The Blog

Sixty five percent of the population consists of visual learners, so why are you still giving lectures in front of a blank screen? I’m not advocating that you run out and start hammering out graphs for every meeting you’re involved in, but think about it, when you walk in to a room and there is a speaker present in front of a screen what’s the first thing you look at? I’m willing to bet the first thing you look at is whatever image or graph is behind the speaker. Use this to your advantage. Next time you want to speak in front of a crowd or assign work to your team do so in front of (or next to) supplementary materials.

I’m a big fan of dry erase boards because they’re interactive and encourage those who are meeting with you to participate. Walking in to a room with a bunch of powerpoint slides conveys the message that you are already decided what is right and that there is little room for collaboration. You’re giving someone a presentation with those slides instead of asking for people to share their ideas. Besides even if you do wish to collaborate off of slides someone has to take notes, then type them up, then distribute. Using a dry erase board let’s people know that you want their feedback, and that no matter how right you think you are you’re still willing to listen to others. Also, when using a board do not have it completely filled out before the meeting starts. Even if you know ever last word you want to write on that board still break it into chunks. Bring in a printout of all of the topics you want to discuss as a guide.