Practicing Whiteboarding
Why is Practice important? To be a more effective presenter, you need to practice the skill of taking concepts and translating them to the whiteboard. This increases audience retention. Think about icons and not words. People process images and icons 60,000 x faster than words, so simple images make an impact.
How do you create and translate concepts onto a whiteboard? Take something you discuss regularly with your clients and re-imagine how you translate the words or slides into something you can make interactive and visual through images and icons. Once you’ve put your “story” together, then it’s time to practice and get feedback. Your first attempt at telling a visual story will change with more feedback you receive and the more you practice. Regular practice helps you:
- Improve your ability to translate your message – You don’t get whiteboards from the company; you get slides, training, and marketing content. You need to translate the messages you use most often.
- When you can create a story on a whiteboard, storytelling becomes more effective
- Practice gives you confidence in your knowledge of the material
Now, you’re going to get an opportunity to practice. Before we do that, let’s look at an example.
Do you remember the United Parcel Service (UPS) whiteboard commercials from several years back? They were so successful that they materially impacted sales. They took some complex processes and made them easy and fun. Let’s take a look. I want you to run the video twice. 1.) The 1st time, just listen to the message. 2.) The 2nd time, I want you to jot down 3 things he did well at the whiteboard, and 2 things he could improve.
What stood out for you? What did you think was effective? What are three things he did well? What are 2 things he could do to improve his delivery?
What he did well:
1.
2.
3.
What he could improve:
1.
2.
Do you think the UPS guy’s message delivery would have been equally engaging if he simply explained the process verbally? Could you have comprehended the significance of “Delivery Intercept” without a visual representation? In this case, the whiteboard presentation simplified a complex process into easily understandable elements, providing a high-level overview of how it functions.
When creating a whiteboard presentation, it’s essential to identify which parts of your story can benefit from visualization, similar to the Storyboard technique we discussed in the Selling Stories course. Determine what you’ll draw and what your talk track is to accompany it. It’s worth noting that you don’t need to be exceptionally creative or skilled at drawing. Keeping your whiteboard simple is always preferred. A useful tip is to search google for icons or images related to the elements you want to draw. For instance, if you want to draw a light bulb, a Google Images search for “Light Bulb Icon” will provide numerous straightforward examples that anyone can replicate. Below, you’ll find a few basic icons that might inspire your work in the upcoming exercise.
