Draw to Win: A Crash Course on How to Lead, Sell, and Innovate With Your Visual Mind

by Dan Roam

Overview

Get ready for the ultimate crash course in communicating and solving problems through simple pictures.

Thirty-two thousand years ago, your many-times-great-grandparents Oog and Aag drew pictures on the wall of a cave. They had an innate need to communicate, but no written language. So they found an easy and natural way to share their thoughts and stories.
 
Today, after so many years when speaking and writing dominated, we're back in another highly visual age. About 90 percent of everything shared online is now visual—selfies, GIFs, smartphone videos, and more. This explosion of communication through pictures isn't a millenial-driven fad; it's as natural as those lines first drawn by Oog and Aag. Just turbo-charged by the latest technology.
 
And yet over the past twenty years, as I've taught people from Fortune 500 CE0s to White House staffers how to harness the power of imagery, the biggest objection I've always heard is, "But I can't draw!" Trust me, you can. You don't need to be da Vinci to be an outstanding visual thinker and communicator. The most effective drawings are the simplest, and you can get good at those in three minutes. In this little book, I'll teach you how to use seven basic shapes to explain just about anything to just about anyone.

If you've read my previous books, you'll see one or two familiar tools here, along with a bunch of new tools you can start using right away.

If you're new to my approach—welcome! Get ready to work smarter, communicate more clearly, and get better at whatever you do, just by picking up a pen.

Get ready to draw to win.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399562990
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	196,648
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dan Roam is the internationally bestselling author of five books on visual communication, including The Back of the Napkin, Blah Blah Blah, and Show and Tell, and is the founder of the Napkin Academy, the world's first online visual-thinking training program. He has helped leaders at Microsoft, Boeing, eBay, Kraft, Gap, IBM, the US Navy, the US Senate, and the White House solve complex problems with simple pictures. Dan and his white-board have appeared on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and NPR.

Table of Contents

The Kickoff 1

Chapter 1 Draw Like Your Life Depends on It 3

Chapter 2 Whoever Draws the Best Picture Wins 16

Chapter 3 First Draw a Circle, Then Give it a Name 36

Chapter 4 Lead with the Eye and the Mind Will Follow 51

Chapter 5 Start with the Who 69

Chapter 6 To Lead, Draw Your Destination 87

Chapter 7 To Sell, Draw Together 107

Chapter 8 To Innovate, Draw the World Upside Down 127

Chapter 9 To Train, Draw The Story 146

Chapter 10 When In Doubt, Draw It Out 163

Acknowledgments 171

Index 175

Editorial Reviews

"It is because of simple drawings that I am able to more clearly communicate my ideas. I encourage everyone to do it. Thanks to Dan Roam, everyone can!"
 —SIMON SINEK, optimist and author of Start With Why

"Dan Roam disarms our fear of drawing and provides clear and simple tools to bring our stories to life. In Draw To Win, Dan gives us all the chance to become better communicators, because the language of images is universal."
—TOM KELLEY, partner, IDEO, and author of Creative Confidence

"In this wonderful little book, Dan Roam has achieved something remarkable. He shows how the simplest thing—making a quick little drawing of your thoughts—leads to a renewed sense of purpose, focus, calm, and mastery."
—KELLY MCGONIGAL, author of The Willpower Instinct and The Upside of Stress

"Dan Roam is the master of using simple pictures to sell big ideas. I've stolen truckloads from him, and now you can, too."
—AUSTIN KLEON, author of Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work!

"Like the lessons behind Dorothy's red ruby shoes, Draw To Win shows us that the ability to be innovative rests in all of us. In times of increasing complexity and change, using pictures to find and communicate simplicity is our most powerful weapon."
—LISA K. SOLOMON, coauthor of Moments of Impact

From the Publisher