The feedback below provides an insight into the support and success that has been achieved with the use of Footnotes. These testimonies given are from parents, teachers, businesses and organisations. You can find more specific accounts under each of the ‘Who It’s For’ categories. If you have your own feedback that you would like to pass on to us for this page then please do make contact here.
“I gave my essay to M to have a read of – this essay being the first I’ve done where I planned it in pictures entirely – no words, and the first thing he said after reading it was “wow”. He said that “it’s refreshing to read something interesting and engaging on a Friday afternoon. Thought u would like to hear that since, well I couldn’t have done it without u.”
“I don’t think I thanked you properly for all your work with Richard. I was really thrilled by what was achieved on Thursday, and we are so positive about the future…If I was religious I would say you are the answer to my prayers but as I’m not, I just consider myself so lucky to have found you!”
“I was in one of your lectures today, being totally sceptical and expecting to be bored out of my mind. All I can say is it was the most interesting and incredible lecture I’ve ever been to and the only time I’ve ever listened to what’s going on without having to try really really hard. All through school I had people thinking I wasn’t trying hard enough and having a go at me for drawing in lectures and classes. Now I know why I was doing it and that it’s a good thing too. I wanted to tell you how much what you said means to me, and how much I admire what you are doing.”
“I am the CFO for a London based management consultancy and have been actively using the grid for over four years. The grid helps me sort my thoughts quickly. Examples of where I apply the grid include, solving a complex business problem, preparing a speech and taking notes. The benefit of the grid is not only the freedom of using a visual approach but also a neat way of coping with multi-layered thinking. My life has not been the same since being exposed to footnotes and Oliver.”
“The distraction grid is here to stay for as long as Mosh needs it. He needs prompting to use it but it really does help. It also means that I don’t get distracted by his distractions so we both benefit! We have tried the spelling grid with his word building lessons and although he grumbled about the extra time it all took, I can see that this will be an effective strategy to include within that subject.”
“Always we saw fighting, war, explosion, especially in Middle East. Country fighting with other country, attacking, you know, bombing. Killing. We always thinking about the quiet life… From when I was child I was thinking about quiet place…I used [Footnotes], I translated in my mind and in my heart and in my feeling to drawing. I not draw normally but I try to do something… This is a very new thing for me. It’s the first time I’ve translated sentences to pictures… I translated what’s in my mind and in my heart and in my feelings to drawing… I think it’s a good, amazing thing, that makes you understand yourself better.”
“He has been recording the information from each page of his book on the life of George Mueller on a grid. 150 pictures in total, He was feeling really despondent and out of his depth before he started. He’s halfway through it in only an hour and feeling jubilant and confident about his abilities.”
“Just wanted to say thanks again so much for the seminar last week. It was really inspiring and gave me hope. It seemed that you really understood my situation and what you said made a lot of sense.”
“Yesterday was an eye-opener into the lives of children who are struggling. We don’t give them tools to better themselves. They must follow our guidelines – but they need special guidelines that we often don’t give them. I’m just sorry that this has come so late for some!”
“I am a primary school teacher and have continually searched for ways to help those children who struggle with basic reading and writing skills, particularly when it is clear to me that so many have so much more potential than they are able to realize in a standard classroom setting. Your book was like a ray of light, focusing as it does as on our linear approach to teaching being an obstacle rather than an aid to many children’s learning.”
“Quite an eye-opener! I really enjoyed the workshop. Will definitely implement it in my school.”
“Just to let you know that one of my pupils has taken to your footnotes like a duck to water!! He was worried as he’d heard that his history group were going to have to write up what they knew about ‘1066 and all that’. In his case he knew a tremendous amount, down to who had bows and arrows and who had swords and who had the advantage of being higher up and so on. So all this information poured out of him, verbally of course, then I folded the paper and he just drew it all, filling every square and laughing as he did it. He is now writing it up, one or two squares at a time. So, a very big thank you for the excellent idea and the inspiring Saturday morning you spent with us in Exeter, it’s making such a difference already.”
“I think this method will help us a lot. The creative aspects that are attached to it seriously gives hope to complement the writing and teaching ability of the learners.”
“Shed some tears of empathy and connection, when reading your book. You have really inspired me to believe that by acknowledging and tapping into my different learning style, I can achieve at University level, although some of my prof’s are doubtful…….which just makes me even more determined.”
“Thanks 4 visiting! Since I learned of the grid, I’ve done more on my PhD in a week than in 3 years previously!”
Footnotes is a wonderful system with multiple applications for students of all ages and learning styles. I have found that, since switching to this system, I am able to plough through a large amount of reading in a short space of time and summarise it in a user-friendly, all-in-one-glance format – often summarising up 30 pages in one grid. I find that it helps me to zoom in on what’s important while reading and to organise my very crowded thinking, while making connections with previous thoughts and ideas. This has been invaluable for me as a working PhD student with too much to do and too little time.
The flexibility of this system is also quite liberating, in that I can choose the form my notes will take. Although it was originally conceived for visual thinkers, I was able to adapt my own very traditionally linear and verbal style to the grid and create a system that combines the best of both for me. I find myself reaching for the grid when I study, when I plan a new project and when I simply need to unclutter my mind!
“Picture This” A film made by Dan Evans and Richard Blake:
If that got you interested, why not watch the full 9 minute story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7kb_1BO6t0
If you have used or have helped someone else with Footnotes techniques and want to share your experience then please get in touch through the button below. Thank You!