By Robert Lane and Andrew Hayes

Using Real-life Images

Figure 1: A Visual Idea

What if fine Scotch whisky could make corporate PowerPoint presentations more interesting, memorable and relevant? How about baby bottles? Those might work, too, or even a neighborhood grocery store.

This article explores the use of real-life visual stories and analogies to enliven talks that might otherwise be, shall we say, less than exciting to viewers. You know the ones, those business monologues packed full of facts and figures, tables and diagrams, all the unending barrages of bullet pointed-details found in the universe, somehow crammed into 45 minutes of droning PowerPoint. Whisky certainly might help such talks, and a little creativity on your part can open doors to thousands of other visual possibilities as well.

In Search of a Pint

Soon after our training sessions for the day ended, Andrew met me at my bed and breakfast on a cold November evening in Edinburgh, Scotland. By then we were exhausted and in the mood for a refreshing pint or two at a nearby pub. As cobblestoned streets flew by, however, conversation gradually turned to Andrew’s off-hours passion: Scotch tasting.

With a sudden change of plans, we soon sat happily ensconced inside his favorite quaint little whisky shop (Figure 2), sipping luscious elixirs and discussing the time-honored tradition of Scottish whisky distillation. Somewhere along the way, one of us came up with a brilliant idea. To understand its significance, however, meet Paul, Andrew’s father.

Paul is a well-respected quality management consultant working with the United Nations. He, like most professionals, wants his presentation materials to be visually stimulating and interesting, but that’s a problem in his case. Quality control issues tend to be very abstract and complex. His slides often brim with numbers, facts, and intricate diagrams—just the kind of presentation materials that (by his own lament) put audiences straight to sleep.

Now, back to whisky. Paul’s entire business revolves around “quality” topics, right? Well, guess what. So does whisky distillation. Apparently the collection process occurs in three phases. Liquid from the first phase typically contains methanol, a poisonous form of alcohol, and must be redistilled. Likewise, liquid from the third phase must be redistilled because its alcohol content is far too low.

Only second phase liquid creates the desired product—and only a master distiller knows the difference between the phases. In other words, quality control at the hands of a seasoned expert means EVERYTHING to the whisky business.

What if Paul were to use the images shown in Figures 1 through 4 to weave a short introductory story about the importance of quality control to his country’s most important export—and then transition from there into his own topics? That two-minute respite of visual entertainment would likely capture people’s attention in ways facts and figures never could, opening minds to heavier content later in the talk.

Be ever mindful of the potency of imagery and its effects on attention. Eye tracking research suggests, in fact, that 90% of you reading this article immediately and instinctively direct your gaze first toward the images shown, quickly scanning them for meaning before reading the accompanying text.

Such attention is valuable in a presentation context, especially when combined with verbal storytelling. It enables many positive effects. In the very least, people will be able to use the familiar life situations you feature as a tool for learning new concepts they don’t know. Valuable visual resources are everywhere around us, just waiting for the shutter of a camera. The key is capturing interesting, novel, funny, familiar, or even dramatic real-life situations.

Baby Bottles in Argentina

Here’s another example that I stumbled upon by sheer good fortune.

I work with a large group of professionals in a very specialized medical arena known as lactation consulting. As one might imagine, most LC’s strongly encourage natural breastfeeding and absolutely discourage the use of formula in baby bottles, unless really necessary.

One day while traveling through Argentina I was thinking about the sessions I’ll be presenting in one of their upcoming conferences. Wouldn’t it be nice, I mused, if I had a couple interesting pictures that somehow related to their profession and helped me connect my messages to their needs? On the last day of our trip, I received an answer beyond my wildest dreams. A travel companion pointed out a scene that simply knocked me off my feet.

As it turned out, a fast food restaurant in Bariloche, Argentina (Figure 5) had found a “better” use for baby bottles than merely holding formula, a clever form of visual branding seen throughout the entire establishment. Every table in the restaurant featured a cute display of three baby bottles filled with ketchup, mustard and mayo (Figure 6).

It was the perfect visual gift! I could imagine the comments already, “Finally a good use for those darn things!” I promptly emailed the photos to all 500 LCs on my mailing list, and they went crazy. The pictures, within hours, were posted to Facebook pages and Web sites, and inserted into who knows how many hundreds of presentations in medical institutions throughout the world. These folks now had a potent visual tool that caused audiences to break out in laughter, yet at the same time provided a graceful segue into more serious subjects.

Such jewels are relatively rare, but great visual stories are abundant. Frequently ask yourself, “What real-life experiences are within my camera’s reach that can help my viewers better relate to topics?”

A Mother’s Story

Figure 7: Baby Izzy
Figure 8: Izzy Soon After Birth
Figure 9: Keeping Milk Flowing with Pumps

Debbie Page is one of the LCs mentioned above (http://www.thenewbornbaby.com/). She shared a touching story recently, along with visual details from her presentation materials. The pictures on her slides are full-size—no text at all—and she walks through the images as the story progresses.

Debbie says, “A desperate call came while I was at the lake over Labor Day one year. Stephanie was in tears. All she wanted was to breastfeed her new baby, but that was not happening. Little Izzy had had a very traumatic beginning to life in the hospital and little bonding had taken place up to this point. I prescribed a baby honeymoon, where mom, dad and baby snuggle together with baby on mom’s bare chest, but even that didn’t produce its normal magic. Through many phone calls and visits we worked with Izzy, preserving mom’s milk production in the meantime with a mechanical breast pump.

For four long months, Stephanie pumped. This beautiful baby never got a drop of formula because the milk production was fabulous. Even so, Stephanie desperately wanted to breastfeed and tried every day to no avail.

Then, one morning it happened. Baby just got it. She started breastfeeding with abandon and there was no stopping her from then on. Shouts of joy and hallelujahs could be heard around the block probably.

At eight months Izzy still had no real interest in food; she would sign for milk when presented with a spoon or anything else mom tried. At 29 months Izzy continues to love her 'milkies.'

Along the way, Stephanie has become a big advocate for breastfeeding mothers in her community. Many times I’ve seen her calm anxious mothers whose babies were not breastfeeding. I use her visual story in a presentation to help other mothers persevere through the pumping process until they are rewarded with a fully breastfeeding baby.

The Organizational Magic of Grocery Stores

Visual analogies can literally walk people through a concept. A favorite example Andrew and I use all the time goes like this:

While teaching visually interactive presentation techniques, we cover several fundamental, yet hard to believe, concepts. People greatly struggle, for example, with the claim that they can have many thousands of slides on their computer and yet still quickly find and display any single slide within seconds to answer a random audience question. “No, way,” they think. “I can’t even find my car keys in the morning, much less locate one particular slide on the fly out of ten thousand options.” So, out comes our visual analogy to demonstrate that, yes indeed, they can accomplish this monumental feat with ease. Almost everyone understands the example instantly.

We display the slide in Figure 10 and say, “OK. Let’s say we have just entered this grocery store. Right away we encounter many thousands of products—but the goal is to find only a single product, a green apple. Where would you look for that product?

Probably you will ignore the meat department, floral displays, cosmetics, and everything else and head straight for Produce, because that’s precisely where an apple belongs (Figure 11).

Then, once in produce, all the vegetables can be ignored and most of the fruit displays. You look for the apple table instead (Figure 12).

At that point, finding the green apple is pretty easy (Figure 13).

Now, pretend this grocery store is your collection of presentation materials. Those ten thousand store products are the ten thousand PowerPoint slides on your computer. You just found one slide out of thousands of options, within three quick decisions—what amounts to three hyperlink clicks during a talk. That’s the power of organization. It’s that easy and fast.”

We typically deliver this visual analogy in less than two minutes while training, yet the effect on viewers is tangible. They quickly SEE the proof. Our talks, not surprisingly, are full of one visual story or analogy after another. It’s the best way to help people understand, and remember, ideas.

Final Thoughts

You may be thinking, “There’s no way I can pull this off in my company. Using visual stories like that would be viewed as unprofessional or even a waste of precious time that could be spent showing details.”

You’re right, perhaps. In that case, it’s a darn good goal to try and change the corporate presentation culture. Let’s face it. Viewers may (and that’s a big may) remember 5% of all those details your management so proudly insists you show. That means 95% of your time in front of people is utterly wasted. Entertaining viewers, capturing their attention, and directing memory toward a few key concepts might be a far more efficient use of time, rather than trying to cram everything down their throats.

By the way, be sure to have a camera constantly available, or use the one on your phone. You never know when a whisky shop, a ketchup-filled baby bottle, or an apple display might spark a brilliant visual idea that finds its way into your talks for years to come.

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