To learn about storytelling
To understand the importance of visualization in presentation
To learn about online visualization tools
To learn about storytelling structure.
To learn preparing infographics for lengthy texts.

When to use it?

While learning about visual storytelling and
presentation.

Materials:

Flipchart, color pencils, news articles or reports, projector

Preparation:

Read the info box about visual storytelling and Infographics.
Find interesting reports/articles from magazines for each group.
Alternatively ask them to find one on the internet.
Open infographics examples from the link in the appendix.

Presentation:

Ask the participants from which sources they read news reports and which format (video news; – 5 min.
Ask them what they know about infographics. Explain what infographics are, which elements are made of, why/how they are used to tell complex stories and show examples – 10 to 15 min.
Divide the participants in groups of two to three. Then hand them out one flipchart, color pens and one report/article to read first.
Ask each group to draw infographic version of the story by drawing figures and using only one sentence for each figure; 25 min.
In the end each group has to present in 3 to 5 min. their infographics.
Invite classroom to give feedback on each infographics. Focus not on the aesthetic of the infographics, but on how relevantly and clearly it was converted into infographics. – 15 min.

Follow up questions:

Which format of information would you prefer while reading? Infographic or traditional reporting?

Possible Variations:

Alternative 1: Instead of news reports, you can also use CVs and business proposals.

Alternative 2: You can ask students to bring their laptops/tablets and design their infographics by using one of the online infographic tools, which are listed in the resource part.

To understand the importance of visualization in presentation
To learn about reflective planning through visual storytelling

When to use it?

Use this when you want a fast, energizing, and visual method for quickly reflecting on life stories/backgrounds of the participants, or use it to surface compelling stories from their history that they might otherwise never have thought of.

Materials:

Blank copier or printer paper for each participant.
If you have plenty of table space, flip chart pages are even better. If space is an issue, some participants may be willing to take off their shoes and get down on the floor to work.
Markers or pens for each participant. Multiple colors are good.

Preparation:

Read the info box about visual timeline.

Presentation:

Ask the participants to identify the event that they wish to depict for their timeline. Here are some examples:
Create your individual sport story
Capture the broad story of a one-year at your school
Tell the story of a weekend at the beach last summer (with Mom, Dad, and the kids).
Recall your changing emotional state since just this morning, for creating a mindfulness diary.
You can tell the participants to depict very brief and recent events just as easily as they can render complex.
Establish the Start and End Dates: Have team members turn their blank page sideways (landscape). This horizontal space is the canvas for their timeline.
Have them draw a line near the bottom of the page, leaving plenty of room above it.
Because this is their story, they get to decide when it starts and when it ends. (For example, perhaps they want to make the case that “the story of a student project” actually began.
Think broadly of everything that happened from the beginning to the end. Good events are up; negative events are down.
Ask them to drive only line with ups and downs reflecting their emotions about the chosen period of life.
Remind them to look at what was just created in the space of less than 2 minutes and how their simple line is loaded with meaning, feelings, and memories.
Invite the participants to bring it to life by populating the line with more meaning.
Ask them to populate the timeline with text, titles, and simple icons and stick figures to bring a little more meaning to the presentation.
To build participants’ confidence in their own visual competency, you can provide an Icon Cheat Sheet to demonstrate how simple stick figures, arrows, and icons can communicate a great deal of meaning. You can find a reproducible copy in the Appendix.
Finally, ask them to write the title of story beneath the line.
Expect to see many participants take out their cell phones to capture a picture of their drawing.
The final step is to take turns telling the stories. In small groups, ask them to present their visual timeline and answer questions.

Follow up questions:

Was there any point in the line you had difficulty to explain?
How did it help to reflect your past or experience?

Possible Variations:

The activity can be turned into a collective visualization. If your group has a common history to share, institutional memory, or organization, it can begin with the horizontal timeline with the start and end dates and then begin telling stories along the line.

To practice interview skills.
To improve structured speaking practice.
To write a press release
To write a new report
To practice listening and taking notes.
To reflect on resume

When to use it?

While learning about communication skills.

Materials:

Photocopies of interviewee CVs, photocopy of interviewee sheet, sticky label.

Preparation:

Read the info box about press meeting and interviewing.
Find samples of a press release.
Make copies of the CVs and interviewee sheet according to the number of the group.

Presentation:

Tell students that they have got the job of reporter for a magazine about some famous people. They are going to interview some famous people and they need to prepare some general questions they can ask any famous person – actors, singers, sports stars, politicians etc.
For this, choose two volunteers from the group to be the famous person and give them the interviewee sheet which include detailed information about the famous people they will act.
Distribute to the rest of the group the CVs of the two famous people they will interview.
Give some examples, like, ‘Do you enjoy your job?’ or ‘Are you happy being so famous?’ and get students to write four questions and put them into a table with the questions going down the left hand side and space for five columns to the right.
While the interviewees are studying the information about their characters, ask the class to study their CV to understand their career path and life.
Then ask students which famous person they would like to be and give each one a sticky label or a sticky note for them to write the name of the famous person on and stick on themselves.
Put students into two concentric circles with the inner circle facing out and outer circle facing in.
Tell students that they are going to interview the person directly in front of them for two minutes and note down all the information they find out. They are also going to be interviewed.
The facing pairs take turns in the different roles of interviewer and famous person. At two-minute intervals shout ‘stop’ and ask the outer circle to step one person to the right. Shout ‘start’ to give students two more minutes with a new famous person.
When each student has interviewed and been interviewed five or six times stop the activity and seat students. The information they have gathered about the famous people can then be shared with the group orally or used for a piece of writing for a gossip magazine.

Possible Variations:

If you have an odd number rotate one person out of the circle each time you move the other circle around. This person can help you to monitor and can walk around the circle listening to the others in action and making a note of any mistakes they hear.

To use a stop motion technique to create a
simple two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional animation that communicates an idea.
To learn an alternative visualization method.
To learn planning of a multimedia production.

When to use it?

In visual storytelling, effective communication methods.

Materials:

Flipchart, color pencils, news articles or reports, projector.

Preparation:

Read the info box about stop motion animation technique and essentials.
Find interesting examples of stop-motion movies (some example links were provided in the resource section).

Presentation:

Explain what stop-motion animation is and 2D and 3-D techniques and materials to use in an animation.
Show different examples of stop motion animation. Some videos from “Making Of” documentaries that can also be a great way to begin discussing the techniques and strategies used in stop motion.
Have participants come up with 15 second promotional video on anything and have them discuss, brainstorm, and write everything down. Challenge students in suggesting new ideas and adding to existing ideas. Even weak ideas can be developed into something good! 30 minutes
Remind students that great ideas can come from simple, every day experiences.
Have students take notes and write down their thoughts on the plot, the scenes, the characters, and any extra details that come to mind while they are writing. Use the linked handout to get them started!
KEEP IT SIMPLE! The shortest and simplest concepts are the easiest to animate. Limit them to one or two characters, so that they can concentrate on the details.
The approach students take (2-D, 3-D or combined) should support their overall idea.
A script is the written description of the actions that will take place. Ask students questions according to their age such as:

What is your theme or idea?
What sort of personality would you like to create?
How long do you plan for this to be? How many frames and fps is that? (Make them do the math!)
Who in your group will do which production jobs?
What materials or objects will you need to collect?
What kind of background will you need?
Will 2D or 3D technique work better for this particular story? Why?
What different shots do you need? What close-ups?
Attach your storyboard! Have you varied the scale, pace, angle or whatever of the shots?
What else do you want to say about your idea?
The story then is ready to be visually depicted as a storyboard outlining the plot, characters, and backgrounds. Remind students that storyboarding and planning on paper saves time and energy because they will figure out all the details before committing to the animation. Storyboarding will also ensure that each group selects the one approach best suited to the basic concept they’ve identified. Using poster board, preferably large, and a packet of post-it-notes, sort out the ideas and images to be used. Divide up the page, discuss the sequence of shots, and draw in key transitions or moments, making notes as necessary. Label each section of the storyboard with sequence, camera angle, timing, and other directorial information as you go.
Once groups have decided on the story they will be telling and have created their storyboards, they need to begin gathering their props, characters, and back drops to be ready to film their animation. Ask them to use the materials you and they bring in the workshop.
Show them how they place and use their mobile devices by following the guideline in the info box.
Tell them to download and open the stopmotion studio app and show them how they will use it.
Ask students to start filming according to their plan.
Ask them to save the final product and upload it to youtube to share with other participants

Follow up questions:

How well are the groups working together?
How well are group members communicating? To what extent is each group member contributing to the project?

Possible Variations:

The workshop can be divided into two to three parts in case of limited time.

To learn about storytelling
To make more engaging presentations
To use online visualization tools

When to use it?
While learning about visual storytelling and
presentation.

Materials:
Computer or tablets.

Preparation:
Read the info box about visual storytelling.
Read the guideline on use of free online visualization tools listed in the resource section to choose one of them.
Send the link of the good examples of visual stories (listed in the resource section) to the participants

Presentation:
Introduce the class the elements of a good visual storytelling and where it can be used with examples from different fields like reporting, and business; – 5 min.
Make them open good examples of visually told stories you sent and ask the participants to analyse them by following the questions:
Which visuals make up the story?
Do the visuals represent or add emphasis to what the author/s announcing?
How is tone of the story they’re telling? (Fun vs. Serious, Celebratory, etc.)
Are the visuals intriguing? (Does it inspire you to want to know more?)
Do the visuals tell a story (or start to) within seconds of seeing it?
Do the visual work for print, TV, online and social media?
Are the visuals memorable and meaningful?
Divide the participants in groups of two. Then let them choose one of the following story topics to tell:
Story of a successful entrepreneur.
Their own life experience
Their parents’ life
The life of a historical figure
The story of a company
Tell each group to plan their stories in terms of: data collection method, visual elements they will use and the tone of the story.
Ask each group to open one of the free visual storytelling tools and build their stories in one of them. 25 min.
In the end each group exchange their visual stories with the next group and ask them to analyse their stories with the same questions above. 15 min.
Invite classroom to give feedback on each story. Focus not on the aesthetic of the product, but on how relevantly and clearly it was converted into infographics. – 15 min.

Possible Variations:
In the end, participants can alternatively present the visual stories to each other make critics and contests.

When to use it?
While learning about visual storytelling and presentation.

Materials:
Flipchart, color pencils, news articles or reports, projector.

Preparation:
Read the info box about visual storytelling and Infographics.
Find relevant reports/articles from magazines for each group.
Alternatively ask them to find one on the internet.
Open infographics examples from the link in the appendix.

Presentation:
Ask the participants from which sources they read news reports and which format (video news; – 5 min.
Ask them what they know about infographics. Explain what infographics are, which elements are made of, why/how they are used to tell complex stories and show examples – 10 to 15 min.
Divide the participants in groups of two to three. Then hand them out one flipchart, color pens and one report/article to read first.
Ask each group to draw infographic version of the story by drawing figures and using only one sentence for each figure; 25 min.
In the end each group has to present in 3 to 5 min. their infographics.
Invite classroom to give feedback on each infographics. Focus not on the aesthetic of the infographics, but on how relevantly and clearly it was converted into infographics. – 15 min.

Follow up questions:
Which format of information would you prefer while reading? Infographic or traditional reporting?

Possible Variations:
Alternative 1: Instead of news reports, you can also use CVs and business proposals.
Alternative 2: You can ask students to bring their laptops/tablets and design their infographics by using one of the online infographic tools, which are listed in the resource part.

Read the info box
Find three example visual boards from the links provided in resources section.
Find images, quotes or pictures that represent success or capture the emotions the participants would feel when they’ve reached their goals. You can use magazines or websites such as Pinterest, stock image sites or the image gallery. The images you select should inspire them or evoke positive emotions.
Presentation:

Ask participants to list their dreams, goals and ideal life. Remind them, there are different elements of their life, such as wealth, health, career, relationships and school. It doesn’t matter if they haven’t figured out exactly how they will achieve their goal; (15 mins.)
It helps to have prompts or questions to get you started. Ask them questions like:
Where have you always wanted to live?
What would your dream house look like?
What is your dream vacation?
What do you want to achieve at work or in your career?
What does your ideal work space look like?
If you had all the time in the world, how would you spend it?
What is an organization or cause you have always wanted to support?
Who are people you would like to meet or see?
Think about adding items from your bucket list of places to see and things to do before you die. You really can’t mess this up, so don’t overthink it.
Then ask them how they plan to achieve their goals. Show them example visual boards and explain what visual board is (see info box) and how the athletes, business people use it to plan their life. (10 mins.)
Then hand them out papers/cupboards, color pens and pictures to prepare their visual boards according to the goal list they made; (20 mins.)

Follow up questions:

How do you usually learn about new people and organizations?

Possible Variations:

If you feel like you need a little positive reinforcement to get vision board started, host a vision board party and ask participants to bring magazines and their laptops. Working on their vision board with a group may drive them to complete the project faster. It also serves as a built in accountability group for their vision.

To learn about the elements of an effective presentation of online data.
To increase the awareness about attention span in online communication.

When to use it?

While talking about the effective presentation methods, online communication and organizational communication on web.

Materials:

A computer or tablet/ a projector to screen the chosen about us pages of different organizations and businesses in the appendix; alternatively printed version of the pages.

Preparation:

Check the links in the appendix for screening with the projector or print them out.
Read the info box about attention span and online presentation.

Presentation:

Open 4 about us pages the links of which were provided in the appendix. Alternatively, hand out the printed version of the pages to the participants.
Ask them to look at each page for ten seconds. (1-2 mins.)
Discuss with the participants what they remember about the organizations presented in the pages, what they were about, what was the things which attracted their attention, what would make the pages more appealing, what was most memorable element and whether they were interesting enough to read forward. (15 mins.)
Divide the learners in groups of two-three and assign them one of the about us page to redesign the presentation of the page. (15 mins.)
Let each group to present their new design and explain why they have made those changes. (10 mins.)

Follow up questions:

How do you usually learn about new people and organizations?

Possible Variations:

Instead of presentation of the redesigned pages, the groups can prepare a 10 second videos for the about us pages with their smartphones.

To understand the importance of visualization in communication
To let the participants to know each other better.

When to use it?

At the beginning, getting to know each other

Materials:

Storyboard (see the appendix) print outs or A4 sheets

Preparation:

For each participant, make one copy of the storyboard, which is attached in the appendix.
Alternatively take A4 sheets according to number of participants.
Make sure all participants have pen or pencil to draw. In case, take a number of pen/pencil with you.
Read the info box about visualization and story board (info box 1a-1b).

Presentation:

Ask participants how much they know about the people in the classroom. Follow up with further questions such as how do they learn about personal information about other people, what is most permanent information about a person they get to know for the first time.
Tell them how visual elements in an information flow are more persistent than verbal and textual information by referring to the visualization theory part (x).
Then show them the story board and how it used in storytelling and different sectors.
Hand out one storyboard to each participant and tell them to draw pictures for each frames describing their life, hobbies and anything to share about themselves.
The participants can use one to three keywords for each frame to support the information in the frames.
Let them work on this for up to 20 minutes.
Then ask the participants to write their name on the storyboard and exchange it with the next person sitting beside her/him.
Give them another 5 minutes to study the frames to understand the story in it.
Then ask each participant to introduce/present the life of the person based on the storyboard they study.
After the presentation, ask the real owner of the storyboard whether she/he verifies the story.
Then invite the participants to discuss how useful it was to get to know a person with visual clues compared to verbal/textual introduction.

Follow up questions:

What was the most enjoyable part about storyboard?
How easier or more difficult is it to know about people with this method compared to reading or listening to them?

Possible Variations:

You can do the storyboarding with only pictures by dropping out keywords to increase the challenge.