practice · all tools
Scribing (Visual Practice)
Depth · what it can open●○○○1 — informational
Holding · facilitation2 — facilitator
Trust · group readiness★any
Disclosure · what is sharednone
A practitioner draws the conversation as it happens — mapping ideas, tensions, and emerging patterns on a large visible surface while people talk — so a group can literally see its own thinking. From basic graphic capture to generative scribing that reflects the deeper structure of what is being said. The practice trains the scribe as much as it serves the room.
Hold with care
- The scribe holds interpretive power — drawing one voice large and another small is an act with consequences; scribe the field, not your favorites
Practical
- Time
- 30-240 min
- Group
- 1–∞ · individual, large-group
- Settings
- in-person, online
- Materials
- Large drawing surface (wall paper or tablet); markers; sightlines for the room
- Mechanisms
- creative-expression, systems-sensing, feedback-mirroring
- Change scope
- state → skill · recurring-practice (as a standing element of significant sessions)
Origin & where it lives
Presencing Institute visual-practice community (Kelvy Bird and colleagues) — Theory U — visual practice / generative scribing
Instructions: open online · CC BY (Presencing Institute materials)
In this directory via u-school for Transformation — Theory U tools
status: checked · added 2026-08-26