Anthony Weeks is an illustrator, documentary filmmaker, and visual storyteller based in San Francisco. He has more than 18 years of experience working with senior-level product and strategy development teams to think visually and turn data into stories.

In the role of public listener and illustrator, Anthony collaborates with project teams to create visually rich chronicles and murals of conversations in real time. The visual storytelling facilitates dialogue, engages participation, clarifies vision, and animates the process of ideation.

In this episode, Anthony explains how he prepares to listen and the role of subjectivity in listening. He provides some very practical tips on what to do when you get distracted whilst listening.

Today’s Topics:

• Anthony is a graphic facilitator who listens to teams and groups and then creates a visual chronicle of the conversation.
• The role of meaning and how to think about listening in capital letters.
• Listen carefully as he talks about his capital S and the role of subjectivity in listening.
• Explore with him as he talks about the role of silence in a one-on-on dialogue.
• How silence can honor a room in a group context and give the room an opportunity to think and reflect on where they are at.
• His capability to listen for meaning and bring it to life in his visual artefacts.
• Preparing for the day ahead. Anthony has had several repeat clients who know why he is there.
• When working with a client for the first time, he gets in the room early and positions himself so he will be present but not intrusive.
• His role of listening dictates where he sets up his work area. After a brief introduction, he listens and creates drawings.
• Anthony claims his subjectivity as a listener, and he hopes he is hired for that.
• What is not being said can have many meanings, but we aren’t talking about it because of culture, safety, or it’s a painful subject.
• The challenges of getting into the mental and emotional space of listening.
• People talk about mindfulness a lot. For Anthony, mindfulness is meditation everyday, every morning, and before every meeting to create space to listen in a dedicated way.
• Appreciating and honoring the facts that we can all be good listeners.
• An example of listening from the perspective of a 911 operator. Transactional listening and recognizing oneself as a listener.
• The importance of coming up with a language around listening.

Links and Resources:

• Dogpatch Films
• @Weeksonian on Twitter

Quotes:

“There are threads and connective tissue that pulls the conversation together beyond just data point.” Anthony Weeks

“The best compliment I get is when somebody says that I really captured what they were trying to say.” Anthony Weeks

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