reThink: How you think, work and thrive

What if your slides weren’t there to impress but to support you? In this episode of Rethink , Nicki Hambleton talks with Nici Foote about designing slides as visual cues rather than content. Drawing on a real presentation created for BETT, they explore how intentional design can support memory, pace, and confidence, reducing cognitive load for the speaker and creating a greater sense of belonging....

Slides as Mirrors to what you Hear Design choices that make ideas stick We often think slides are there to hold content . But what if their real role is to support memory and meaning instead? In this short solo episode, Nicki Hambleton reflects on a recent experience helping a neurodivergent speaker prepare slides for a high-pressure presentation. The challenge wasn’t the thinking or the script, i...

Episode 50: Thinking Becomes Stronger When It’s Shared with special guest Tricia Friedman Episode 50 of Rethink: The Podcast offers a moment to pause and reflect, not on numbers or milestones, but on how the podcast, and the thinking behind it, has evolved over the past year. In this reflective conversation, Nicki Hambleton is joined by Tricia Friedman to explore a simple but powerful idea: Thinki...

Episode 49: Are You Sitting Comfortably? Let Me Begin. Story, Rehearsal and Authentic Communication with James Healy In this episode of r eThink , Nicki Hambleton is joined by communication specialist James Healy for a thoughtful conversation about story, presence, and what it really means to rehearse. James shares his journey from classical drama training to working with leaders, law firms and or...

From Visuals to Voice: A Year of Rethinking Out Loud As the year comes to a close, this episode of Rethink: The Podcast is a moment to pause and reflect. Rather than introducing a new visual tool or hosting a guest conversation, Nicki steps back to join the dots between the ideas, conversations and moments that have shaped the podcast over the past year. From revisiting her 2014 Learning2 talk on...

Rethinking Journalling: Calm, Creativity, and the Power of Visual Reflection In this episode of r eThink , Nicki Hambleton is joined by educator, coach, and podcast host Kim Cofino for a reflective conversation about journalling, not as a writing habit, but as a visual, calming practice. Kim shares how journalling supported her through a demanding year, helping her slow down, process experiences a...

What Happens When You Stop Typing and Start Seeing Your Notes? An Introduction to Sketchnoting Most of us type far more notes than we ever return to. We capture everything, but remember very little. So what actually changes when we stop writing pages of text and start seeing our notes instead? In this episode, I share how sketchnoting transformed the way I process information over ten years ago, b...

In this episode, Nicki is joined by creative facilitator and multipotentialite Angel Takooree for an insightful conversation about what truly makes a workshop engaging, human, and meaningful. Angel shares how her squiggly career, spanning food innovation, interior design, service design, LEGO® Serious Play®, and visual thinking, has shaped her approach to facilitation. She talks about designing wo...

Episode 44: Rethinking Journalling. One Day. One Drawing. In this reflective episode of Rethink: The Podcast , Nicki Hambleton explores why traditional journalling is so hard to sustain and how a simple daily drawing ritual can turn reflection into something calming, consistent, and deeply grounding. Nicki shares her own struggle with keeping a diary, yet drawing, especially ten minutes a day, bec...

Episode 43: Look Again! How Community Helps Us Feel Seen In this reThink episode, Nicki is joined by educator, facilitator and community-builder Maxine Buttigieg , founder of Mira: Where Teachers Connect . Together, they explore what it means to look again; to slow down, notice what’s often overlooked and understand why feeling seen is essential to well-being. Maxine shares the story behind Mira,...

Rethinking the Feedback Loop: How to read the room you can’t see What happens when you present online, but your audience is all together in a room you can’t see? In this episode, Nicki shares the story of presenting a visual-thinking workshop to a group of art teachers in Singapore. The content focused on a challenge dear to her heart, the teachers were engaged, but one thing was missing: the feed...

Episode 41: Stop the Scroll with Stand Out Designs (with Nadia Fernández) How do you make people stop scrolling and pay attention ? In this episode, Nicki Hambleton talks with designer Nadia Fernández , whose cinematic, story-driven carousels have become instantly recognisable on LinkedIn. They explore what it means to design with identity, not just style, and how breaking the rules can help your...

See the Challenge, Strengthen the Team Every team has its wobbly blocks, those small things that quietly hold everything together until they’re overlooked, pushed aside, or forgotten. In this episode of Rethink: The Podcast , Nicki Hambleton explores what really makes teams wobble and how simple visual strategies can bring them back into balance. Drawing from conversations with leaders, educators,...

The swan, the lift and the blue phone: finding calm, clarity and connection.  What if your greatest strength wasn’t doing more, but simply being there ? In this powerful and heartfelt episode, Nicki Hambleton talks with leadership and wellbeing coach and veteran Dave Hill , whose message is simple yet profound: helping people realise they are designed to thrive in any situation . From his time in...

When the Octopus Meets the Eagle – Where Creativity Meets Clarity Two very different creatures: one that thrives in the depths, the other high above it all. The octopus explores through curiosity and creativity; the eagle soars with vision and focus. But what happens when they meet at the surface? In this short story from Rethink: The Podcast , Nicki Hambleton explores how creativity and clarity n...

Episode 37: Deep Thinking, because good enough isn't good enough. The enemy of creativity is "good enough". In this engaging conversation, Nicki Hambleton and guest Felix Riley explore the themes of creativity, education and the importance of visual thinking.  They discuss how brainstorming can unlock innovative ideas and the systemic issues within the education system that stifle c...

🎙 Episode Title: Rethinking How We Remember People Have you ever met someone and instantly forgotten their name, even though you remember what they were wearing?  Or struggled to recall details about someone you actually care about?  In this episode of Rethink: The Podcast , Nicki Hambleton explores how visual thinking can become your secret superpower for remembering people, not just their names,...

Episode 35: Rethink the way you explain your work Explaining what you do isn’t always easy, especially when, like Nicki, your work reaches into many areas at once.  In this episode of Rethink: the Podcast , Nicki shares the story of how the “octopus” metaphor first came to life when she was teaching in Singapore, wishing she could help every student at the same time. From workshops and team coachi...

Episode 34: What Leaders can Learn from Teachers In this episode of Rethink: The Podcast , Nicki Hambleton explores what leaders can learn from teachers. Drawing on her own experiences in the classroom, including a tough period working with disengaged students, Nicki reflects on the parallels between classrooms and boardrooms and why disengagement looks different, but feels the same, in both. Nick...

Episode 33: Shining the light on how visuals support executive function In this episode of Rethink: The Podcast , Nicki Hambleton speaks with executive function coach Suzanne Kamal , who specialises in helping children and families build routines, strategies, and systems that support learning and everyday life. Together, they explore how visual thinking can be a game changer for learners who are n...

 Episode 32: Inside–Outside In this episode of Rethink: the Podcast , Nicki Hambleton explores the Inside–Outside strategy: a simple yet powerful visual tool to help us see beyond the surface. We all project something on the outside through our actions, body language, and behaviours, but inside we carry thoughts, feelings, and hidden strengths that others don’t always see.  This episode guides you...

Episode 31: Authenticity in the Age of AI In this unscripted and personal episode, Nicki Hambleton pauses the regular format to reflect on what it means to stay authentic in an increasingly AI-shaped world. Recorded straight from her lounge with no script, no polish, Nicki explores the quiet tension between using AI to support her creative work and the risk of losing her own voice in the process....

Episode 30: Rewind & Recap – 7 Months of Visual Thinking In this episode of Rethink: the podcast , host Nicki Hambleton reflects on the first 30 episodes and seven months of recording since launching in January 2025. The episode highlights the major themes that have emerged, the problems they help to solve, and the insights that visual thinking continues to unlock. Nicki revisits four central...

Episode 29: Constellation Mapping – Connecting Ideas into Shared Direction When ideas are flying in all directions, it can feel like looking at a night sky full of stars, beautiful but scattered.  In this episode, I introduce Constellation Mapping , a visual strategy for gathering, clustering and connecting ideas so your team, class, or group can see patterns, choose a guiding “North Star,” and mo...

Episode 28: The Bridge – Turning Insight into Action You’ve done the deep thinking. You’ve uncovered what’s really going on. But now what? In this episode, I introduce the Bridge Framework:  a visual strategy to help you move from insight to action. Whether you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or standing at the edge of something new, this simple tool will help you break things down, find your footi...