Creativity and Imagery

A picture is worth a thousand words, isn’t right, because these days no one will ever read a 1000 words!

Even if you write the most brilliant book, you still need to get people to pick it up and look at it…and when pick it up, what do we look at? - the cover.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but we all do.

I don’t think it is controversial to say, the need to engage visually gets stronger as the generations get younger.

The abbreviation TL:DR sums it up perfectly.

This isn’t a moan, I want more visuals, but they need to be better visuals and we need more creativity to grab our attention. The world is becoming so visual even the good stuff gets swept away by volume.

The hook is to stop the scroll is one thing to maintain the attention is the next challenge.

Visuals are brilliant hooks, because:

1. Emotional Connection: Visuals evoke emotions more effectively than text alone. Cool images, trigger emotional responses, making the content more stick-able and relatable.
2. Be Memorable: Our brains retain visual information better than plain text. Combining images with ideas ensures they both get remembered.
3. Impact: Well-chosen images lend credibility to ideas. I love a clever model. They reinforce the message and make it more impactful.

Why is this important? ?Your career, your sales your success are all linked to the impact you make. And yes, you impact is linked to visuals.

If your visuals stand out, you’ll stand out.

If they don’t and you won’t.

Monthly Board Packs are getting thinner, words are being replaced by graphs and graphs by Power BI dashboards. I not only want the visuals, I want to interrogate them them slice and dice and unearth the root causes.

How do I make better visuals?

1. ?Format & Layout: Divide whatever it is into a 3x3 grid, you need structure and shape. To easily understand a visual, it needs a logical structure
2. Get Creative with Visual Metaphors: Simplify complex ideas by using visual metaphors. Symbolic images or icons in the mix can help.
3. Learn Canva: Back in the day it was the 3Rs, then word and excel, now you need to up your game. Oh, and by the end of the year, you must be on board with AI.
4. Be unexpected: Be new, be interesting, be connected. Hooks and explanation work well. A little shock and awe then explanation and value.
5. The four gold stars: Does your visual tell people what you want them to know, help understand it better, evoke a feeling and link to where to go next. These four things are your checklist to treasure.
6. Think creatively: My definition of creative is - Does it make you go WOW? ?Is it clever, insightful, memorable, and enlightening. ?If you struggle with this. Think of ten different ways to visually show something and the chances are two of them will be quite creative because you will have exhausted the boring obvious ideas on the previous eight.

The Ancient Romans knew all about the mastery of both words and images. Roman art, architecture, and symbols conveyed power, authority, and cultural identity. The Roman Senate’s debates were eloquent, but their impact was amplified by the grand architecture of the Forum. The triumphal arches celebrated military victories and the legions followed the Eagles Standard. This was all visual storytelling and selling the myth and power of Rome. Visually and ideologically.

The Romans knew that combining ideas with powerful visuals creates a potent compelling sell.

The battle honours on the Eagle standard are the ancient versions of our modern case studies and testimonials. Follow me, I’m a proven winner!

??CTA – What is your Eagle Standard? What would be on it that represents you and is it compelling enough to get me to follow?

Every time you go out to battle, what visuals do you need to help you win that sale, promotion or argument?