Secrets of Simple Graphics
Communicate with impact using the power of hand drawn visuals
A one day open course for trainers, facilitators and presenters
*New dates for 2019*
Graphic Faciliation Training, Open Course , Edinburgh
Are you :
- looking for fresh, innovative ways to get your message across?
- struggling to engage people at meetings and workshops?
- finding it difficult to get buy in for your ideas?
- fed up with the same old PowerPoint slides and boring flipcharts?
- wanting to improve communication and engagement with those around you?
It’s time to end ‘death by Powerpoint’!
- Enhance engagement and participation in your meetings and workshops
- Boost learning for visual thinkers (over 80% of people)
- Increase group memory
- Bring colour, fun and energy into your work with groups
- Liven up written documents and reports with custom illustrations
- Stand out and get noticed for what you do
Discover the secrets of simple graphics and learn…
- The ‘building blocks’ of graphics – lettering, people, icons, text containers and more
- How to draw quickly and easily (even if you currently find stick men challenging)
- How to build your own icon library
- The four main ways of working visually
- The difference between graphic recording and graphic facilitation (and when to use each)
- How to create a visual record
- How to design a one page visual for presentations and murals
- Different visual formats
- How to create your own graphic templates
- How to add a graphic twist to traditional icebreakers and energisers
- Tons of ideas for your next presentation, workshop or training session
Meet Your Trainer:
An enthusiastic trainer and graphic facilitator, Emer is passionate about using visuals in all aspects of her work to draw out ideas, boost learning, and increase participation.
She believes that the power of visuals helps not only to create an engaging and creative learning environment, but also helps groups and organisations get their message across in a captivating and effective way.
This really isn’t about art!
- Absolutely anyone can build up the skills required to create graphics. It’s amazing how quickly confidence and ability increases once the foundations of good graphics are learned and practiced.
- The training is inclusive, interactive and fun.
- A safe and relaxed environment is created to support your learning and give you the opportunity to practice your new skills as you learn them.
No experience is required. If you haven’t drawn a stick man since you were in primary school that’s probably an advantage.

When and Where:
Friday, 26th April 2019 Edinburgh Conference and Training Venue, 16 St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU
Friday 27th September 2019 Edinburgh Conference and Training Venue, 16 St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU
The course runs from 10am – 4pm with 45 minutes for lunch. Your place includes a cooked breakfast of your choosing before the course starts plus a three course lunch and refreshments throughout the day. Vegan, vegetarian and other dietary options available.
Your investment:
£299 (Standard)
£259 (Early Bird)
*Bonus Gifts*
**New dates for 2019**
Friday 26th April - Early bird pricing £259 increases to £299 on 27th March 2019
Friday 27th September - Early bird pricing £259 increases to £299 on 26th August 2019
Location
Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue, 16 St Mary's Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU View MapWhat people are saying:
Emer gently challenged and cajoled the lively group to try it out for ourselves and experiment with drawing and colouring techniques. I also enjoyed taking away the Mindful Focus on Palm exercise which I have used with delegates since Emer’s workshop.
I felt Emer was very inclusive with the group and dealt with the more vocal delegates calmly, encouraging the quieter delegates to feel included and listened to. I loved the simplicity of pen on paper and have noticed how effective that is becoming for me.
All in all, I recommend this workshop to inspire creative training; note taking and to challenge people to stretch out with those self-defined comfort zones!
Emer is great to work with. She has been delivering [Secrets of Simple Graphics] training for PBB Transformation since September 2015. This training involves the use of hand drawn graphics for facilitation and presentation purposes. We had identified a strong need to equip team members with new and innovative ways of communicating and presenting their work. Emer designed a course to perfectly meet these requirements. We get consistent positive feedback from delegates who enjoy both Emer’s facilitation style and the course content. Delegates get an opportunity to plan how to use graphics in their day to day communication. This has worked well in terms future planning and embedding the learning in the workplace. I would not hesitate to recommend Emer’s services for organisations seeking to explore visual ways of working.
Emer’s training is really good and has inspired staff to look at things differently in meetings and development sessions. We are using graphic facilitation with schools and nurseries to engage staff and parents in improvement planning and when developing visions and aims.
The graphic displays help to make it accessible to parents and young people and provides opportunities for the work to be added to in the future to record progress.
It has helped us to move on from a ‘death by Powerpoint’ culture!
Thanks so much for a fantastic workshop – never has time flown so much on a training course before from having so much fun! All the exercises were really enjoyable and were a great way to try out using graphics and cartoons. I came away from the day with a lot more confidence for doing graphic facilitation and I am looking forward to putting my new skills into practice in the workplace.
Thank you for a really fun course, packed with tips. It was really well structured to enable participants of varying confidence to start or develop their visual practice. Now I’m using graphics much more fluently and frequently; on notes to myself, training materials, and everything in between.
The most fun I have had at a training event in as long as I can remember. Not only that, I took away skills and activities that I could actively introduce into my presentations and group work with both young and older people. Highly recommended for anyone looking to make their flip charts that bit more exciting!
A great course! Despite my initial trepidation, I now feel more confident about using graphics with my clients. Emer’s patience and pragmatism meant that all of us on the course learned a lot, were able to practice in a safe environment and now have the tools and techniques to apply our learning back in the “real world”.
I really enjoyed this training day. I had hoped that it would educate me about how graphics could be used in my work, particularly with reference to illustrating reports and explaining data to mixed audiences and I was not disappointed. I left the course feeling more confident about how I could incorporate drawing and graphics into my work in different ways.
I really enjoyed the session: the creative activities, the facilitation style and the innovative and safe environment were just perfect! I also learned a lot of new techniques and loved the group exercises! The right balance between theory and practice!
I really enjoyed the course – it was fun, safe and inspiring. I always enjoy exploring different facilitation techniques which can help me respond to and support people appropriately in new and interesting ways. This course definitely added to my repertoire and it was wonderful to use a different bit of my brain! I have recommended the course to my colleagues and we might be looking for some in-house input one day.
Thank you for a valuable, fun filled and entertaining day. I have learned so much and will use my new found skills on a daily basis at work. I am already thinking in pictures. I would love to have spent longer with you and the group and I think you have a lot more to share.
Was a great day of experiencing the joy and fun of incorporating graphics into my workaday environment. A breath of fresh air in a very word oriented world!
I really enjoyed the chance to do something creative. I have already mentioned the course to a few colleagues and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Whilst I came along thinking mainly about using the techniques for facilitation or recording with project groups, I left with ideas around using graphics internally as a planning tool and to help inject energy to team meetings. My daughter loved the star people I showed her and is now drawing them too. The list is endless!
For more information or to book this course in-house for your organisation contact Emer directly on emer@emeroleary.com or on 0131 226 1637