I am guilty of incessant doodling. I considered this to simply be a bad habit of mine; that my furious scribbling was nothing more than a catalyst for my slight case of ADD. However, a couple of weeks ago, this perception changed. According to expert on visual cartography, David Sibbet, being graphically stimulated is actually extremely beneficial for the brain.
On Wednesday October 20, I joined my colleague Ronald and we arrived at Vega Tapas Cafe in Old Metairie for a luncheon hosted by the New Orleans Ad Club. The speaker, David Sibbet, is the President and Founder of The Grove Consultants International—organizational consultant and information designer, building on years of experience in leadership development, strategic visioning, organization change, and futures study—author of leading-edge group process tools and models for facilitation, team leadership, and organizational transformation. He spoke of the importance of visual stimulation in meetings and presentations.
When speaking of visual aids in presentations, the most common thing to do is think of Microsoft PowerPoint. Sibbet talked about how PowerPoints are actually dumbing down decision making, and the alternate routes prove to be more sucessful and not to mention original and eye catching.
Prezi is one of the alternative visual aid presentation software that Sibbet spoke of. It goes "beyond the slide" (of PowerPoint) and it engages the audience with a fresh approach to presentation and discussion. If you are not familiar with the software Prezi, you should check out their website: http://prezi.com/hgjm18z36h75/why-should-you-move-beyond-slides/.
Another resource Sibbet talked about were these large graphic chart presentations. The best way to describe this is by picturing huge -- beautifully -- hand drawn posters that were engaging the meeting and allowing for the participation of the audience. Sibbet would have these posters prepared, but the audience could participate by drawing on them or putting post it notes or in any way they felt comfortable sharing. Sibbet made the point that "people love to be listened to" and by making a meeting interactive, the presentor ensures their attention. Sibbet used the presentation he prepared for the President of Nike as and example of how effective this method is.
Sibbet was very enthusiastic about his approach on the "visual revolution." I must say that after his presentation, I have to agree with him. We are currently oversaturated with information and technology and advertisement and social media. Because of this, I feel like we are continuously setting higher standards as to what is going to grab our attention, but most importantly, keep it. It is incredibly difficult to stay focused on a new product, simply because there is so much of it, we don't want to give our time and energy to a waste of time. I think what Sibbet is proposing, this incentive to have visually stimulating and interactive meeting and presentations, is great. Though it would be incredibly time consuming to prepare these poster presentations, I think that brainstorming new presentation concepts -- such as experimenting with Prezi -- are small ways to start shifting into the creative era we are in, where our client expects more of us than a couple of colorful slides.
