In your face marketing and selling, visual communication dynamics, overwhelmingly influence our thinking and behavior. We are dynamically visual beings by nature. The eye is the most powerful information conduit to the brain — continually feeding us images that create our perception of the world and shapes how we think, behave and respond.

We think and dream in picture and images and the words we hear are processed and transformed into mental pictures. Images and sounds dominate human communication and as consumers we have come to expect media rich, entertaining dynamic visuals in advertising and marketing materials. What was once a trip to a shopping mall to purchase goods and services has turned into a visual entertainment event.

Technology, computers, and media arts have influence several generations who have come to expect every newspaper, magazine, video, post card and direct mail letter to bloom into full living color and MTV action.

It’s no longer adequate to think that when making sales & marketing presentations, or presenting seminars, that we can communicate simply by painting word pictures and giving third party testimonials or stories of our products and services. Our customers want and expect quick conveyance of information and have a clear preference for pictures that show facts, features and benefits. Using the right visuals communicate faster, clearer, better and advantages the presenter in one-on-one presentations or group presentations.

The technology driving visual communication is only going to become more explosive for improved graphics and images that are far more effective than words or numbers for communicating concepts and ideas. Global business communication is enhanced with symbols and images and will expand the sphere of business contacts and potential business.

In this escalating, robust, explosion of visual communication, we find that, for those of us, in the presentation business – sales, marketing, customer service, negotiations, training and speaking requires new skill sets to be competitive. We must let the artist within come out and step outside the traditional box of word communications only.

Therefore, we must rewire our thinking – that is our visual thinking.

When making presentations of any kind. We have to remember that every presentation we make is not simply a matter of sharing information – it’s about communicating effectively to persuade, influence, initiate change, sell a product, motivate, and create involvement.

Here are ways to assist you in moving outside the traditional box of word communications for creating more effective visual communication dynamics.

1. Study the trends of high impact TV commercials and magazine ads. Observe the orientation and dynamics of color, design, sound, images and speed.

2. Take an existing power point presentation and redesign it using symbols and images only to covey your message. Experiment with color schemes and layouts.

3. Use 3-D graphics and java to dramatize numbers. So that they jump out at the viewer.

4. Construct the same presentation several times. Using a combination of symbols, pictures, video, java, layout, color schemes and words.

5. For international business presentations, design you presentation using the color most associated with the country you’re presenting to. Example: Mexico’s dominant colors are green and red.

Visual presentations dynamics will only become more important as technology expands global business. Media rich presentation will be a primary differentiation for those companies that adopt visual thinking.

By: Don Price