We all need a rethink once in a while, so why not start today?
rethink the podcast is your guide to smarter work, clearer conversations and better problem-solving, powered by visual strategies that work.
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Overwhelmed by complexity?
Struggling to make ideas stick or get your voice heard?
Take a listen to one of the previous episodes to hear (and see) how visual thinking can help you.
Ep42: Rethinking the Feedback Loop
Rethinking the Feedback Loop: How to See the Room You Can’t See. Visual Thinking for Remote Teaching & Facilitation
Discover why presenting online to an in-person audience feels so challenging and how to rebuild connection using visual strategies. In this episode, Nicki Hambleton explores feedback loops, reading a room you can’t see, and practical techniques for remote teaching, hybrid facilitation, and online workshops. Learn how roles, sketch-stops, warm-up drawing games, and visual debriefs help you recreate engagement when working remotely.
Perfect for teachers, leaders, trainers, and anyone who wants to sharpen their visual communication and facilitation skills.
Ep39: Curiosity, simplicity and a swan on a lilo.
Nicki Hambleton and Dave Hill explore simplicity, curiosity, and the power of presence in this inspiring episode of Rethink: The Podcast.
Ep38 When the Octopus meets the Eagle
A reflective episode from Rethink: The Podcast exploring what happens when creativity meets clarity. Nicki Hambleton shares a story about the octopus and the eagle, a metaphor for balancing ideas and focus and celebrating the brilliance of diverse thinkers.
Ep37: Deep Thinking
“The enemy of brilliant is good enough. People settle — and that’s where creativity dies.” — Felix Riley
In this episode of Rethink: The Podcast, Nicki Hambleton and Felix Riley dive into the difference between fast thinking and deep thinking, exploring why most brainstorms never go far enough to uncover real brilliance.
Ep36 Rethinking how we remember people
Nicki Hambleton explores how visual thinking helps us remember people: not just their names, but who they are. Inspired by the Top Trumps cards, she shows how story, sketching, and observation can turn memory into genuine human connection.
She talks through how this has helped her to remember the new connections she has made recently for her podcast, Rethink.
Ep.35: Rethink how you explain your work
In this episode of Rethink: the Podcast, Nicki Hambleton introduces her ‘octopus of visual thinking’, a metaphor for the many ways she helps people and teams. From workshops and team coaching to study mentoring, art tuition, portfolio guidance, and sketchnoting, each tentacle solves a problem, all connected by the core of visual thinking.
Ep34: What Leaders can Learn from Teachers
In this episode of Rethink: The Podcast, Nicki Hambleton reveals what leaders can learn from teachers. Discover how simple classroom strategies, like starting with a hook, encouraging participation, scaffolding tasks, using feedback loops and making ideas visual, can transform meetings from boring to brilliant.
Ep.32 Inside-Outside
Discover the Inside–Outside strategy: a simple visual tool to make the invisible visible, improve communication and build deeper collaboration.
Ep.31 Authenticity and AI
Nicki reflects on authenticity in the age of AI in this raw, unscripted episode. From hand-drawn visuals to voice and authorship, she explores what it means to stay true to yourself when technology can speak, draw, and even think for you.
Ep.30 Rewind & Recap
In this recap episode of Rethink: the podcast, host Nicki Hambleton reflects on 30 episodes and seven months of recording. She highlights four major themes: learning & memory, visual frameworks, big picture creativity, and inclusion & authenticity, while sharing key insights and thanking guests Nici, Paul Vincent, and Brendon O’Brien. The episode looks back at lessons learned and ahead to future topics, including authenticity and new guest conversations.
Ep.29: Constellation Mapping
Episode 29 of rethink the podcast.
Constellation Mapping: a visual collaboration method that turns scattered ideas into clear, connected patterns. Learn how to find your North Star, cluster thoughts, and navigate forward using the KJ Method in this 5-step process for teams, classrooms, and creative projects.
Ep.28: The Bridge
In this episode of rethink: the podcast, Nicki Hambleton introduces 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 route and take your next small step.
Ep.27 Peel the Onion
In this episode of Rethink: The Podcast, we’re digging beneath the surface. Nicki Hambleton explores the power of the onion metaphor to unpack complexity and reveal what’s really going on.
Ep.26: Rethink Thinking with AI
🎙️ Rethinking Thinking with AI, with Nici Foote, founder of Unbarrier Me
In this episode, Nicki Hambleton is joined by Nici Foote, an educator and founder of Unbarrier Me, to explore how AI tools like ChatGPT and Procreate are reshaping creative workflows. Discover how they use AI to support inclusive education, visual storytelling, and neurodivergent-friendly design, turning inspiration into action.
Ep. 25 The Conversation Catcher
Ep 25: Framing the Conversation. How a Folded Paper Game Can Guide Deeper Thinking
What do you do when a conversation feels like too much? In this episode, I share the moment that led to creating MapChat, a visual way to map conversations as they unfold. Then I introduce the Conversation Catcher, a simple, playful tool for opening up reflective conversations when mapping isn’t practical. Whether you're coaching, checking in, or just trying to get unstuck, this tool can help bring clarity, one flap at a time.
Includes a free downloadable template to try yourself.
Ep.24: Making the invisible visible with Visual Frameworks
Some problems are just too big to hold in your head and when you try to talk your way through them, it only makes it worse.
That’s where visual frameworks come in.
Not to fix everything, but to give your thinking some scaffolding.
Visual frameworks help organise messy thinking and solve complex problems. Learn 5 simple steps to map out your thoughts and make the invisible visible in this week’s episode of RETHINK.
Ep.23: The Switch.
The Switch: Becoming Visible Again is a personal and practical episode for anyone who’s felt overlooked, misunderstood, or unsure how to explain what they do. Host Nicki Hambleton reflects on her experience at the Jigsaw24 Education Summit and how one simple conversation reignited her sense of value and voice.
This episode explores:
What it feels like to be on the edge of your field
Why confidence and clarity often matter more than shouting louder
The moment a “visibility switch” flipped
How to reconnect with your people and show your work more powerfully
Includes a practical listener prompt and a visual metaphor you won’t forget.
Perfect for creatives, educators, consultants, and anyone reinventing how they show up in the world.
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