How can you use visualization to help participants understand complex concepts?

The type of visualisation will also depend on the audience. If you're speaking to youth, pictures and illustrations will work best. If speaking to pre-schoolers, bright colours will be mandatory. Also, choose visualisations that contain very little text in case some audience members cannot read it. If using text, make sure it's large enough to be seen by an audience member right at the back of the room. When using a scatter plot or a network diagram, try not to cram too much information in it that can distract from the visualisation itself. In this case, you can break the visualisation down into more than one part.

If there is a narrative it helps to create a flow chart that step-by-step explains how the beginning connects to the end. If it is a complex topic, breaking it into parts and explaining the purpose of each will build a more solid baseline understanding.

Keep it simple. Use visualisation to support the dialogue. Draw basic shapes on a whiteboard to visualise situations, make graphs to easily interpret numbers, use 2-dimensional tables to flatten information. If people struggle the visualisation, it is not helping the facilitation.

I beg to differ here. Sometimes is useful to prepare visualization in anticipation, but drawing together can be a powerful tool to ideate, iterate over a complex concept and make the discussion more engaging. If you need to persuade someone towards an idea, draw together! However, to do that properly is important to develop your drawing literacy so you can choose the right visual tool (chart type, diagram, etc) to make the most of such moment.

It’s important to keep your visualisations relevant and sometimes the most relevant ideas can occur in the moment based on delegate input.

It is very useful to try and practice explaining the visualisation out loud to yourself. That way any gaps and confusion will become apparent. Understanding who is your audience can also give a hint if a deeply technical or general explanation is needed. Different audiences would care about different parts of the presentation.

I love starting of a visualisation and asking other people to participate. An example could be to have a dynamic to evaluate a process. Ask people to write comments on a post-it, have them put them on the wall while they explain the feedback. Then, have them group the feedback and grade the groups to focus on the most important topics.

Using your visualisation interactively is a good way to create a conversation with your audience. As a presenter, it can feel like you're being observed and very one-sided. Planning your visualisations at certain points in the presentation can inject some organic feedback from the audience.

When using collaborative visualisation tools, I find it helpful when people leave comments and questions in real-time. After the initial presentation is done, I can go over each of them and provide the necessary context. It also makes people feel appreciated because their question gets answered.

Using visualization to help participants understand complex concepts can be very effective. It can also greatly enhance comprehension and retention of complex concepts, making learning more engaging and accessible. One way to do this is to create visual representations, such as flowcharts, graphs, or mind maps that can illustrate key components and relationships within the concept. Also, designing visually appealing infographics that summarize the concept’s main points and relationships in a simple, engaging way. Lastly, narrating a story or scenario that incorporates a complex concept will make it relatable and memorable for the participants.