, or a video that’s related to that month’s theme. Then you have until Sunday to watch or listen or read, sketch out the ideas you come across, and post your sketch for others to see.
Here’s a sneak peek of the first challenge: I’ll encourage you to watch and sketch out Ingrid Fetell Lee’s TED Talk, Where Joy Hides and How to Find It. I think these challenges will be fun because we’ll all take a look at the same source material, then get to see the different things that each of us pulls out of it and the different ways we visualize those specific ideas.
Polls and Prompts
Another new thing I’ll be trying out this month is posting more polls and prompts within our network. This is a cool feature of Mighty Networks (the learning platform that I use) and it can be a great way to spark interesting discussions, do some quick idea and resource sharing, and help provide some momentum with your visual thinking practice. I’ll be sharing a new poll or prompt every Monday and Friday. Here’s a look at the first one: Share one small ritual you do before starting focused learning or deep work. I think it’ll be interesting to see the responses! Those polls and prompts will also relate to the monthly theme.
Self-Paced Courses
In addition to all of those events and activities related to this month’s theme, you’ll also be able to tap into our library of self-paced courses to build your visual thinking skills from the ground up and then start applying them in specific directions — like making videos, learning a new language, or building your own online course or presentation.
Join Us
If you’re ready to dive deeper into your own visual thinking skill development, I hope you’ll join us this month. Here’s where you can sign up for a free week-long trial. Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next time!
Cheers,
-Doug