Sales coach Ryan Dohrn says drawing visuals while explaining ideas isn't outdated. Sketching concepts on paper or a blank Zoom slide increases comprehension by 90%, especially for complex topics like media-buying allocations. He calls it a timeless technique that works better than slides alone.
Questions this video answers
Ryan argues that drawing is a timeless, high‑impact method; visuals increase understanding by about 90%, and he recommends using paper or a blank slide to sketch concepts during sales conversations.
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Hey friends, Ryan Dohrn here, your global sales coach, answering your listener questions sent in to ryan@ryandohrn.com. Thanks for these questions. They're great. They're always good. All right, Tanner from Orlando. Tanner's question: Ryan, I think it just seems really old school to draw to explain things. There's just got to be a better way. Your thoughts are appreciated. So Tanner from Orlando, are you calling me an old man? Is that what you're doing? All right, friends, I'm 49 years old at the recording of this video at So I don't think I'm an old guy, although I've got enough gray hair to be a little bit older. But, um, it's all bought and paid for, right? All right, Tanner, what I'm talking about is a lot of times I will go and I will draw on pieces of paper, and I'll use those paper to explain things in the sales process, even if I'm on a Zoom call or video call like we're doing here today. But the reason I love this, and it's a good old Zig Ziglar kind of trick, is that I believe that visuals sell. You're about 90% more likely to be able to help somebody understand if you can draw it out. Like, if you give somebody directions to a location, they may remember those, but if you draw it out, the chances of them getting there are more successful. They're going to be a lot more successful. So I'm a big fan of taking a blank piece of paper, a big fat magic marker on my sales calls, and I like to draw things out, especially if what you're selling is moderately complex. Now, the example I just gave you here is for all my friends in the media sales business. I know a lot of you are in different businesses, and that's fine. So for example, if you're gonna be buying media as a business, you wanna do 3 things. You wanna do a little bit of digital, you wanna be able to do some traditional media, and then on this side you wanna do some social media. And then what I'll do is I'll draw the allocations of money out on the piece of paper. What I notice, especially if I'm with somebody in person, what I notice is they immediately focus in. I see their eyes, you know, focus in, and then they look at the piece of paper. Now a trick for you, what I also like to do, Tanner, is when I'm using Zoom or GoToMeeting or WebEx or whatever, Google Meet, meet, I like to actually leave a blank slide in my presentation. And what I do with that blank slide is I use my little pen, my marker, and I draw on the screen as well. So, Tanner, I know you're sort of joking. I think you're sort of joking about it being old school. I just feel like there's a lot of old school things that we can learn from my mentors, and I'd like to be a mentor to you, Tanner, and just try to say I believe that your visuals really help you in the sales process. So give it a chance, Tanner. Give it a chance. If you got questions, send them in to me, ryan@ryandohrn.com. And if I can be of help to you or your company, head over to the website, ryandohrn.com, the podcast, the blog, and, and so much more. So please, friends, check that out. And then just don't forget, if ad sales was easy, everybody'd be doing it. And they're not. I mean, we're a little crazy, right? Or we're the chosen few. Friends, this is a career that'll feed your family for a lifetime. I go where I want, I do what I want, I eat what I want because of sales. And I love it, and I want you to fall in love with it too. All right, friends, we'll see you next week.
