(This post was reviewed for accuracy and relevancy on 7-5-15.)
My client was amazed.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he exclaimed to me recently, as we were working together to draft his responses to an important questionnaire. (As his consulting wordsmith, my role was not to create the responses, but to help him express his ideas in clear, accessible language.)
Google Docs plus Jonathan Lehrer’s “live drafting” technique add up to effective brainstorming.
The client was talking about my technique of “live drafting,” which I recently described (Use Google docs for live collaboration on documents).
Live Drafting is a brainstorming technique that uses a large screen to make collaboration quicker and more effective for team members. Rather than relying on flipcharts or dry-erase boards, I connect my computer to a projector and write or edit language live on the screen while all the participants watch.
Live drafting with Google Docs
This client, a successful engineer and businessman, surely has been involved in brainstorming, but the revelation was how Google Docs improved the process.
The statement that I had created as a Google Docs document was projected from my PC onto the wall of his office. I showed him how to log into his Gmail account and open the link to the Google Doc I had just sent him.
In a moment, he was able to simultaneously edit what I was writing.