Whiteboards or flipcharts are more powerful than PowerPoint for a boardroom presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At her Maniactive blog on July 18, 2023 Laura Bergells has a post titled Ditch Your Slides! Draw on the Power of Whiteboard Talks. She describes the impact of a whiteboard talk (rather than the PowerPoint you might use in a larger room) these four ways:

 

Showcase your personality

Amplify engagement

Visual storytelling

Flexibility and adaptability

 

With a small audience you can do a more spontaneous and interactive presentation by drawing on a whiteboard or blackboard. But a flipchart is arguably better than either, since you can answer questions by going back to a previously drawn page.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no magic rewind button on a blackboard or whiteboard. One you erase, it is only a memory.  

 

Back on October 21, 2019 I blogged about the Impact of audience size on presentation style. And way back on January 16, 2008 at The Extreme Presentation Method Andrew Abela blogged about Ballroom vs. Conference Room Style Presentations. A large (ballroom) versus small (conference room or boardroom) is a useful distinction for venues.

 

On July 15, 2015 I blogged about Is a small audience one where the speaker doesn’t need a microphone? In that post I mentioned that:

 

“There are two types of people – those who divide things into two categories, and those who don’t.”

 

I belong to the second type, and mentioned different audience sizes classified by powers of 2 from zero (two people conversing, perhaps in a phone booth) to twenty (a visit from the Pope with an audience of 1,048,576).  

 

My two images were modified from those of a boardroom and a historical blackboard at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Planning a speech on a flipchart (or whiteboard) using sticky notes or note cards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My previous post on February 22, 2023 is titled Use a flipchart, a whiteboard, or a napkin to capture your ideas. What do you do next to shape your ideas into a coherent speech or document? Back on March 17, 2011 I blogged about how to Use a storyboard to organize your presentation. A storyboard is a shorthand visual script. If you have a flipchart or a whiteboard, then you can write each idea down on either a 3” x 3” sticky note or a 3” x 5” sticky note card (as shown above). Then you can easily move those notes around until they tell a clear story. There is an old but excellent article by Marie Wallace at LLRX back on November 1, 1997 titled Guide on the Side – The power of Post-Its: Picture your speech.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you can’t keep a flipchart or whiteboard free, then you instead can use the smaller 1-1/2” x 2” sticky notes inside of a file folder, as shown above (and in my 2011 post). Bert Decker and company have a tool and system based on this called the GRID (a trademark). It is discussed at length in his book You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard. They have a four-page .pdf download about it that mentions the acronym SHARP which stands for Stories, Humor, Analogies, References (and quotes), and Pictures (and visuals). They have a blog post on June 20, 2018 titled SHARPen Your Edge, and another single-page .pdf download titled Decker SHARPS - Your cheat sheet & guide.

 

Use a flipchart, a whiteboard, or a napkin to capture your ideas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I usually think of a flipchart as a tool for presenting a speech for a small group. But it also can help you think up new ideas, when you begin writing a speech.

 

I saw an article by Jeffrey Gitomer titled Sales Truths or Sales Consequences. They’re up to you! #656 which contained to following wisdom:

 

“FLIP CHART GOLD

 

I always use a flip chart when I have a new idea or start a new project.

 

The flip chart helps you define and outline ideas and concepts in ways you hadn’t thought of before. As you write each point, you’re spurred on to the next point – and you think ‘Oh, yeah’ while you write furiously. The flip chart is the perfect medium to make a concept transferable to the prospect.

 

NOTE: Flip charts are cheap. They cost between $50 and $200. Are you waiting for the boss to buy you one? Major clue: You have your own money. Start to invest it in the most important person in the world: you.

 

What’s one idea worth? What’s an idea that you capture worth? How many ideas have you lost because you didn’t write them down? The flip chart captures. The flip chart communicates, expands and solidifies plans. The flip chart preserves so you can see what you’ve done and revise your plans.

 

The flip chart is not an option."

 

That advice had appeared in the Grand Rapids Business Journal on November 15, 2004 in an article titled These Nuggets of Wisdom Smooth the Sales Process. You also might use a whiteboard, and then capture an image with the camera on your cell phone.

 

There is another article  titled Waiter, can I have a napkin please? There Jeffrey talks about reading Dan Roam’s 2013 book, The Back of the Napkin. That book is subtitled Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures. Jeffrey expanded it to be Capturing thoughts, creating ideas, clarifying ideas, solving problems, and selling ideas with pictures and words. Another June 2, 2008 article by Mr. Gitomer titled Napkin thinking. Paper power. says that he wrote the initial concept for his 2004 The Little Red Book of Selling down on a napkin, and then clarified it on a flipchart. See more about the back story here at Google Books.

 

I blogged about Mr. Gitomer back on May 14, 2012 in a post titled Who invented the flip chart? and also on October 21, 2013 in another post titled A thumb up for Jeffrey Gitomer.

 

The flipchart stand was adapted from Openclipart.

 

Is that a flipchart or a whiteboard?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decades ago it was easy to distinguish a flipchart from a whiteboard. A flipchart was a pad made from flexible sheets of paper that were written on using permanent markers. Conversely, a whiteboard was a rigid, shiny surface that was written on using dry-erase markers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today there is an overlap where there are special erasable flipchart sheets from suppliers in several countries. From Pacon in the U. S. there are 25” by 30” GOwrite dry erase easel pads. And from Wipebook Corporation in Ottawa, Canada there are 24” by 30” Wipebook flipcharts. Also, from Magic Whiteboard Limited in Worcester, England there are 60 cm by 80 cm (23.6” by 31.5”) Magic Whiteboard sheets. From the Netherlands there are MOYU Flipstone with 65 by 100 cm (25.6” by 39.4”) sheets and Bambook Flip-ever with 59.4 cm by 84 cm (25.4” by 33.1”) sheets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you do not have the lead time to order these special sheets, then you can make your own dry-erase sheets by putting strips of clear packaging tape over standard flipchart paper.

 

How long have erasable flipcharts been around? I found them described in a Training 101 article at the October 1993 issue of Training & Development magazine. A section by Shawn L. Doyle on page 18 titled Ten Tips for Fabulous Flips said under #2:

 

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could reuse the same charts over again? You can. Here are several options: 

If you have a limited number of charts, frame them in clear plastic frames and use a grease pencil to check off major points. After the session, you can wipe off the pencil marks with a soft cloth.

 

Cut long strips of acetate (transparency material) and glue or tape them to the flipchart pages in the areas you want to mark on. Again, use a grease pencil so that you can wipe off your in-class work. The acetate strips are not visible from a distance.

 

Take your flipchart pages to a laminating company and have them laminated. This creates a slick, erasable surface.”

 

A very worthwhile article on dealing with presentation distractions

At the PresentationTeam web site on May 27, 2019 Kevin Lerner published a long (~3500 word) but very worthwhile article titled Dealing with Distractions (subtitled presenting like a pro when the unexpected strikes). He also posted it at LinkedIn Pulse, which is where I first found it . Kevin discussed six types of distractions:

Physical Distractions

Venue Distractions

Technical and Visual Distractions

Audience Distractions

Delivery Distractions

Under Audience Distractions he has a section titled Minimal eye-contact or audience engagement containing the following story (which conflicts with advice we often get) :

“I gave a training presentation a few years ago that really threw me off. The audience did not just lack eye-contact with me…many of them had their heads tilted backward and their eyes closed. They seemed terribly disinterested and downright sleepy. For the first three hours I delivered my program, distracted by this near-rude audience response. 

During lunch I asked my client what was going on with my audience. She replied that many of the audience members were from South Korea and that this is a cultural thing. ‘By closing their eyes they are better able to process my information, without being distracted by the visuals,’ she explained.

It helped me gain my footing - and they were pleased with my program. Still, talking to an audience that could care less about you or your presentation can be distracting and disheartening. Aim to carry on, making your presentation as entertaining and engaging as possible.”

Japanese audiences are similar, as was discussed by Clella Iles Jaffe on page 190 of the eighth edition (2016) in her textbook, Public Speaking concepts and skills for a diverse society:

“Expectations common in the United States are not universally applicable. For instance, Japanese speakers use less direct eye contact, and it is not unusual to see listeners with downcast or closed eyes at a meeting or conference because this demonstrates attentiveness and agreement rather than rejection, disinterest, or disagreement.”

There is a longer discussion by Richard W. Brislin and Tomoko Yoshida on page 285 of  their 1994 book Improving Intercultural Interactions: Modules for Cross-Cultural Training Programs:

“Cultures vary in the methods used to convey involvement and attention to one’s conversation partner. In America, a slight forward lean and eye contact convey an attitude of involvement and attention. In contrast, Japanese may use very different means to convey these attitudes. An American full professor who was making a speech to a large group of Japanese professors and students was concerned during his speech because many in the audience that filled the auditorium were sitting with their eyes closed. He thought, ‘my speech is dying. They’re all falling asleep.’ After his speech was finished, a number of Japanese approached him enthusiastically telling him how much they enjoyed his speech and making comments that showed they had heard every word he said. In Japan, closing the eyes while listening to another, especially a higher status person giving a speech to a large audience, indicates one is giving one’s complete attention to the words of a speaker, not a disinterest in the speaker. Clearly, the American had misinterpreted the closed eyes of the Japanese….”

Some potential distractions are to be expected. Back on January 1, 2012 I blogged that you should Resolve to anticipate “shoelace failures” and plan around them. As is shown above, a shoelace is expected to wear out and fail at the upper eyelet.

AA or AAA batteries in your presentation remote, laser pointer, or wireless microphone can be expected to eventually run out, so you should carry spares.

Markers for whiteboards or flipcharts will run out of ink or dry out. If you don’t carry your own spares, Murphy’s Law says what you will find in a tray at the venue will be awful - light yellow or pink highlighters.

Note cards will get dropped, so they should be chained together, as I discussed in an April 19, 2017 blog post titled You should never have to worry about shuffling or dropping your cue cards.

You also might make up (or adapt someone else’s) checklist of what to take along, as I blogged about in a post on February 1, 2011 titled Is your speech ready for takeoff? Are you sure?

Some items that are not absolutely necessary can increase confidence and simplify your presentation. If I’m using PowerPoint, I carry my own little Targus remote with a built-in laser pointer. I also carry a small lab timer that is much easier to read than the tiny digital display on my wristwatch. Little things like a cube tap or ground adapter will insure that you have power.

In his article Kevin discussed how one morning he had forgotten to take his epilepsy medication, which led to a petite mal seizure during a presentation. Carrying a pillbox holding the medication doses for a week can give a visual reminder making that sort of mishap less likely.

In another post  on February 8, 2011 titled Mistake-proofing your presentation outfit I discussed other ways to give yourself visual reminders. The blister pack holding four dry erase markers I showed previously will instantly indicate if one had run out but not yet been replaced.

The image of a woman with a cellphone came from Wikimedia Commons.

Use the right tools (visual aids) to give a great speech

If I was speaking in a conference room that holds about twenty people, then either a whiteboard or a flipchart would be suitable for displaying a limited amount of text to my audience. For a larger audience, like a ballroom, I'd need to use other visual aids.

Suppose instead that I wanted to discuss teamwork, and convey that I did not want my co-workers to go off in eight different directions. Then I might want to present a projected image like the one shown above as part of a PowerPoint presentation. (Click on it to see a larger, clearer view).

Next I might present another image with all nine of us going in the very same direction (in a very precise diamond formation).

And I might also present an image with one of us putting on the brakes (arrow) in order to line up with a couple others. The three images shown above are of the RCAF Snowbirds, and were taken on October 15 during the Gowen Thunder airshow held at the Boise airport (also known as Gowen Field).

Those images were taken with my Olympus E330 8-Megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera   equipped with a 40-to-150-mm zoom lens, as shown above. I was about two miles from the airport control tower, on Cole Road.  

The United States Air Force Thunderbirds also were there, and a bottom view of one of their four-plane formations is shown from about a mile away. The camera was hand-held, with both elbows braced against my chest. Photographing the Thunderbirds F-16 fighters going perhaps 400 mph is much more challenging than photographing hot air balloons, as I blogged about back on August 30, 2012 in a post titled After all… tomorrow is another day.

Those balloons were moving slowly enough that I could probably instead have used a little, pocket-sized Nikon Coolpix L110 camera which later bought and more commonly carry. The Coolpix has an LCD viewfinder, and a shutter lag of a few tenths of a second, which is completely unacceptable for catching fast- moving F-16s. But for most subjects it is far easier to use than the E330. The E330 runs on lithium-ion rechargeable battery, and I have to remember to take a charged-up spare along with me. The Coolpix runs on four AA penlight batteries which can be purchased almost anywhere if I forget to take along a spare set.

Don’t dress like a ninja when you are going to speak!

Men often wear a navy blue or charcoal gray suit when giving a speech. What happens when there is a charcoal gray curtain in the background, and you thoughtlessly choose that gray suit? You look like a ninja. Only your head, hands, and some of your shirt will show up.

You can watch a long YouTube video from last year where motivational speaker (and ex-con) James Arthur Ray does this. (Mr. Ray has earned a page at the Encyclopedia of American Loons). He’s the guy who put the harm in Harmonic Wealth.  

You also can look like a snow ninja if you wear a white shirt or dress while standing in front of a whiteboard.

T. J. Walker has a YouTube video on What NOT to Wear for Your Next Presentation.   Nick Morgan blogged about What should a successful speaker wear in 2016?, and back in 2011 Denise Graveline blogged about When you’re speaking, what colors should you wear? 6 guideposts.

How did the Anti-PowerPoint-Party do in elections for the Swiss parliament?

Back in July I blogged about how Mathias Poehm’s Anti-PowerPoint-Party (APPP) wanted us to go back to using flipcharts. In August I suggested that interactive whiteboards would be better than flipcharts for replacing PowerPoint.

On August 16th the party produced a press release about having gotten on the ballot. Just before the elections the New York Times described how the Idea of ‘One Person One Party’ Makes for a Crowd in Switzerland. Another article elsewhere discussed how Fools and Pirates Compete for Election Glory.

Elections were held on October 23rd, and the APPP did not win even a single seat, not even in Zurich. Neither did the Pirates Party or the Fools Party.

The image of a wrecked Moissant airplane came from here.

Interactive whiteboards should replace PowerPoint, not flipcharts

On July 21st I blogged about how the Anti-PowerPoint Party wants us to go back to using flipcharts. That solution doesn’t fix the problem, or consider what other hardware and software already are around. It’s as idiotic as asking us to go back to believing that the earth is flat (and square).

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are a better solution. They are display devices which can do anything a flipchart can do, and far more - as is shown in this nine-minute video demonstration. For teaching radiology and other visual topics they should be excellent. Last year Patricia Deubel discussed their use in education in general, and the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology devoted an entire issue (Volume 26, Number 4) to them.        

Images of IWBs came from here and here on Wikimedia.

Don’t be a public speaking ninja!

In many action-adventure movies you will will find ninjas or commandos dressed in black from head-to-toe stealthily slinking around in the dark, accompanied by menacing background music. For example, watch this trailer from the 1990 film Navy Seals.

When you speak you shouldn't blend into your background, like both Kevin Trudeau and his sidekick do in the images shown above. Instead you should plan to wear clothing that provides contrast with your surroundings.

Standing in front of a whiteboard wearing a white shirt or blouse will turn you into a “snow ninja!” A portrait photographer can show what solid colors will work well for you.

If you are going to be on television or videotaped, then you should avoid wearing clothes with fine patterns. For example, I have a light-blue check shirt with a 17 lines-per-inch blue “graph-paper” pattern that would make distracting shimmering moire patterns. You also should be aware of other possible stage distractions like unwanted backlighting from wall sconces directly behind you.

Mistake-proofing your presentation outfit

If you do a lot of traveling to give presentations, then you might consider setting up a “go bag” to visually organize what you take along. In my February 1st post I discussed the use of checklists. They are one aspect of a more general topic in quality called mistake-proofing, which is the use of process or design features to prevent errors. 

A couple decades ago I set up a very complete 35-mm camera outfit in a big Pelican case similar to the camera case shown above. The precut “pick and pluck” foam had places for all my usual equipment and consumables. Before I headed out the door all I had to do was to lift the lid and look inside to confirm that I had: both my camera bodies, all three lenses, both flashes, and both four rolls of color film and eight AA spare batteries for my flashes. Any empty cavity in the foam reminded me that something important was missing.

The clear package for these four dry-erase markers reminds me to check that I have all of them, both before and after a presentation. A case with foam inserts and plastic bags, boxes, and other packages can be used to organize equipment like a laptop computer, projector, and all their accessories.

When choosing a case you need to consider its appearance to others. A person I knew put his camera system in a very ostentatious Zero Halliburton aluminum case. After only one plane trip he realized that to strangers (and thieves) in the airport it had screamed that “I’m expensive, please steal me!” He reluctantly changed to a more humble black plastic pistol case.

Long ago I read a magazine article in Shutterbug describing the different types of travel containers photographers preferred. One liked Igloo picnic coolers with wheels, another used a diaper bag, and a third used a beat-up old suitcase from a thrift store. I’m going to put my digital camera system into a black plastic, vintage attache case.

John Grout wrote a very detailed 166-page free ebook on Mistake-Proofing the Design of Health Care Processes.

The camera case image is from Skymast.

Blackboards and Whiteboards

Back before blackboards there were personal-sized slates. Blackboards on walls or portable stands are one of the oldest visual aids. In 1801 George Baron was using them to teach math at West Point. Over in Edinburgh, Scotland James Pillans even was using colored chalk to teach geography.

The more recently developed whiteboards can provide better contrast for colors. A whiteboard is like an infinite supply of flip chart paper. Most tips in a previous post about flip charts also apply to whiteboards. The main improvement is that the whiteboard can be erased and re-used almost endlessly to make simple points either during your presentation or while answering questions.

Here are some tips about using whiteboards:

1. Do you want to be a “Snow Ninja” and hide at the whiteboard? If not, then don’t wear a white shirt or a dress for your presentation.

2. Always have a spare marker in your briefcase, purse, or pocket. Murphy’s Law says that the one on the tray beneath the whiteboard will be dried out and useless.

3. Talk to the audience, and not to the board. Write a brief point, then turn around and stand beside what you have just written.

4. Unless you like wearing clown makeup, don’t wipe your marker-covered hands either on your face or clothes.

5. Don’t be a board magician. Let the audience read what you have written before you make it disappear. If you show off by writing with your right hand and almost immediately erasing with your left, you can go right to the top of your audience’s enemies list.

Recently I saw a blog post on how the lowly whiteboard is the perfect presentation tool. It talks about using a laptop-sized board for discussion with one other person. The same could have been said for a slate with a wood frame – as is shown above in the painting of Friar Luca Pacioli from around 1500.

There also are digital whiteboards, but they are a whole other story.