Yesterday, I joined a call with Dan Roam, Seth Godin, Anil Dash, and Rich Sloan hosted by Elizabeth Marshall at Author Teleseminars. Dan explained how simple it was to use a cocktail napkin and pen to communicate, solve problems and sell your ideas.
Immediately after the call, I threw out my inhibitions about drawing and went to work using Dan’s ideas and tools for an upcoming meeting. Within an hour, I created my first handwritten illustrations. 
Why wait until the day of the meeting to ‘try’ out this picture stuff? Time to practice now.
Here’s the hi-tech version of my experiment. You’ll want to keep reading to learn the genesys of this simple presentation, how I went from paper and pen to digital, and finally how to locate the resources so you can do it too.
This Business Situation Sparked My Interest in Using the Back of the Napkin methodology
Need more money to run your business?
Next week a group of 6 including two startup CEOs are meeting to figure how to raise additional funds for one of the companies. The company provides a product unlike any other on the market (at least as of this writing). So there are lots of various variables to consider.
Not all attendees have a background in fundraising. However, they are excited about the meeting and it’s important for everyone to contribute their ideas.
My objective was to communicate critical elements prior to the meeting so that we could:
- quickly get everyone on the same page about the nature of the problem,
- agree to what the future state is, and
- frame the discussion with the right strategic questions.
But First, Let Me Tell You about My Drawing Hangup
Coming from a Fortune 100 company, we spent plenty of time on Powerpoint. The usual stuff: charts, graphs, tons of bullets and sometimes gloom storylines. Some of this stuff is absolutely dry, especially when you read paragraphs on powerpoint (but I digress!).
I had yet to see a presentation with pictures from marketing, strategy, operations and customer service.
I remember vividly in grade school how I unconsciously decided to stop drawing.
You see, the best picture I could draw was a flower, a sampaquita to be specific (native to the Philippines). Then I was ridiculed when my classmates laughed at the horse that I drew. Perhaps a new species of animal? Here are examples that I quickly drew and captured with my cell phone camera.
As you can tell, the images aren’t as crisp due to the quality of my camera phone and the lighting in the cafe. But you get the point—see the visual.
Given this history, how was I to draw pictures that were ‘presentable’ to adults?
Introducing My 1st “Adult” Illustrations Using a Pen and 2 Sheets of College-rule Paper
Let’s get back to the business situation.
I was so inspired on the Dan Roam call that I downloaded the tools from his site, watched the four animated videos (had to learn this stuff).
Then within an hour, I created my first handwritten illustrations.
I figured, why wait until the day of the meeting to ‘try’ out this picture stuff. Time to practice now.
How did I start?
I took two pieces of college-ruled paper and folded them into 6 parts yielding 12 slides so to speak.
For each idea that I wanted to convey, I drew the simplest image possible (wasn’t too hard given my novice skill level plus I had Dan’s tools as a handy reference).
I have to warn you.
I had a lot of fun during this exercise.
I was laughing, smiling, tearing up sheets, angling my camera phone…the other people in the cafe looked at me a little strangely.
Here’s a snapshot of a couple of the images I drew.
So with my new found confidence I decided to take my learning and experiment to the next level. Given the quality of the images above, I wasn’ comfortable sending them as-is.
Preparing for a Business Brainstorming Session Using Pictures
I pursued the easiest next option for me: powerpoint.
Using only the “drawing” images toolbar on powerpoint while referencing my handwritten pictures, I created my presentation.
I sent it to the two CEOs for their agreement on strategic direction prior to sharing with the rest. I’ve removed any reference to the specific company and location of the meeting.
I purposely did not add audio so that I could gauge how effective my images were.
Based on the emails I received last night, my sideshow Making Cash Flow was a winner!
You Can Create Something Similar with the Right Resources…
According to Dan Roam if you can walk into a room and find a seat without falling, you’ve got the visual talent to create images yourself. All you need is a pen and a napkin. If you can draw simple shapes like a circle, rectangle, triangle, smiley face, arrows, then you have the talent. You just need the confidence and a little more guidance to make your first images effective.
By no means is the presentation above complex. There are more images and frameworks provided by Dan that I have yet to use. But as a novice, I’m proud of what I accomplished.
Resource #1:
Learn more about how you can solve problems and sell ideas with pictures.
1. Visit Dan Roam’s site at www.TheBackoftheNapkin.com
2. Purchase his book, The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
Resource #2:
Get your complimentary downloadable napkin tools so you can draw with confidence..
http://digitalroam.typepad.com/digital_roam/2008/07/napkin-tools-no.html
Bottomline? - A picture speaks louder than words. If you want to improve your communication, solve problems and sell your ideas, then consider drawing a picture. You’ll be amazed at the results.
