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My First in-Person Training for Generative Scribing

A review

In January 2025, I offered my first face-to-face training for Generative Scribing at dock 11 eden in Berlin Pankow. Afterwards, everyone asks: “ So, how did it go?” and I find that hard to answer. On the one hand, there are so many ways to answer the question: there are the logistics (food, space, materials…), then the general atmosphere and finally the content of the work. And in all of this, I can only ever describe MY impression, which is totally subjective. Unfortunately, I can’t look inside the participants to see how they experienced the days. So all I can do is tell you what I experienced and, of course, the participants’ feedback. That being said – here’s a review.

A circle of chairs – a social field

We are sitting in a circle. Seven women, each with her own story. Of course, I had planned an introduction and had thought about what I wanted to say at the beginning. But then, at this moment, I realized: these seven women came from their own contexts. Many, many people, factors and coincidences had led to them being here today. And so I spontaneously decided to honor that: Behind each of us were people who had our backs today, people who had brought us here, figuratively and practically. In this circle, our perspectives and possibilities came together and this is where our journey into Generative Scribing began: we were a social field. And each of these women, would impact their own field when they left the course.

And of course, I honored the person who brought me here: Kelvy Bird, my teacher, mentor and colleague who developed and described Generative Scribing and from whom I learned it. Generative Scribing is a form of live visualization, we visualize in real time and on a large format, the conversation of a group to support it. Unlike Graphic Recording, we do not (exclusively) document what is already known, but also listen to the unknown that wants to reveal itself in the conversation. This method builds on the inner stance of the scribe and their capacity to relate to the group, the social field.

From fantasy to reality: How I dreamed of giving a Generative Scribing training

The night before, an inner image had emerged in me, a vision that I had been carrying inside me for a long time: of a space that I create for others, where people can come into contact with themselves and with the essence that comes to light when the noise of the world falls silent for a moment. It sounds a bit crazy, but it was only in my guest room at Dock 11 eden that I realized that this vision was now a reality.

Organizing an in-person course like this, completely by yourself, is a wild ride! I already had experience with in-person courses, for example the trainings for Visual Facilitation in an intercultural context that I ran with Lydia Aubin for Forum Bayreuth in France and Germany. But there had always been a host, an organizer, and we were only responsible for the delivery. And I had already run online courses, both my own online program ‘Generative Scribing – Explore&Reflect’ and the programs ‘Visual Sensmeaking’ and ‘Levels of Scribing’, which I developed and ran together with Kelvy Bird. It was only afterwards that I realized how much easier this is: you don’t need a room, you don’t need catering, you don’t have to lug any material around. Nobody has to travel, nobody has to stay overnight, everything is somehow less complex. 


How small things deepen the process during the training

When preparing for the course, I had done many things without knowing exactly why they seemed so important to me. For example, I had stood in the organic food store and meticulously selected fruit and snacks. I pumped up acrylic markers for the participants so that they could start drawing with them straight away. And I thought a lot about when in the training design we would go to the eden Café for coffee – so much so that I had to laugh at myself because I was so absorbed in these ‘trivialities’.

When the course was running, it suddenly hit me: all these little details – the snacks, the quality of the coffee, whether the markers were ready to go – these weren’t just trivial details. They formed the container, the space that we held for our joint work. And the more stable this container is, the deeper the process can go.

So there it was, our container, and I was ready to set off with my participants to a place within themselves. And by that I mean: everyone was to travel within themselves to a place where they felt a connection. And at the same time, together as a group, we would become something that is more than the sum of its parts.

Here we go: Putting the first lines on paper

Now it was time to fill this space with life. The markers were lifted and we dived in: where are the emotions in my body? And how do I get them onto the page? We experimented with abstract visual vocabulary. This was still unfamiliar, especially for the graphic recorders in the group, as icons and figurative images are normally in demand. I noticed that it took courage to let go. We discussed questions such as

• How abstract does it have to be?
• How many words does it need?
• Can I also work figuratively?
• Is it allowed to be pretty?

The last question surprised me! The irritation had arisen because I had stated that it was not about a beautiful end result. Which of course does not mean that Generative Scribing must not or should not be aesthetic! Rather, I wanted to encourage depicting what is tangible and what we know is there, even if this makes the Scribing less “beautiful”. We are often under pressure to deliver aesthetically perfect and well-rounded results and therefore leave out the things that are somehow unclear, blurred or perhaps simply not so ”pretty”. But if this dichotomy doesn’t exist, if we can make it beautiful and true, then of course Generative Scribing is allowed to be beautiful!

Relief for the questioner: Yes, everyone can find their own style! No, there are no rules about what it has to look like! I had the impression that such topics tend to come to the surface in the face-to-face course, simply because you spend so much time together. The great thing about this is how we encountered each other in so many different settings. There was the course itself, but then there were also the breaks and the time spent in the café room, where we sometimes had a conversation in pairs. There were the lunches together, where questions were explored in greater depth and spun out further, and sometimes we talked about something completely different. Ultimately, it was these situations where the participants had time to really get to know each other. It gave me enormous pleasure to see how connections gradually developed!

Five domains of Generative Scribing

In terms of content, we worked our way through Kelvy Bird’s Model of Practice, the five domains of Scribing:

• join
• perceive
• know
• draw
• be

Of course, we talked a lot of theory over the two days. But what I perceived as most important was the inner work. As if I were kneading the group like a dough. How can we make the individual parts into a whole? It is an interplay on many levels: How is each individual doing with themselves? How do the participants relate to me? What is their relationship with each other like? How can I give them security and the opportunity to open up? If it works, then everything resonates together and helps the group to open up their perception. And if we are lucky, they experience presencing.

Presencing – how do you describe it?

Presencing means being in the moment with complete attention and at the same time sensing that something new is about to emerge. It is about consciously perceiving this moment, giving it space and acting from this clarity.

“Describe an experience to someone that they know, but for which you have no common word!” What a crazy task! You are in the dark, you don’t know how the other person experiences their inner self. So you try different metaphors, different ways of putting it. Talking about presencing is very strange, because intellectually we can perhaps go along with it and nod and say “yes, sounds logical” or we can shake our heads and say “eh, what are you talking about?”. And talking too much doesn’t help either, it only builds up pressure and takes people into their heads, away from their bodies, where the experience takes place. As long as the participants don’t feel it and sense “Oh yes, that’s what she’s talking about!”, it remains abstract. So we dance between silence and stimulation, play and listen, observing on the outside and looking inwards.

Ein Wesen mit 16 Armen und Beinen

Und dafür müssen sich auch die Körper bewegen! Was für ein Glücksfall, dass ich Lou angefragt hatte, mir bei der Leitung des Kurses zu assistieren! Sie leitete spielerisch leichte Bewegungseinheiten an und gab uns immer wieder die Gelegenheit, uns selbst und unsere Körper zu spüren, uns locker zu machen und die ganze Theorie auch mal wieder loszulassen. Wir bewegten uns gemeinsam im Raum, machten Quatsch, lachten und plötzlich war es da, ein Wesen mit 16 Armen und 16 Beinen! Aus acht Menschen war eine Einheit entstanden.

Live Scribing in conversation: A new challenge

On the morning of the second day, we had a visitor: I had invited Felice Meer to a round table with Lou and me, three women working in the arts at different stages in their lives. We talked about Felice’s graphic novel “Püppi und Tante”, about motivation and discipline and about U-turns in life.
The participants scribed live during our discussion round – under time pressure and with the awareness that external eyes would be looking at the results. This created a new dynamic.

Back amongst ourselves, we reflected together: How did it go? What was easy, where were there challenges? I think this is still one of the best ways to learn: try it out, reflect, readjust. When I watched them apply everything we had discussed during our last scribing exercise, I was quite impressed. Each one had moved a great deal further. I saw bold clear shapes where there had been uncertain accumulation at the beginning. I saw organic visualizations drawn from the body. I saw how their own style was brought in and expanded to show deeper levels of perception.

What remains after the Generative Scribing training?

It was particularly exciting to see how each participant interpreted the method for themselves and applied it to their own context. One participant, who already coaches teams, found a new connection between deep listening, visual expression and group processes. Others, who came from the Graphic Recording world, experienced how their practice can expand to a deeper, generative level. It was inspiring to see how Generative Scribing proves to be a bridge between different fields – and how the participants carry it into their own work with new confidence and creative joy.

Later, one of the feedback sheets reads:

So the work on the container was worth it. I’m delighted. I am very happy!

And me? What am I taking with me?

During checkout, one of the participants asked: “What are YOU taking with you, Marie-Pascale?”. And I said: “I know now that I can do it.” Of course, I somehow knew the whole time. But then it became a reality and one (I) looks back in amazement and thinks: “Well, well, well: A Generative Scribing workshop. In person. Who would have guessed?”

✅ Try it out. (Check!)

⬜️ Reflect.

⬜️ Re-adjust.