Permission Slip

I was giving a public talk at a Life Sciences museum in Göttingen, Germany earlier this year. Over a hundred people turned up to hear about my journey with Visual Thinkery – A picture says a thousand words. People were encouraged to bring pen and paper and we had plenty on hand to give out just in case they had forgotten.

In any audience I’ve had, some are comfortable with picking up a pen and having a go at drawing something. But most people are not. Maybe, like me, they decided “I can’t draw” at the age of 12 or 13, something to do with school or peers or siblings. Whatever the reason, that barrier remains exactly where we put it.

Until one day we decide to something about it. So I include this little exercise in every talk or workshop I give these days. I take people through the process of drawing a permission slip featuring a little self portrait cartoon.

A professor and his partner came up to me after the talk at the Museum.

“When you got out the paper and pens, he told me he wasn’t going to do any drawing.”
“But he decided to give it a go and now he really wants to show you his drawings…”

So when it comes to drawing, embrace the child within and give yourself permission to create something. It’s liberating!