Transcript: Whiteboarding 101

Description: Learn tips and tricks for effective whiteboarding, including how to frame issues, how to use color and the importance of using conventions.

Hello, my name is Matthew Barzun, founder of BrickPath.com. Today we're going to talk for a few minutes about whiteboarding. So this is a whiteboard video about whiteboarding, kind of a play within a play. Anyway, I'm a huge whiteboard fan and I wanted to share with you some lessons I've learned over the years about how to do good ones and avoid some of the mistakes. So without further ado, let's begin "Whiteboarding 101."

First, 3 basic rules about good whiteboarding. First, set up the stage. So in our case here, setting a stage means who are the cast and characters? First, there is you or me as the presenter at the whiteboard. Secondly, there are those people sitting in the room watching you do your whiteboard, the audience. Then there is, of course, the whiteboard itself and the work you do on it. So that is setting the stage.

Number 2, frame the debate or the issue, so some tried and true techniques here. One might be a spectrum. You draw four people A, B, C, D or you could do one of my personal favorites, the grid high-low, low-high, that sort of thing. Or three, you could map, let's say the workflow of how something works today. Or finally to use a sports analogy, you could draw, if you were talking about football, you could draw a football field. So then they know who the characters are, the frame of the debate within which we're talking.

And finally third, propose your solution. So, in this case on this spectrum, hey, we could do anything from A to D. I'm advocating C today. We could talk about that or on this grid, I'm really advocating we go here or this is broken, so let's redirect it there. Or you know, hey, we're running horrible plays here, let's change our offense.

So now for some quick do's and don'ts. First do's. Color is your friend. Think about it. I just used green for do. I'm about to use red for don't, which leads me to do number 2, which is conventions are your friend. What I mean by that is time generally we all think goes left or right. So as you're doing a diagram, follow those conventions. High-level things are up top. Details are down low. Stick with things like that.

Now for some don'ts. Don't talk down to your audience. You're not up there lecturing at them. PowerPoint is horrible at that. Whiteboarding ought to be opening up for discussion. So don't talk down and number 2, don't use the whiteboard as a playground for bad ideas and random words. The whiteboard is a visual medium and ought to be used as such. The highest compliment of a good whiteboard is that if you left the room and someone came in, they could look at it and the board would speak for itself. And the best sign that you've done a good whiteboard is someone maybe, your archrival or archenemy in your group comes up, wants to grab a pen and they don't erase your whiteboard. They actually come up and just add to it. Then you know you've done a good job. So I hope these tips and tricks have been helpful and in your next meeting, I hope you'll use a whiteboard to that effect.

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