Hey smartypants,
You've probably noticed I love words. I've loved them since I was a kid. It probably has something to do with the way my parents filled our house with books, encyclopedias, and that big ole dictionary.
As a child, any time I asked what a word meant, my dad pointed to the dictionary and said 'Look it up.'
I hated doing it, but there was magic to using an old fashioned dictionary – because the word I was looking for was surrounded by more words. (Plus, occasionally I'd open up the dictionary and find where my dad had highlighted words. He literally started at the beginning of the dictionary. How awesome is that?)
These days, it's all about instant gratification. (Hey, I'm a gen-Xer. I've earned the right to say 'these days'.) These days, folks don't take time to read entire paragraphs, much less long-form articles. We just don't have the time.
The problem is, with so much information at our fingertips, we have a tendency to say too much and wind up complicating things. That's why storytelling – and specifically visual storytelling – can be such a game-changer.
Visual storytelling is at once an attention-grabber and complexity-killer. Why? A visual story helps you achieve clarity.
A visual has the ability to act as a ‘container’ to communicate clearly and organize your ideas in a logical and coherent way. Plus, visual stories are easy to remember and share.
So the next time you need to explain a concept, think about how a visual story can help you connect with your audience and deliver an effective message that sticks.
Ready to take your visual storytelling up a notch? Let's do it! We wrote a whole article about it on our website: Beyond Words: Why Visual Storytelling is Crucial for Effective Communication
Happy storytelling!
(BTW, we have rave reviews about our storytelling workshops for teams. If you have even a teeny bit of curiosity about it, just hit reply and let me know.)
Three amaze-balls examples of visual storytelling:
- How Google Works - as told in cartoon form.
- Your kids storybooks. Seriously. If you’ve ever read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, it’s a great example. I use this book in our storytelling workshops all the time.
- Joseph Minard’s OG infographic on Napoleon’s unsuccessful march on Russia, considered the best statistical graphic ever drawn.
Thanks for reading to the end! Happy weekend.
Ginger
