Episode 209

How to Turn Words into Visuals

As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Visuals are a quick, efficient, and effective way of getting your message across, so your audience understands and retains key information. But how do you create effective visuals?

In this episode of The Visual Lounge, we welcome back Mike Parkinson, keynote speaker and trainer, Principal of 24 Hour Company, and Owner of Billion Dollar Graphics. Mike gives an in-depth look at how you can tap into the nature of the human brain to create the best visuals. We hear how to work with the automatic and manual sides of our brains to deliver information effectively.

He explains his step-by-step process, starting with goals and audience to working out your means and motivators – all before you even start thinking about how your visuals will look. For a masterclass in creative visuals and visual messaging, don’t miss this episode!

Learning points from the episode include:

  • 00:00 – 01:55 Introduction
  • 01:55 – 02:54 Mike’s tip for making images better
  • 02:54 – 06:21 Why should you deliver your message in visual form
  • 06:21 – 09:27 How to start crafting your message
  • 09:27 – 14:00 Tying messages to emotions to engage people
  • 14:00 – 17:16 Means and motivators in your messaging
  • 17:16 – 22:05 Taking chunks of information and turning it into a story
  • 22:05 – 24:24 How to convey a message visually
  • 24:24 – 26:14 The benefits of following a clear process
  • 26:14 – 29:45 Why AI can be a “smart start” but not a replacement for creatives
  • 29:45 – 33:50 Speed round questions
  • 33:50 – 34:32 Mike’s final take on using visuals
  • 34:32 – 35:27 Outro

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About the Podcast

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The Visual Lounge
Discussions about the power of visuals and videos and how to make them even better.

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About your host

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Matthew Pierce

Matthew Pierce, Learning & Video Ambassador from TechSmith Corporation, has created videos for learning and marketing for over a decade. He is the lead behind TechSmith Academy, a free platform teaching video and image creation for business, which has been used by tens of thousands of users. He is the host of The Visual Lounge Podcast from TechSmith, which streams live on Youtube and LinkedIn weekly. Matthew is a regular speaker at multiple learning and development-focused conferences and is a regular contributor to various training publications. Connect with him on LinkedIn.