Following on From our Feel the Fear and Draw It Anyway feature, James Scalise offers a clever tip to help you sketch like an old master.

Spontaneous drawing works wonders without having to be so wonderful. Just basic shapes, with little more than connecting lines and arrows, are all that's needed for that extra added dimension to your words.

But when you need something beyond basics, here's a tip:
You can make as detailed a drawing as is needed, with no artistic skill whatsoever. The secret: use an overhead projector to display a diagram or picture on a flip chart, at any size, prior to your presentation, but with a little bit of fun chicanery - when you trace over the displayed lines do so lightly, with a yellow pencil - visible to you but not to your future audience.

After turning over the "blank" sheet during your presentation, scrawl over your yellow lines with a marker and - voila - your audience will think you're da Vinci.

If you let them in on the secret at the end they'll enjoy your "feat" even more.