Host a Vision Board Party for Your Planning Meeting, Team-Building Activity or Friend Gathering
By Chris Olsen
Vision boarding is a great hands-on activity for various meetings and groups—a strategic planning meeting with coworkers, a team-building activity with employees, a gathering with friends to celebrate an upcoming event. It combines the art of collage with the practice of visualization. Creating a unique work of art with words and images that are meaningful to the maker, and represent what they want to accomplish, can be a powerful tool for manifesting goals.
If you’re in Minnesota (in the Twin Cities Metro Area), Publish Her can lead a workshop for your group at the location of your choosing (visit the Vision Board Workshop page for details). Alternately, it’s fun and easy to host a vision board party on your own.
Determine the Timing
Start by selecting a date and time for your event. Publish Her vision board workshops typically take two hours, so we recommend starting there. If you are hosting a larger group or want to spend more time on goals, you could make a half-day of it.
Choose Your Location
Consider the space required when selecting a location. Each participant will need a flat and durable work surface with enough room for supplies and to construct their vision board. We hosted members of The Business Women’s Circle, an organization that supports women in achieving their professional goals at The Divine Group’s photography studio, a rental space for brand photo shoots. Several people worked at the dining table, some worked at the living room coffee table and others worked at the kitchen table. If you have a larger group, consider a location with a large conference table or multiple worktables.
Gather Your Supplies
Collect the supplies you’ll need prior to your event. Our group created their works of art using the “Publish Her Vision Board Book,” which features more than 500 words and images and was designed to be cut apart to create a custom vision board. You could also use magazines. Each participant will need a scissors and/or exacto knife, plus foam core, tagboard, cardboard or heavy paper for the board, as well as glue or tape to fasten the media to it.
Host Your Party
As you get started, engage your creative side and be playful. Don’t overthink the process. You could simply flip through the book, cut out the images you love, and create a collage. For a more structured activity, use this process for creating your vision board:
Identify Your Goals
Our group worked on goal planning prior to the workshop. If your group does not already have goals in mind, take some time to clarify what’s important to you. What are your specific goals for the next several months or year? It may be helpful to narrow it down to a couple of goals for your vision board. You could also focus on one larger goal and the benchmarks for reaching it.
Look for Themes
Are your goals personal or professional or both? Consider how they connect and make a list of specific words and images that represent your intentions, goals and benchmarks. Focus on those that give you the most energy.
Select Elements That Fit the Themes
Flip through the pages of the “Publish Her Vision Board Book” or magazines for images and words that align with your vision and get to work slicing and dicing the elements that will adorn your board.
Lay Out Your Board
First do a dry layout of all your media on the board. When it looks right, start gluing or taping everything in place. Continue layering items until it feels complete.
Display It for Yourself
Once you’ve finished your board, be sure to post it somewhere you will see it often. Remember, it is intended to be a visual representation of your goals that you can look at every day.
Share It With Others
Displaying your vision board so friends and family can see it can be a great way to hold yourself accountable. It may also inspire others to create a vision board to manifest their goals.
For details about having Publish Her lead a workshop for your group, visit the Vision Board Workshop page.
Photos: Angela Divine Photography
About the Author
Chris Olsen is a book designer, publisher, educator and the author of “Whyography: Building a Brand Fueled by Purpose.” The founder of Publish Her and Publish Her Story, Chris has helped thousands of women tell their stories and publish their books.
About Publish Her
Publish Her is a female-founded publisher dedicated to educating authors and elevating the words, writing and stories of women. We are passionate about amplifying the voices of women of color, women with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We aim to make publishing an attainable, exciting and collaborative process for all.