Persuading With Pictures

About a year ago, I found this odd, square shaped book on sale titled “The Back of the Napkin” by Dan Roam. I devoured this book. I mean I devoured it. For those that know me, they know “devoured” in this case means that Mark read the book in one day, most likely in one sitting. That’s true – except I read it twice in the same day. If you’ve visited my LinkedIn profile, you also know that I recommend this book.

I’m going to say this once. Reading the book does not do Dan Roam’s work justice. You may say, “OK – it’s a visual design book. That’s what I read Edward R. Tufte for.” You are correct – that is what I read Tufte for as well. In order to maximize the message from Dan Roam’s book, you must see him speak. Here are two opportunities for you to do so (for FREE).

Dan’s first presentation “The Back of the Napkin” is available at The Commonwealth Club of California’s site. The recording of this presentation does not show the whiteboard as it is used during the talk. For that reason, I recommend you read the book prior to viewing this presentation.

Microsoft invited him to speak at Mix09 and they recorded his presentation with the whiteboard. Dan’s second and evolved presentation, “The Way of the Whiteboard: Persuading with Pictures” may be found here…

Side note: If you like this approach to communicating, then you may choose to invest in a LiveScribe pen (www.livescribe.com). While I wish the pen supported multiple inks (or my preferred gel ink), it’s great for capturing digital ink. I like it much better than a Tablet PC as it fits my normal workflow by allowing me to use tools that I have used for years – a journal and a pen.