I have taught college level creative writing, and I admit that using the dry erase boards in a classroom is almost as much fun as imparting the knowledge I've acquired through the years. I love the huge lengths of white board because they invite scribble--in color! It's so much easier to communicate information in a large format like that then using small electronic devices. And using a pen or pencil on a nice juicy pad of paper is more conducive to creativity than keyboarding or texting. 

Those of  you who are electronic formate dependent will turn up your nose, but not everything done at light speed is of good quality. Sometimes you have to slow down. Sometimes you have to get the whole body involved. A big white board and a pack of colorful dry erase markers can stimulate ideas that will take you to new heights. 

If you watch police or mystery shows like Castle you'll see both white board and electronic board illustrations of evidence boards or story boards. These rarely exist in real life because detectives have multiple cases going at the same time and they don't have the luxury of working in an open, quiet environment. BUT...you do. A white board on the wall or on a stand can be very motivating. Making your marks, talking out loud to yourself, jotting ideas down are all ways to stimulate a story line. I recently revised one of my story lines using that technique. I wrote out the what-ifs and ended up with a better mystery. More realistic. And I didn't lose my train of thought by having to page back and forth or scroll to see my ideas.

And if you aren't writing, but you are involved in a project, sure Power Point is nice to have. I've seen some effective presentations. I've also seen some of the mosts idiotic ones ever conceived. White board allows you to scribble as you go. You can talk to a group and jot down the ideas or the plans, and then have discussion. Power Point is preplanned and can lead you in a direction other than where discussion takes you. It can interrupt good ideas and answers. It can also be written in the most incomprehensive language possible, and it invites WEASEL WORDS. Those are the ones designed to make the speaker seem intelligent, or above the audience, or expert in the field. But most of the time they say NOTHING. It leaves the audience feeling bored and wondering why they came. 

Remember the road sign that says SPEED KILLS? 

 It does. It kills language and good communication. A dry erase board let's you broaden your perspective by opening up your idea bank. Allowing ideas to stream is a positive way to move forward in any environment. Sometimes the things left out of Power Point are the very things needed to solve the problem or move the project forward. Want to see a Technology Director using white board? Chris Castro knows how to organize.

Why am I taking time to write this? Because as a nation we have become a group of abbreviators. We squash words into letters and symbols that are open to interpretation and push them out into the ether like electrons running through an electronic pipe. They bump and dance and often mean nothing. 

Give yourself a chance to write it all down. Draw it. Give it flourish. Make it lively. There is a balance, and a dry erase experience is one great way to help get something done. BTW They're on sale.......

Below is a super idea from decoristamomma.com  Got kids? YAHOO