The visual guide and the sweep patterns

Why use a guide

Children are taught not to follow the line with a finger. That is a teaching mistake: the eye naturally tracks a moving object, which is smooth pursuit, and it does that better than it moves deliberately across empty space.

A guide produces three measurable effects.

1. It imposes a rhythm: you can no longer slow down without deciding to.
2. It prevents regressions: the guide does not go backwards.
3. It holds attention: movement captures the gaze, and the mind wanders less.

Typical immediate gain, with no other change: fifteen to thirty per cent.

The right gesture

• Use your index finger or a closed pen. A pen is more precise and more discreet in public.