Many people communicate complex ideas quickly and almost effortlessly with hand drawings – even business plans

How many times have you been sitting in some meeting and noticed the glazed look around the room? Many people waste lots time and money making slick computer presentations, charts, graphs, and logos. I often communicate more effectively with just a hand-drawn sketch because – like smiling – it is a universal language. Whether drawn on a napkin, legal pad, or a whiteboard – it simplifies the big, complex idea down to the basics.

It’s easy to spice up a dry topic, add some humor, and create organic interest. When I sketch on the whiteboard in meetings with colleagues and clients, it’s often pulls people into the process of solving a problem. Test it for yourself. The next time you start drawing on the board, note that people will immediately sit up in their chairs.

Dan Roam, author of the new book The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures said “The reaction that you get from an audience is like magic, because they are with you, seeing the idea being built as opposed to coming in with a set of charts already prepared” Roam is a visual thinking consultant who teaches doodle techniques to executives at such companies as Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and Sun Microsystems.

Southwest Airlines was conceived with a simple drawing on the back of a napkin

This sketch was drawn in 1967 by Texas entrepreneur Rollin King started it all. During a dinner with his lawyer, King wrote down the names of three cities on a napkin—San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas—and connected them to form a triangle.
He explained that an airline that offered these nonstop flights would have an edge over big airlines which forced travelers to fly through expensive and time-consuming hubs. In 1971, King and Kelleher founded Southwest Airlines – one of the world’s most profitable airlines – thanks in no small part to the perspective the pair gained from a quick, little sketch.

Where else do you find yourself sketching?