What's more memorable: pictures or text?

The intuitive answer might be: pictures. This is true in some instances but not all instances. What would be more practical and progressive is to ask the question differently: how do you make words and pictures memorable? This is a better approach because sometimes you can only share words with your business audiences (e.g., writing an email, talking on the phone, or recording a podcast).

Other times, you might be creating slides or videos, in which case, images might need to be more memorable. And yet other times, you're combining words and pictures, and you would like both to contribute to memory, such as when you're sharing your company story on a web site. So let's look at how you can make words and pictures memorable when used independently and when combined.

Let's start with words. The good news, especially if you're not a graphic artist, is that it's possible to get others to remember words. Consider two ways to accomplish this.

Use concrete words

Two theories support this argument. One is the dual coding theory, which identifies two cognitive subsystems: one for processing nonverbal objects/events (i.e., pictures), and the other for language. Using this premise, a picture superiority effect has emerged, according to which, pictures are more memorable because they appeal to both systems. But this theory does not have to be true just for pictures. A concrete word such as "dog" or "flower," can help one encode it as a verbal code and an image code (therefore dual coding), because it helps the brain picture the concept. On the other hand, reading an abstract word such as "guilt" or "cynicism," one can mainly encode it with a verbal code, since there isn't a quickly accessible image, unless you're prompted. What picture comes to your mind when you see the word "cynicism"?

There is also the context-availability theory to consider, according to which concrete words activate a larger semantic network and as a result, concrete words are recognized faster and remembered better.

Thinking of your own content, do you typically share with your audiences concrete words that are easy to picture? Or are your words more like the example below?

Adoption of our platform accelerates sharing of quality data and enables you to integrate data directly into internal knowledge management systems and process analytical tools. This leads to improved monitoring, analyses of production performance, and more efficient processes for out-of-spec situations.

If someone tested your memory of the paragraph above two days from now, would you be able to restate it? If you're not an expert in the topic covered in the paragraph, it's difficult to remember so many abstract words. However, abstracts are still useful in business because they typically summarize something that is essential, which the brain needs to navigate the world. So, if you aspire at memory and your content does not render itself to concrete words, here is how to...

Rescue abstracts from amnesia

Abstract words are not doomed from memory. If you think about lessons you would like your customers, teams, or children to remember, they are very likely abstract in nature. When you die, you would rather have others remember that, "He was a dreamer" (abstract), not that, "He was a fast typist" (concrete). To make abstract words memorable, consider these techniques:

• Mix abstract words with concrete words. Let's say you wanted someone to remember to ease stress by toning down first world problems. This is an abstract sentence. But it's possible to get someone to remember if you say, "Do you hear of people complaining that "my house is too big for a strong Wi-Fi signal," or the "phone changes 'lol' to 'LOL' and it's making me sound more excited than I am," or "I want to eat my chips but I can't hear the TV..." When you include the abstract conclusion before or after a list of concrete items, it's easier for the brain to encode both the verbal and the image codes, therefore improving the chances for memory.
• Put abstracts in context. As you're reading the examples above, even though the conclusion about toning down the stress of first world problems is abstract, it's easier to remember it because you can picture a large house, a text message app on an iPhone, or someone eating chips in front of the TV. All ideas you share with your audiences can have a natural habitat, a real context. Describe it and you will make it easier on the brain to remember abstract words.
• Repeat relevant abstracts frequently. While it's easier to remember something you can picture, it's not impossible to remember something you can't picture through a lot of repetition. Of course, throughout this discussion, we're assuming that the abstract concepts you're sharing are relevant to your audience. When something is critical to someone's job, even a phrase like "more efficient processes for out-of-spec situations" can be a memorable.

Are words ever more appropriate to use than pictures? If you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation with customers or internal teams, it's more advisable to have a conversation based on words vs. pictures. According to fMRI studies, emotionally evocative pictures activate the amygdala, but linguistic processing of the picture lowers that activity and increases activity in a part of the prefrontal cortex instead (in a region associated with emotion regulation). In other words, when people put feelings into words, they are more likely to deactivate strong emotions through interpretation and labeling. This can be useful when handling difficult conversations.

Where pictures are concerned, conventional wisdom has it that pictures are more memorable than text. We've already seen that's not always the case. In addition, it's also possible for people not to remember pictures at all. In a recent neuroscience study I conducted, we invited 74 participants and asked them to wear EEG, ECG and eye tracking equipment while viewing a Zoom recording of a 7-slide sales pitch, which included 10 images. 76% of participants remembered one image out of 10, with the most popular image being a screen shot of a software platform, which was the essence of the presentation.

So here are some steps to consider when creating memorable images:

• Determine which pictures should be memorable. The mere inclusion of an image in a business artifact does not guarantee memory. And knowing that out of an array of images, people will only remember a few, a better approach for business content is to determine which pictures in your communication materials should be memorable and put more effort into creating those. To start:
• Make the critical image stand out. You can accomplish this by making sure it is not surrounded by a lot of other images or a lot of written words (written words are also a graphical element!), and it is not so complex that people don't know where to look. In the example below, can you tell how it would be difficult for someone to remember the picture? Of course, sometimes it's clear that not all pictures should be memorable because they can be consulted later, such a complex diagram. If that's the case, then the only effort on your part is to remind audiences where to find the important image and give them the confidence that the image is easy to understand.

• Share clear pictures. I purposefully created the slide above, as a non-example, to prove this point. Do you ever hear presenters apologize for the "details included in this slide"? If that's the case, make sure that at some point, your audience has access to a clear visual that's easy to process and navigate.
• Replace some cliché pictures with functional ones. In another EEG study I conducted, forty four participants viewed an eBook, which had 7 generic images (you know the kind...people looking at computer screens either happy or worried, timelapse of movement on a highway, etc.). I noted that we could get away with 10% of such generic photos. So don't replace all generic images because people find comfort in the cliché. However, if you're aspiring at memory... the most memorable image was one that taught viewers something. For instance, when we replaced a generic image of the Internet of Things (IoT) of people touching random dots on a tablet with a diagram that explained what IoT includes, participants tended to pay more attention, like the image more, have less cognitive workload and overall, remember the picture.

Making both words and pictures memorable

According to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, viewers who are exposed to both pictures and narration score higher on memory tests than viewers who are exposed to only pictures or only words. This may be because when they are integrating both words and pictures, people engage with that content more deeply. So when you have the opportunity, and assuming it's a positive interaction (not resolving a conflict), rather than just talking on the phone, invite the customer or team member on a quick Zoom so he can integrate images and words together from two different channels.

The word of caution in a multimedia context is not to overwhelm the visual channel. For instance, if a slide in your presentation included a picture and words explaining the picture, and the narrator also explained the same thing in detail with concrete words, the visual channel becomes overwhelmed.

If your content is highly complex, including pictures (e.g., diagrams) and words, like the complex example shared earlier, consider displaying those in smaller chunks, with animation, so you offer a better cognitive workload. Your audiences will enjoy not only that segment but they will want to return because they may remember not just the pictures or words, but also the feeling of cognitive ease.

References

Fliessbach, K., Weis, S., Klaver, P., Elger, C.E., & Weber, B. (2006). The effect of word concreteness on recognition memory. NeuroImage, 32, 1413-1421.

Hariri, A.R., Bookheimer, S.Y., & Mazziotta, J. (2000). Modulating emotional responses: effects of a neocortical network on the limbic system. NeuroReport, 11(1), 43-48.

Jessen F, Heun R, Erb M, Granath DO, Klose U, Papassotiropoulos A, Grodd W. The concreteness effect: evidence for dual coding and context availability. (2000). Brain Lang, 74(1), 103-12.

Sadoski, M., Goetz, E. T., Stricker, A.G., & Burdenski Jr., T.K. (2003). New findings for concreteness and imagery effects in written composition. Reading and Writing, 16(5), 443-453.

Smith, R., & Hunt, R. (2020). When do pictures reduce false memory? Memory and Cognition, 48, 623-644.

Carmen Simon, PhD, is the Chief Science Officer at Corporate Visions and author of Impossible to Ignore: Creating Memorable Content to Influence Decisions. She uses neuroscience tools to research how the brain processes business messages, remembers them, and decides to act (or not).