We’ve likely all heard the old psychological game, “Don’t picture a pink elephant.” Once you’ve heard that, you can’t not see it. Let’s take that a step further: we could show someone a picture and say, “Look at this picture of a pink elephant and try not to think, ‘pink elephant!’“ The latter is impossible, right? So why not put that awareness to work in our presentations?
If I just tell you, without any images, that elephants have a keen sense of smell, have more receptors in their noses than any other mammal, can smell plants miles away, and use smell to guide them, chances are good that you won’t retain the information for longer than it takes me to finish my presentation. We hear data all day long. Blah blah blah.
But if I show you the fun image above while I’m telling you those facts about elephants, three things will happen:
1] The words being spoken get associated with that still image. Images lock into the brain more easily than words. Don’t believe me? Set a reminder for a week from now that says, “What animal was in Milo’s eZine and what was it carrying?” I’ll bet my pink elephant with the roses pops into your brain instantly. By contrast, likely you’ve already forgotten most of the wording of this article…let alone be able to repeat it a week from now.
2] The words you hear will be easier to process because you’re seeing something that automatically creates a connection to my words. We all can generally remember what elephants look like, what flowers are, how flowers smell…but all of that comes back to us more strongly when we’re looking at the specific picture of the pink elephant holding flowers. We’re also less likely to daydream when we are both hearing and seeing, because our brains don’t have to work to concoct images for us.
3] Once you’ve associated my easily-understood words with the image, the meaning will come back to you more quickly when you next see (or even think of) the image. For example, let’s say a month from now I unexpectedly text you the pink elephant picture, likely the first thing you will think is “Elephants have a strong sense of smell,” even if I didn’t text a single word. Well, maybe that’d come after, “How did Milo get my cell number?” but close behind. I could likely just text you “Milo’s ezine photo” and you’d quickly remember the image, followed by “Elephants have a strong sense of smell” − even though none of that was in my text. It’s just how our minds work.
Note that there’s a big difference between showing just the picture while I speak vs. showing the nightmare slide below:
Good luck holding attention while you read that to them or, worse, talk around what’s up there so they don’t know whether to read or listen to you. You’ve just created cognitive dissonance. Know your material well enough to stick to just images…or at least use off-screen notes if you need help.
So when I was invited recently to present at an online meeting but was told, “We don’t let presenters use slides because people tend to tune out,” I sighed. I get it. We’ve seen too many presentations with the latter format and it’s worn people down. But going back to being just talking heads? Eliminating the power of visual stimulation? When 60-70% of our audiences are primarily visual learners? That’s just throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There’s a better middle-ground to be found and I help people find that in their presentations every week.
Images are your friend as a speaker, triggering you on what you want to say next, while helping the audience build a stronger memory. Like an elephant!
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