Where visual communication can help public relations in storytelling
By Craig on Apr 8, 2010 in Blog guests & critiques, interviews, Communication tactics, Public relations | View Comments
This is the second of a three-part series of guest posts by professional illustrator and strategic communicator, Guy Downes. It discusses how the combined power of words and images can help PR pros communicate and engage audiences more effectively.
With its ability to share ideas and communicate more effectively, visual thinking can play a major role in storytelling, aiding public relations and marketing professionals help organisations achieve their communication and business objectives.
Whether it’s helping to share a company vision, deliver a thought leadership viewpoint or disclose the benefits of a new product, storytelling is an important skill in public relations to attract and retain an audience’s attention, if not the most important of all.
Stories bind us, build understanding, assign meaning, forge relationships and share our heritage as well as offer insight into our future. Great stories ignite the imagination – a deluge of facts and data do not. And pictures can play a powerful role within this narrative and by bringing words to life.
Using visuals to tell a story can be integrated into presentations, new business pitches, capturing ideas in critical business meetings, media relations and developing traditional and social media strategies. Communicating or humanising complex concepts can also be told simply using a cartoon or illustration.
Historically, photography has been a very powerful and successful visual medium in PR. Here’s a flavour of some alternative visual techniques for consideration that can help share information, engage audiences and aid the storytelling process at different stages of the PR process.
Graphic recording
This is a visual technique used in high-level meetings (e.g. strategic PR or campaign planning sessions) which helps people ‘see what they mean’ or ‘see where their ideas are going and how to get there’ in the planning stages of a PR campaign.
A ‘graphic recorder’ is a silent participant in the meeting who listens intently to what is being said and draws the conversation ‘live’ transferring what he/she hears onto large wall-size posters using images, icons, drawings and words. The final large-scale graphic recording poster provides a ‘big picture’ overview that participants can take-away and review to help plan future direction, actions, messaging and/or communication priorities.
Graphic recording is used frequently by corporations and organisations as well as at leading global events to record discussions. Type ‘graphic recording’ into your search engine and some great examples will come up. Here are some recent instances:
- The technique has been used at The World Economic Forum (Davos) during their WorkSpace sessions (see below)
- The FT ran a story with a great photo of graphic recording in action from this year’s Davos
- Time Magazine also recently showed Tony Blair in front of a graphic recording poster.
Infographics
These are visual and pictorial representations of data and information, which can provide PR consultants and their clients with the ability to:
- communicate a message quickly (as opposed to using lengthy text);
- engage the viewer with images and colour; and
- help explain complex information or abstract concepts using visuals.
Well suited to describe an issue, topic or a product, there are many fantastic examples of Infographics online
Presentations
Making presentations more engaging is a critical step in getting your audience to understand, retain and act on your information you are sharing. How you present your data visually is an important ingredient to achieve this. Pioneer Nancy Duarte from Duarte Design shares five rules to developing a world changing presentation in the following short video.
Cartoons and illustrations
Simple but effective, they are a great way to humanise complex issues, thought leadership topics or product benefits. Google used a cartoon to explain Chrome. Hitachi Australia launched an interactive site with cartoons – readers were invited to submit their I.T. horror stories and winners had their stories turned into a custom-made cartoon.
These are two great examples of how visuals can be used to engage and inform, as well as entertain.
What do you think about visual communication and its ability to communicate effectively? Is it used often enough by professional communicators? Are there other forms of visual communication you think can aid communication? What evocative and effective illustrations/images can you share with us?
About Guy Downes
Guy Downes is a graphic recorder and award-winning illustrator who runs his own visual communications venture. Guy has 10 years experience in communication and public relations, having previously spent six years at Howorth (an Ogilvy PR Worldwide company) in Sydney and four years In London working for Banner and Weber Shandwick Technologies. Guy can be contacted at guy@guydownes.com.au
This three-part series aims to spark conversation and information sharing on the combined role words and images can play in helping PR pros communicate and engage audiences more effectively. The first post discussed the power of visual communication and the third post will discuss barriers to visual communication adoption (and some solutions…).
PS (from Craig): I’d welcome you joining networks with me through my LinkedIn profile. Send me an invite!
PPS. And don’t forget you can subscribe to this blog via email or RSS at the top of the blog’s page, or Tweet about this post using the handy RT button, adding your own editorial two cents worth!
