Overcoming Objections through Visual Storytelling

Large development and infrastructure projects face two typical challenges.

Firstly, they're large, so they attract a lot of attention. And with that, inevitably, comes objections – usually from different groups, with very different concerns.

 Secondly, they're inevitably complex. Which means explaining the overall benefits and countering those different objections can be incredibly difficult, given that the picture is so multifaceted and detail-heavy.

 And if those challenges aren't great enough, you then have to add the even greater complexity that is people's emotions… because objections are, usually, driven far more by emotion than they are by rationale…

 Emotion is more powerful than reason; this is something generally pretty well acknowledged. And resistance to change – another well-documented human trait, and one of the main underlying reasons behind many objections to large developments – is a perfect example of emotions being in the driving seat.

The rational brain can normally see, or at least understand and accept, the benefits of a proposed change, whatever the specific case may entail – job creation, inward investment, improved sustainability, increased efficiency, much-needed housing, simple regeneration… But, if that change means buildings or areas holding people’s precious memories will be torn down or changed beyond recognition; if the routines people enjoy – the route taken on the school run, the commute, or the Sunday afternoon walk – will be impacted or no longer possible… the emotion that can bring has the ability to overpower any rational understanding of the benefits. Particularly if the benefits don’t impact them directly, in contrast to the things they perceive that they stand to lose.

 So, knowing that your development is likely to face objections with far-ranging concerns – from economical to societal to environmental to purely personal – with the additional factor of emotion being the stronger force behind most… what is the best way to get all the complex and multifaceted details and benefits of your development's proposition across?

 How best to overcome all those emotions, and successfully counter the objections? 

 The problem with details

 Well-thought out, detailed reports with rational arguments are a sensible means of getting detail across to someone. They allow you to comprehensively cover all angles. But how well do they really work? Will someone with an objection to your scheme, particularly if it's emotionally led, usually give the time and attention necessary to actually process all the information and understand the complexity of the scheme, so as to see the full picture and ensure an objective rationale? Probably not…

 Not only because emotion is likely to be overwhelming any desire for rational objectivity. But because that detail – given the scale and complexity of the project – is likely to be incredibly hard to process… and that goes for industry experts, let alone the many non-expert stakeholders involved.

 Think of the many strategies that make up a well-thought-out development. They are often hard to grasp individually, so trying to understand and process them all as an interwoven whole is another level. And one that many people simply won't have the capacity, or the inclination, to persevere with.

 So, it's necessary to find a way to make that information more manageable. A way to get the detail and the rationale across whilst also keeping someone's attention, and appealing to – or appeasing – the emotional part of their brain.

 And the answer to that lies in storytelling.

 The power of a story

 Stories make everything more memorable. Think of the books you read as a child vs. the textbooks you read as a student. Which do you still remember the most clearly, in the most detail, all these years later?

 It's the power of a story. Advice that is wrapped up as a fable tends to be the advice that stays with us longer… facts that were part of a funny anecdote tend to get cemented in our minds… even things as simple as mnemonics: obviously not a story in the traditional sense, but a collection of words that are far more memorable – thanks to their rhyme, rhythm or simply their relatability to reality – than the words they are serving to help us remember… The colours of the rainbow, the order of our solar system's planets – I'll bet you remember them better because of the rhymes, rather than just having learnt the facts themselves, right?

 So details that are hard to process or remember in themselves become more accessible, and often kind of impossible to forget. Information that you may not even be interested in, finds its way into your psyche… and it's all because of the way that information is presented.

 'Stories' appeal to both the rational and the emotional parts of the brain. They present the facts, the details and the 'truth'… but they do it in a way that we can relate to. They make it relevant. They make it emotional.

 So by presenting your facts and details as a story, you can use emotion to counter emotion…

 Next question of course is how to turn a complex, and perhaps not very 'exciting-sounding' topic of a large development project, into a story?

 Well it is possible, and it's even possible to make it exciting.

 Visual storytelling for development and infrastructure projects

 Visual storytelling is a marketing strategy used more and more across all manner of industries. Apple are particularly good at it… they manage to make something as simple as an earbud seem as though it's not only something we need, but something that will greatly enhance our life. An earbud…!

 So how does it work? It's about creating a compelling narrative to explain the many facets of your project (or product). And critically, it's about placing the customer -– or the target audience / stakeholder / concerned party – at the heart of the story.

 It's staging an emotional visual media experience, with imagery, music and dialogue, that creates a journey for your viewer… a journey that shows them what you need them to see, explains what you need them to know, and above all, keeps them interested throughout by tapping into their emotions… by making it relevant to them.

 In developments, it's taking all the different fragments of a project: the core intention behind it; the benefits it will provide, both to the end-users and to the wider community; the use of sustainable materials and/or the advanced sustainability features that will help drive our planet's future; how it will be used; how that will lead to knock-on positive impacts… how it will change things for the better; how it will look; how good it will look; how sympathetic; how consistent; how 'original' or 'fittingly modern'…

 All the fragments that are behind the very design, and all the fragments that answer each concerned party's questions…

 It's taking all those important details, and creating visuals to represent them –  CGIs, accurate verified views, animation and motion graphics so the viewer can see exactly what the development will look like and understand exactly how it will work, interviews with relevant parties so they can understand the impact it will have on those using it…

 Details and counter-arguments, considered and visualised one at a time, yet all seamlessly shown together through a film, or series of images, that takes the viewer on a journey – from start to end… point at a time – answering their questions, allaying their concerns, and presenting an easy-to-process explanation of all the benefits that the development will bring.

 It creates a strong, clearly reasoned, accessible, visual narrative that gives the whole picture in just a few minutes.

 It's interesting, it's understandable, it's compelling, and it's emotive – because it's relatable…

 And it means there's no need for anyone to spend hours ineffectually poring over reports, trying to put it all together themselves.

 Getting the details across is critical to shifting people's opinions. So it's vital those details are put across in the clearest way possible.  

 And saying it is one thing, but demonstrating it is quite another.

 Let me know if you want to see some visual storytelling examples. We've got loads.