Presenting ideas comprehensibly

Endless strings of numbers and mountains of text – we come across both of these only too often during a typical working day. Visualizations can provide relief. Whether you need to present a complex strategy in a simplified way or put the finishing touches on a PowerPoint presentation, visualized elements can help to break down abstract concepts and simplify things that are difficult to understand. And best of all, visualization is not about talent, but much more about practice.

You see two pictures of horses here. One is drawn, the other is visualized. To draw a horse, you need talent, a great deal of practice and time. To visualize a horse, you don’t need any talent. With just a little practice, it will take you only about 30 seconds to visualize a horse.

We visualize when we need to do something “fast”.

And that’s why I often pick up my pen. The advantages:

• 100% attention: for the content that you’re trying to convey and for your own thoughts and ideas that come to mind while listening.
• Clarity: certain concepts will mean something different to each person. If you convert these concepts into pictures and compare them with others, you will realize that others may have a different idea of what is meant. Try it out in your team by asking everyone to visualize the term “value”. How many different pictures and meanings are produced?
• Mnemonic technique: unlike words, images are easier to fix in our memories and are easier to recall as a result.

What are visualizations exactly? Apart from being quick drawings? Visualizations consist of three elements: simple pictures, words and a structure linking these together and creating a context.

When you visualize, you are primarily listening. You are hearing what others say and forming your very own mental picture in your mind of what you are hearing. As an example, imagine a work colleague talking to you and telling you about their holidays they have just been on. What happens in your mind, what images come into your head?

Now look more closely at this image. What do you see? What shapes do you see? The visual ABC is made up of these shapes:

Now think of your image again. What shapes does it contain? Are they modified in some way or combined with other shapes? As the last step, take a pen and try to transfer this picture to paper using these simple shapes.

I’d like to show you some examples here of visualizations that are all based on the basic shapes. Icons, animals, frames and figures.

And now it’s your turn: try to draw these visualizations yourself. Think of where you want to start and what sequence works best or is the most efficient. You can also consider what meaning the visualization may have. Does the lifebuoy only mean a lifebuoy? Or can you also use it symbolically to refer to other concepts, such as “hotline” or “I need help”?

You see that you can already convey a great deal with just a small repertoire of “pictures”. You can still make variations by changing the size or number of symbols. This is another way to give your pictures different meanings and perspectives.

You can of course also create visualizations digitally. All you need for this is a tablet or iPad, a stylus and a good app. I enjoy working with the “Procreate” and “Paper” apps.