Commentary about the ineffective uses of PowerPoint are ubiquitous. What is often left unsaid is what techniques and tools should be used in its place. I recently read and highly recommend ‘The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures'.”

One of my lectures in my Introduction to Business class on financial statements uses nothing but the whiteboard. I compare and contrast a business' use of a balance sheet, a statement of cash flows and an income statement with an individual's use of these three common financial statements. While I love using PowerPoint effectively and other means of communicating ideas visually, sometimes there's nothing like an old-fashioned white board to get your ideas across.

Dan Roam gives even us non-artists a means for communicating visually. He has a whole system of how to go about doing this, but it does provide for you to pick and choose which techniques you'll use and add to your ability to convey your point using pictures. His message is written to business people, but educators can easily apply his ideas to our environment.