A milestone in the visualization industry: for the first time, there is an internationally recognized certification for visual practitioners. This development marks an important step in the establishment of standards in a previously broad and often loosely defined professional field.
As CEO of VISUAL FACILITATORS and a pioneer in the visualization industry, it is a great pleasure for me to be part of this important milestone and to be able to announce that I am the first European Certified Master Visual Practitioner®.
But what does this certification mean and why is it needed? Why is it so important right now and how does it benefit our customers and the visualization industry? This article provides the answers.
Why Certification of Visual Practice is Useful and Necessary
Visual practice has gained an enormous importance in the recent years. Whether graphic recording, visual facilitation or strategy visuals – these methods are being used more and more widely in organizations. They are brought to life by those who use them and are getting better and better at visually facilitating workshops, meetings and processes: They document these meetings and processes and also ensure that the results stay present for all participants even post-event due to the brain-friendly and memorable format. And they act as catalysts – because, for example, points that can no longer be avoided are brought to the table and made visible.
The intent behind that is almost always evolution, impact and transformation: that something moves, improves, scales, opens up or changes.
However, any growth in a sector also presents challenges. What exactly do we mean by the above-mentioned terms “graphic recording”, “visual facilitation” or “strategy visuals”? And how do we ensure that our work meets the highest quality standards?
We at VISUAL FACILITATORS have been training and educating our team internally for several years now. We developed our own badges to show which team members had completed which of our trainings. As a proof of the aforementioned quality standard. But there was a need for something overarching, not an isolated solution from one company.
With the increasing prevalence, a variety of interpretations has emerged of what graphic recording, process images or visual facilitation are. These vary not only from region to region, but also from provider to provider. A few years ago, I took a close look at 450 German-language websites of graphic recording providers. I was amazed by the wealth of different, sometimes contradictory definitions of what this visualization method is.
As a result, potential customers are unsure what they can expect from a collaboration. Like many other industries where things are abstract, visual practice also faces the dilemma of clarifying terms and standardization.
However, this is not about limiting new development, creativity and innovation, but rather about creating a framework that ensures quality.
This is precisely where a certification comes in. It acts as a mark of quality and strengthens the professionalism of a constantly growing and developing industry.
The Certified Master Visual Practitioner® certification ensures
- the highest level of quality in the application of visualizing methods,
- an internationally recognized confirmation of pro skills,
- clear standards that define and strengthen our industry.
What is the Certified Master Visual Practitioner® Certification?
The certification was first introduced in 2024 by the International Forum for Visual Practitioners. Its aim is to create a solid foundation for the various roles in visual practice and to establish a globally recognized quality label for excellence.
The new IFVP Institute Visual Practitioner Competency Model™ forms the basis of this certification. This framework ensures that visual practitioners worldwide are assessed on the basis of clearly defined core competencies. It is based on decades of work and was developed in a collaborative, global process – by practitioners for practitioners.
This is amended by a “Visual Practitioner Code of Ethics”, which was also incorporated into the development of the certification and also falls within the core competencies.
The certification was developed over a total of eight years. This means that numerous perspectives and points of view were integrated, as the result should not be one-sided: process facilitators, visualizers, illustrators, etc. It is therefore entirely intentional that this is not a certification for graphic recording, for example. Rather, it is open to all, hence “Visual Practitioner”.
The Core Competencies of a Certified Master Visual Practitioner®
The competencies include:
1. Self-leadership and emotional intelligence
- Self-Awareness: Is conscious of own strengths and weaknesses, of own presence and impact, and is able to refer to previous experiences.
- Maintaining presence: Possesses the ability to focus on the moment to stay present.
- Self-management: Controls own reactions, avoids biased perspectives and manages own energy and personal needs.
- Cultural competence: Respects and appreciates different cultures and belief systems and interacts with them in appreciative ways.
- Unbiased listening: Actively listens and captures expressions without altering their content or ideas.
2. Expertise and professionalism
- Business expertise: Has industry-specific knowledge to support processes and add value.
- Professionalism: Embodies a professional attitude and demeanor.
- Adaptive Anticipation: Looks ahead and adapts to client needs.
- Professional growth: Continually builds expertise to develop long-term.
3. Visualization skills
- Legibility: Writes clearly and legibly.
- Drawing skills: Creates recognizable objects and figures.
- Preparation: Knows the range of tools and materials needed for each type of assignment.
- Group-oriented comprehension: Knows how to allocate time and space according to the content, agenda and needs of the group.
4. Facilitator skills:
- Adaptive behavior: Anticipates and adapts flexibly during recoding and facilitating.
- Categorization: Captures content through listening and structuring.
- Active listening: Distinguishes levels of listening to capture crucial information about group, process and issues.
- Page layout: Understands page layout from free-form to more structured formats.
- Information design: organizes content in a clear sequence and in a way that allows meaningful navigation through the content and agenda.
- Hierarchy: Recognizes and organizes content according to its importance.
- Pattern recognition: Identifies relationships and patterns within information.
- Visual Communication: Uses graphic elements and colors as unifying and organizing elements.
- Documentation skills: Knows how to use formats, templates and metaphors to present topics.
- Group dynamics: Understands group processes aimed at shared understanding and navigates flexibly when necessary to achieve the goal.
This competence profile creates a solid basis for professional and effective work as a Visual Practitioner and promotes excellent results.
Want to work with trained and certified visualizers? Talk to us about your challenges, goals and visual solutions in a free call:
The Path to Certification
Anyone with the corresponding visualization experience can apply for the certification process. The comprehensive certification process consists of five steps:
- Expression of interest – explaining why you want to be certified.
- Submit a qualifying application – documentation of previous work and experience.
- Go through assessment 1 – Submission of videos and documentation to assess practical skills.
- Go through assessment 2 – An oral examination with international experts, reflecting on your own career and focusing on self-assessment of the required skills.
- Receive results and feedback – Communication of the certification result with advice on further development if necessary.
Each of these steps ensures that the certified Visual Practitioners demonstrate not only theoretical knowledge but also practical expertise.
Background to the Certified Master Visual Practitioner® Certification
Consideration of guidelines for practitioners began back in 1995, but only became a reality many years later. Our professional field is complex, dynamic and constantly changing. Developing a clear competency model that captures the essence of what we do required enormous effort and the collaboration of leading minds worldwide.
In 2017, these efforts were resumed with renewed vigor. With the necessary drive and support from professionals from a wide range of disciplines, a global exchange was formed. At the IFVP Summit 2019, a team was formed to develop the comprehensive Visual Practitioner Competency Model™, incorporating a wide range of perspectives and the Eichinger and Lombardo method. This process, accompanied by feedback loops and the expertise of renowned visualizers such as David Sibbet and Kelvy Bird, led to precisely formulated core competencies in 2024, which form the basis for international certification.
The IFVP Institute took on the responsibility of operationalizing these competencies and implementing certification. With the introduction of the “Certified Master Visual Practitioner®”, a comprehensive assessment process was established that gives participants worldwide the opportunity to demonstrate expertise to high standards. The certification process not only tests professional skills, but also ensures the highest quality and integrative performance.
Why I got certified – and why it's important
When I look back on my professional career, quality has always been my top priority. Since founding VISUAL FACILITATORS in 2005, I have led a great 35+ team that operates internationally in several markets. Certification was a logical next step for me – not only to reflect my own skills, but also to set an example for the profession as a whole. I am proud to be the first European graduate to have passed the Certified Master Visual Practitioner® certification. For me, this certification has several personal as well as professional dimensions:
My objectives:
Promote standardization – I stand for clear and uniform standards that strengthen our work in a global context.
Ensuring quality – Our work is way more than just “pretty drawings”. It’s about sustainable, transformative benefits for our clients.
Taking responsibility – As a pioneer in the industry, I am committed to paving the way for others and creating a foundation for long-term success.
Maximum customer benefit – Our promise to customers (expertise, quality and maximum transformative impact) is reaffirmed with this certification.
A Clarion Call to Colleagues
So far (as of February 2025), six Visual Practitioners are certified worldwide. There is still room for improvement! I would like to motivate all my colleagues and interested parties who are also aiming for certification: it’s worth it.
I invite all visualizers who are at a good level to also take this step. Certification is a great opportunity to reflect on your own visualization practice, boost your own professionalism and guarantee clients an additional level of quality. It is more than just a title – it is a commitment to responsibility, quality and further development.
Advantages for our Clients – Your Benefit
The new certification offers advantages not only to us, the visual practitioners, but especially to our clients. It provides:
- Clarity: Customers know exactly what expertise they can expect.
- Professionalism: An internationally recognized certificate creates trust.
- Development: Not just for us as experts – but for the entire industry.
- Quality partners: In some industries and markets, customers are only allowed to hire certified professionals for regulatory reasons.
A certified visual practitioner not only means high-quality visual results for our customers. It also means that the visual practitioner has a high level of process awareness, which leads to strategically valuable contributions. The goal is never a pretty picture, but always impact and transformation.
Final Thoughts
The introduction of the Certified Master Visual Practitioner® certification is a major step for our profession – a step towards greater clarity, quality and global recognition. With this development, we are not only emphasizing the value of our work, but also laying the foundation for future generations of Visual Practitioners.
If you would like to find out more about this certification or start the path to certification yourself, visit the IFVP Institute website.
- Dear Visual Practitioners, let’s raise the standard of visual practice together and give our profession the recognition it deserves!
- Dear clients, from now on look out for the certification seal of approval to be sure that you are receiving excellence and therefore maximum value!
Here’s to a successful future of visual practice – for impact and transformation,
Mathias Weitbrecht
CEO VISUAL FACILITATORS
Certified Master Visual Practitioner®
