695: Tanmay Vora on The Art of Sketchnoting

Sep 14, 2025

Tanmay Vora, visual thinker and founder of QS Fire Consulting who illustrates bestselling books, talks about sketchnoting and visual storytelling. He explores skillstacking and how visuals aid leadership, change work, and midlife meaning. Short, vivid stories show identities, competing priorities, and how sketching sharpens facilitation and communication.

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ANECDOTE

From Corporate Quality To Visual Storytelling

Tanmay Vora moved from a corporate career in software quality to visual storytelling after discovering sketchnotes in 2015.
He combined an early architecture drawing interest with sketchnotes to build QS Fire Consulting and new offerings.

ADVICE

Focus, Share, And Iterate To Gain Traction

Choose a clear lens for your new skill and create content focused on that niche to attract the right audience.
Share generously and iterate continuously to grow visibility and improve craft.

INSIGHT

Midlife As An Uphill Climb

Midlife feels like an uphill climb carrying multiple roles with time as the scarcest resource.
Visuals like a sweating climber with an hourglass capture urgency and role-weight in midlife.

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GUEST:

Tanmay unpacks the idea of 'skillstacking' - the art of strategically combining our skills to shape the playground we operate in. He specifically discusses about how sketchnoting adds to his flywheel in terms of how he adds value in his work.

The Book: Play to Potential - Lead a full life, become the best you (Published by Penguin RandomHouse) is now available to order (1-30 copies) on Amazon - https://qr1.be/29Z6

Published on August 2025.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Play to Potential offers a refreshing exploration of human potential, emphasizing discovery through play rather than work. Deepak Jayaraman weaves insights from his eponymous podcast, his coaching work and his lived experience to share a powerful yet simple framework (FLAVOUR) that can act as a guide to navigate the pulls and pressures of life.

This book is a guide to living a fulfilled life, integrating family, aspirations, value creation, and deep relationships. It transcends traditional career advice, providing actionable insights for personal growth and fulfillment.

While there are many books that act as a North Star for people to navigate their journey, this book strives to be a torch light that can show people the way through the imperfections and the messiness to lead a full life and unlock their human potential.

HOST

Deepak Jayaraman's mission is to help individuals with a growth mindset play to their full potential. He works as a coach and a sounding board to growth-minded leaders on multi-year journeys as a trusted confidant and counsel. He does that by immersing himself in the full context of their lives - professional and personal. Deepak has been curating the Play to Potential Podcast since 2016, where he has distilled the wisdom of 100+ distinguished guests across disciplines (business, academics, sports, art, politics and more). Prior to setting up his independent practice in 2016, Deepak has worked across US, UK and India with KPMG Consulting, McKinsey & Co and EgonZehnder. Deepak is an alumnus of IIT Madras, IIM Ahmedabad and London Business School (MBA) and is a certified CEO Coach.

DISCLAIMER

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