Your new Glass Whiteboard has many uses, with one of the best being its ability to display visual and tabular data convincingly and in real-time. With the swipes of your marker collection, you can draw out your company’s timeline or next set of goals while narrating what you are drawing or writing to your audience. For teachers and professors, the ability to write clean, colorful content onto the board is a blessing for history lessons, math problems and engineering principles alike.
However, some ways of displaying data are better than others. How do you know what type of chart, visual or image works best for the data or message you’re attempting to send to your audience?
Data charts and graphs
These include bar charts, line graphs, pie charts and others. These visual aids are used to display data in an appealing way that portrays complicated information to your audience quickly. Some types of charts show the proportion or value of a certain piece of data in relation to the other data. For instance, a pie chart is best used to show how much of the “pie” a certain piece of data takes up, with an example being how much of each quarter’s office budget goes to travel expenses compared to the rest of the office budget. Another common chart is the bar chart, which also shows the proportions of data compared to one another but with the ability to show more data in a readable manner than a single pie chart would be able. A line graph should be used to show how data changes over a period of time or under various conditions, with each data point connected by an up-or-down line to show how certain dates or events affected the value attached to them (such as money or number of customers).
Flow charts
Flow charts visually display processes or events that occur in a specific sequence. For events that are planned to occur over a set period of time, you can start by creating an actual timeline on your whiteboard and filling in each step or goal point along the way. Processes – such as the steps of a new project from the inception, planning to implementation stages – use boxes and arrows to show each step sequentially. Some examples of flow charts could be the steps your business unit should take to reach a certain goal and by which date each step should be completed; a visual history of a competitor’s rise to success; and for teachers, processes such as digestion of food or the steps of photosynthesis for plants to grow. Spice up flow charts using small images (drawn or attached using a supplied magnet).
Visual diagrams
These are one of the most common types of visual aids you’ll use on your whiteboard. Diagrams should be used to display information that only tangentially is connected, or information that you develop as you go along through the meeting or lecture. Many types of diagrams exist, such as “Venn Diagrams” – where you show how two distinct topics are related or not related – or branching diagrams where you start with a single topic and then show how other topics or information are related to it. Examples include discussing new marketing strategies with the team and writing down how ideas are interconnected; a list of “pros and cons” split across the board; and topics that don’t fit well into a chart.
Images
Using magnets, you can place multiple images onto your whiteboard. While using color ink to print out pictures may seem costly, the benefits of using color often outweigh the costs because they are better able to convey emotions or clarify certain information. Consider your audience when deciding to use color images, though: Is your audience primarily customers or guests to your business? If so, color is best; but if the images will be seen by internal employees and they do not need to be swayed in any particular direction by the images you’re using, black-and-white likely will suffice.
Ready to make your new whiteboard an essential part of your boardroom or classroom? View our products page and gallery page for more information, and call (877) 793-1011 or email us on our contact page today for an instant quote.
