**Created**:: [[2022-10-02 Sunday]] **Link**:: https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA **Duration**:: 8:34 ![Launching the Visual Thinking Workshop](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA) # Summary In this video, the presenter announces the launch of a Visual Thinking Workshop aimed at enhancing Personal Knowledge Management through visual tools. They highlight the evolution of their interests in information management over the years and the development of various tools to facilitate this process. The workshop will focus on creating book summaries using visual thinking techniques, offering participants a structured approach to integrate their reading into a visual framework. # Key Takeaways - The Visual Thinking Workshop is designed to enhance Personal Knowledge Management by employing visual tools and techniques. - The workshop will consist of six sessions focusing on creating "book on a page" summaries, offering practical activities and discussions about visual tools. - Participants will engage with various tools like Obsidian and Excalidraw, while also learning best practices for literature note-taking and visual organization. # Content Hey everyone, I have finally decided to jump off the cliff. I'm actually launching the Visual Thinking Workshop. Those of you who have been following me on YouTube, my blog, or on Twitter, no doubt know that I'm keen on Personal Knowledge Management and I'm absolutely bullish about making my notes and my thinking more visual. It's a bit scary to think about it, but my interest in information management goes back to about 25 years ago when I started my PhD research about information management in agricultural quality management. Ever since my research, I've always enjoyed tweaking my note-taking tools to better fit my information management workflows. However, it wasn't until the pandemic hit that I decided to become more active in sharing my experience. Since then, I've published dozens of blog posts and YouTube videos about my note-taking workflows, different algorithms of thought, and visual thinking frameworks like thinking maps or worldly maps. I've also built a number of tools in this period to support my workflows, such as the Obsidian Excalidraw and Excalibrain plugins. [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=0) To be honest, I've been thinking about launching a visual thinking course for almost a year now. Earlier this year, I even created this mind map about the topics I would cover in the course. After ruminating on the subject, I finally decided to launch a more focused workshop first, concentrating on the topic of authoring "book on a page" summaries. This is because I believe that this process is extremely valuable for deeply understanding a book, and the workflow includes many different activities where we will have a chance to talk about a broad set of visual thinking tools and practice. This is my plan for the workshop at a glance. [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=98) I'm thinking we're going to have six sessions, with the first session on the 5th of November and the last one right before Christmas on the 17th of December. We are going to work through a book that the team is going to choose; I have a couple of book recommendations and I'm also open to other suggestions. At the first session, we will agree on which book we are reading. The reason I have these books here is that they have been on my to-read list, and I thought that this would be a great opportunity to read alongside the workshop participants and to create my own "book on a page" for one of these as well. [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=146) So, in the first session, we are going to make sure everyone has their tools set up. I'm going to be working with Excalidraw, Obsidian, Advent, and Readwise. Other tools are also possible, but these are the tools that I'm going to be using and where I will show the workflow. Also, in the first session, we're going to talk about some best practices for creating literature notes, and then we're going to move on to starting to read the book. These arrows always show the homework you have, so you will start to read the book and make your highlights. In a week's time, we're going to meet; this is going to be a first checkpoint about how you're progressing with reading. You're going to have a bit of discussion about early illustration ideas and your first experiences with highlighting. Then we are going to talk about different pitfalls and best practices, supporting tools, and overall the workflow for developing your "book on a page." [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=194) You'll continue reading, and you'll have two weeks to finish the book. After two weeks, on the 26th of November, we are going to import our literature notes into Obsidian. We're going to share our individual three-paragraph summaries of the book, have a discussion about illustration ideas, and learn about creating Atomic visuals alongside your literature notes in Obsidian. Then, you will start to process your literature notes, creating your highlights and your Atomic visuals alongside your highlights. We'll meet on the 3rd of December when we are going to look at the process of importing these individual drawings that you've created and your highlights, and putting them on a single page. Then we're going to talk about developing your narrative for the story you want to tell on the "book on a page," and look at some practical best practices and trade-offs for organizing your "book on a page." [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=265) From a very practical point of view, you will have two weeks to work on your "book on a page." After the first week, we will have a checkpoint again. In this session, we're going to talk about visuals, custom visual slip boxes or visualizations. In practice, this means that as you create your highlights and Atomic visuals, there are certain topics that have stood out to you that are important. We will talk about how to insert these into your permanent note structure in your knowledge management system if you're using something like Settler Cost. If not, then of course, it is about linking your notes and visuals together. You will have another week to process your book on a page and create some of your visual permanent notes, and we'll have a final showcase and checkpoint meeting. Then, we're going to share each of our "book on a page" summaries, talk about the visual notes and permanent notes that we've created, and collectively come up with the learnings from the workshop. [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=340) This is my idea for the workshop. I hope you like it, and if you're interested, I've created a webpage for the workshop, so please find the link in the description below. Here, you can read more about the workshop. I've also included lots of background material here like relevant videos, etc. If you are convinced that you want this, please purchase your place in the workshop. This is an introductory price right now; if there's going to be a second cohort, my plan is to double the price for that. So, if you're interested and if you're limited on budget, I recommend that you seize the opportunity and sign up for this workshop. Otherwise, read through this page; you will find lots of interesting background material here. Even if you don't participate in the workshop, I think this page is a good starting point to dive deeper into visual personal Knowledge Management and in the various content that I've been creating over the past couple of years. [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=434) So, I hope to see you at the workshop, and thank you for watching the video until the end. [* ](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=510) # YouTube Details ## YouTube Description #excalidraw #obsidianmd #pkm https://www.visual-thinking-workshop.com/ I've been thinking about launching a Visual Thinking Course for almost a year now. After ruminating on the subject, I finally decided to launch a more focused workshop first, concentrating on the topic of authoring a book on a page summary. This is because I believe that this process is a) extremely valuable in deeply understanding a book, and b) the workflow includes many different activities where we'll have a chance to talk about a broad set of visual thinking tools in practice. Timestamps ---- [00:00](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=0) Intro [01:47](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=107) Why Books on a Page? [02:23](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=143) Workshop curriculum at a glance [03:14](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=194) Session-by-session walkthrough ----- If you find the plugin and/or my videos helpful, please say thanks by buying me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/zsolt If you'd like to request a feature or report a bug, please raise it on GitHub: https://github.com/zsviczian/obsidian-excalidraw-plugin If you want to connect, you can reach me (@zsviczian) in the Obsidian Members Group (OMG) on Discord or on Twitter. Links -------- Excalidraw Plugin: https://github.com/zsviczian/obsidian-excalidraw-plugin Obsidian: https://obsidian.md My blog: https://zsolt.blog ---------------- Attributions: - Jumping off the cliff video is by Sébastien Vincon: https://www.pexels.com/video/man-jumping-from-cliff-into-water-10441596/ - The agriculture photo is by - Mark Stebnicki: https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-focus-photo-of-plants-2749165/ - Markus Spiske: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-brown-and-green-vegetable-1268101/ - Thumbnail: Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/space-rocket-launching-73871/ ## YouTube Transcript [hey everyone I have finally decided to](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=0) [jump off the cliff I'm actually](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=3) [launching the visual thinking Workshop](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=6) [those of you who have been following me](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=10) [on YouTube on my blog or on Twitter you](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=12) [no doubt know that I'm keen on personal](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=16) [Knowledge Management and I'm absolutely](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=18) [bullish about making my notes and my](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=21) [thinking more visual](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=25) [it's a bit scary to think about it but](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=28) [my interest in Information Management](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=31) [goes back to about 25 years ago when I](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=34) [started my PhD research about](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=37) [Information Management in agricultural](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=40) [quality management](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=43) [ever since my research I've always](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=45) [enjoyed tweaking my note-taking tools to](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=49) [better fit my information management](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=52) [workflows](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=54) [however it wasn't until the pandemic hit](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=56) [that I decided to become more active in](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=59) [sharing my experience](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=63) [since then I've published dozens of blog](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=65) [posts and YouTube videos about my](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=68) [note-taking workflows about different](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=71) [algorithms of thought and visual](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=73) [thinking Frameworks like the thinking](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=76) [maps or the worldly Maps I've also built](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=78) [a number of tools in this period to](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=82) [support my workflows such as the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=85) [obsidian excalator and the ex-coli Brain](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=87) [plugins](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=90) [to be honest I've been thinking about](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=92) [launching a visual thinking course for](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=95) [almost a year now earlier this year I](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=98) [even created this mind map about topics](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=102) [I would cover in the course](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=105) [after ruminating on the subject however](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=108) [I finally decided to launch a more](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=110) [focused Workshop first concentrating on](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=114) [the topic of authoring book on a page](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=117) [summaries](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=120) [this is because I believe that this](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=122) [process is a extremely valuable and](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=124) [deeply understanding a book and B the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=128) [workflow includes many different](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=132) [activities where we will have a chance](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=134) [to talk about a broad set of visual](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=137) [Thinking Tools and practice](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=140) [this is my plan for the workshop at a](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=144) [glance](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=147) [I'm thinking we're going to have six](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=148) [sessions we'll have the first session on](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=151) [the 5th of November and the last one](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=154) [right before Christmas on the 17th of](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=156) [December and we're going to join the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=159) [work through a book that the team is](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=162) [going to choose I have a couple of book](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=165) [recommendations I'm also open to other](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=168) [suggestions at the first session we are](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=171) [going to agree which book we are reading](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=173) [the reason I have these books here](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=176) [because these have been on my to read](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=178) [list and I thought that this would be a](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=181) [great opportunity to read alongside the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=184) [workshop participants and to create my](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=187) [own book on a page for one of these as](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=190) [well](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=193) [so on the first session we are going to](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=194) [make sure everyone has their tools set](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=196) [up I'm going to be working with](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=199) [excalator with obsidian Advent read wise](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=201) [other tools are also possible but these](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=204) [are the tools that I'm going to be using](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=208) [and these are the tools where I'm going](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=210) [to be showing the workflow also on the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=212) [first session we're going to talk about](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=216) [some best practices for creating](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=218) [literature notes and then we're going to](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=221) [move on to you starting to read the book](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=224) [so these arrows always show the homework](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=227) [you have so you will start to read the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=231) [book and make your highlights and in a](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=233) [week's time we're going to meet](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=236) [this is going to be a first checkpoint](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=238) [about how you're progressing with](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=240) [reading you're going to have a bit of](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=243) [discussion about early illustration](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=246) [ideas and first experiencing with doing](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=248) [your highlights](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=251) [and then we are going to talk about](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=253) [different pitfalls and best practices](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=255) [supporting tools and overall the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=257) [workflow for developing your book on a](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=260) [page](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=263) [you'll continue reading and you'll have](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=265) [two weeks to finish the book and after](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=267) [two weeks on the 26th of November we are](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=271) [going to import our literature notes](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=275) [into obsidian we're going to share our](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=278) [individual three paragraph summaries of](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=282) [the book they're going to have a](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=285) [discussion about illustration ideas and](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=287) [we're going to learn about creating](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=290) [Atomic visuals alongside your literature](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=293) [notes in obsidian](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=297) [then you will start to process your](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=300) [literature notes creating your](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=302) [highlights and your Atomic visuals](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=304) [alongside your highlights we'll meet on](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=307) [the 3rd of December when we are going to](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=311) [look at the process of importing these](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=314) [individual drawings that you've created](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=317) [and your highlights and putting them on](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=320) [a single page and then we're going to](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=323) [talk about developing your narrative for](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=325) [the story you want to tell on the book](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=328) [on a page and we're going to look at](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=330) [some practical best practices and](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=333) [trade-offs for how to organize your book](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=336) [on a page](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=340) [from a very practical point of view](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=341) [you will then have two weeks to work on](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=345) [your book on a page after the first week](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=347) [we are going to have a checkpoint again](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=350) [and this session we're going to talk](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=353) [about visuals at all custom or visual](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=355) [slip box](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=358) [in practice this means that as you](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=360) [created your highlights and as you](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=362) [created Atomic visuals for that and you](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=364) [started to build your book on a page](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=367) [there are certain topics that](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=369) [have stood out to you that are important](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=373) [and you also have some visualizations](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=376) [for that they're going to talk about how](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=378) [to insert these into your permanent note](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=381) [structure in your knowledge management](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=385) [system if you're using settle cost and](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=387) [then that if not then of course it is](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=390) [about linking your notes linking your](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=393) [visuals together](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=396) [you will have another week where you can](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=398) [process your book on a page as well as](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=402) [you can create some of your visual](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=406) [permanent notes and we'll have a final](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=408) [showcase and checkpoint meeting then](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=411) [we're going to share each of our book on](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=413) [a page summaries we're going to talk](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=417) [about the visual notes permanent notes](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=420) [that we've created and all together](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=423) [we're going to come up with the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=425) [learnings from the workshop](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=428) [so this is my idea for the workshop I](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=430) [hope you like it and if you're](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=434) [interested I've created a web page for](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=436) [the workshop](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=439) [so please find the link in the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=440) [description below and here you can read](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=443) [more about the workshop I've also](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=446) [included lots of background material](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=448) [here like relevant videos](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=451) [Etc and if you are convinced and you](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=454) [want this then please purchase your](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=458) [place in the workshop](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=461) [this is an introductory price right now](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=463) [if there's going to be a second cohort](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=465) [my plan is to double the price for that](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=468) [so if you're interested in this and if](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=470) [you're limited on budget I recommend](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=474) [that you seize the opportunity and you](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=477) [sign up to this Workshop](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=480) [and otherwise read through this page you](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=482) [will find lots of interesting background](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=485) [material here](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=488) [and even if you don't participate in the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=489) [workshop I think this page is a good](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=492) [starting point to dive deeper in visual](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=495) [personal Knowledge Management and in the](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=498) [various content that I've been creating](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=501) [over the past couple of years](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=504) [so hope to see you at the workshop and](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=506) [thank you for watching the video Until](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=510) [the End](https://youtu.be/CTECkzGsLHA?t=512)