Appreciative Visual Storytelling – join us to a visual hero's quest!
The Communication Guides are also offering a pre-conference workshop the day before EuViz 2014 in Berlin. On July 22, 2014, this workshop is one of a total of five fantastic workshops on the topic of visualization.
Exciting one-day workshop on the EuViz PreConference
“Appreciative Visual Storytelling” or “Visual Hero’s Journey” is a group method that uses the visualization of success stories to uncover hidden qualities and success factors in order to improve the collaboration of groups and organizations.
This approach, which the communication consultants have developed in a wide variety of settings, draws on three sources: the practice of storytelling, especially the paradigm of the hero's journey according to Joseph Campbell, the dialogue method "Appreciative Inquiry", in which recommendations for the future of an organization are developed from success stories, and visualization as a cultural and dialogue technique.
Two people share and visualize each other's success stories within an agreed-upon "experimentation framework" (e.g., "Tell me about a time when your skills were exactly what you needed"). Together with others, they then identify success factors, which are further developed into actionable recommendations for the organization. The goal is to learn from one's own successes using visual narratives in order to achieve more of the same in the future.
The perspective of a protagonist (“hero”) and the visual representation in the four images – “Exposition – Challenge – Heroic Deed/Transformation and Result” – support participants in concisely, vividly, and meaningfully presenting and narrating their story. The focus is on how the event was experienced from a specific perspective and what actually changed. We assume that essential learning steps also include a process of inner transformation that arises from mastering an extraordinary challenge. This moment, as well as the events before and after, is explored: “What made the success possible?” “What internal and external factors supported you?”
The mutual visualization of the heroic tales plays a key role: Images are used to honor the hero and the story, to make the experience tangible, and to preserve the story for outsiders.
In the pre-conference training for communication guides, visualizers and facilitators learn this approach. We expand each participant's visualization skills, practice the method, and reflect on success factors and framework conditions for practical application.
Register here for the Pre-Con Workshop