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Annotate and Draw on your Screen for more Effective Presentations
Write on your screen as you demo or present a topic — and be more effective highlighting important points.
I think I am an old-style teacher. For the longest time, I have taught in-person in physical classrooms that came equipped with whiteboards, whiteboard markers and flip charts. I relied on my not-so-great drawing and annotating skills using markers.
They weren’t high tech, but they have effectively aided me in illustrating ideas, highlighting points, and explaining topics. They also helped keep my classes more interactive. Perhaps my students just liked seeing me struggle to draw stick figures.
Here are two annotation/drawing tools I use.
My go-to tool: ZoomIt
ZoomIt is a tool I have come to rely on this tool for the longest time. It is a screen zoom and annotation tool from Microsoft.
It is a small downloadable executable tool. It is just approximately 1MB in size, and it does not need to be installed. It just needs to be run from any machine that will be used for presentation.
Its ability to zoom and magnify certain areas in my screen, with the option to annotate, is an indispensable ally. Often I need to show the whole screen, but also show certain sections more closely.
This tool has been my best friend for years — especially when presenting in person to a bigger group. It allows me to zoom in (pun intended) and ensure the people at the back of the room can also see what I am demonstrating.
