Gain Competitive Selling Advantage At The Whiteboard

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How can you share information and show ideas to your peers? Are you fed up with not getting recognized, and not getting the respect you deserve?

 

If you’ve had it with feeling like ‘nobody gets it’…now you have a choice. Learn new ways to connect with your audience. Show your ideas clearly to linear and non-linear communicators.

 

Many subject matter experts and leaders are shocked and delighted when they discover adult learning theory. This is a powerful area of communication that a lot of professionals have not been introduced to. However, once you learn the basics, you’ll know how to win attention and get the respect you deserve.

 

Today, many people are heading to a whiteboard to present ideas, sell solutions and make an impact. Strangely, only a few seem to be using the principles of how adults learn. This leads to mistakes, problems and poor practices that hold sellers back.

 

Instead of languishing in the backwaters of poor whiteboard selling skills, leverage these insights to get ahead. Your competition won’t know what happened…you’ll move forward so quickly.

 

It’s really all about balance. Here are the 3 secrets to unlock unstoppable success.

 

1. Go Linear

Like falling in love, many people jump into whiteboarding and only see the drawing. They draw and sketch with abandon.

 

But that’s the problem. They abandon and alienate linear thinkers. It doesn’t have to be like this.

 

Clear sketches, thoughtful diagrams and organized charts appeal to linear thinkers. If you’re speaking to a room of analytic thinkers, explain what you’re doing. Title your whiteboard. And engage in focused, clear organization of your story.

 

2. Go Non-Linear

Here’s the other side of the love affair. In the search to use the whiteboard, many people only write words. This verbal, linear approach just creates a gigantic writing surface. That’s not using the whiteboard for maximum creativity.

 

To use non-linear approaches, use visual frameworks. Some examples include cluster maps, mind maps, and circular charts. These structures provide non-linear organization for information.

 

If this sounds like a foreign language to you, don’t worry. It’s easy to learn about information frameworks in an online training or onsite class. Many teams find this is the exact aspect of whiteboard effectiveness that was eluding them. Once learned, skeptics and critics put down their nay saying…and pick up a marker.

 

3. Balance Creativity and Discipline

If you’re looking for a mantra or slogan to post on your wall…this could be it. Balance creativity and discipline.

 

It’s true in every performing art, presentation and communication. More adults prefer to be involved in learning, working with peers and applying learning to real-world problem solving.

 

When you use the principles of adult learning to design your presentation, you have the keys to unlock exceptional results. Participation. Collaboration. Ownership of ideas. Listening. Innovation.

 

Instead of designing passive presentations where you’re up in front preaching…do something radically different. Design presentations with the audience in mind. Create opportunities to get people engaged and involved. Organize mini-events within your timeframe for peer sharing and story telling. Solve real problems that will make a difference for people in your audience.

 

As leaders, subject matter experts and sales presenters do this, what can you expect?

 

Audiences will expect you and your sales force to balance linear and non-linear approaches. They’ll look for a blend of creative input and disciplined productivity. And they won’t settle for passive presentations or relying exclusively on slides to share information.

 

Presenting and selling at the whiteboard is a rapid way to unlock participation. You’re sketching and writing while the audience watches. This is remarkably engaging, entertaining and focusing.

 

Get the attention, respect and results you’re looking for. Use these 3 secrets in your next whiteboard presentation—and watch for dramatic impact and top evaluations.