How to Choose the Right Visual Communication

In such a saturated world, getting your message across has become a fight as you battle with the thousands of other forms of visual communication to which we are all exposed daily. Especially as many businesses adopt an online presence, visual communication is key and it requires continual adaptation to remain aligned with modern processes.

As well as using visual communication to reach potential customers through social media or your web presence, it is also needed to keep your employees and stakeholders up to date on any organizational changes or new processes.

The Purpose Of Visual Communication?

Visual communication is necessary to portray messages, whether that be used to inform, inspire, or engage. The technique consists of visual elements which create a message using only visuals, an eye-catching approach that provides information in an instant. It tends to consist of choosing the right elements, considering where text can be swapped out for icons, imagery, graphs, or shapes to portray the same message in a more visually appealing manner.

Being able to communicate a key message is important in all industries, no matter what the organization does. In today’s day and age, words are not enough as many of us have programmed our brains to ignore large chunks of text or fail to retain any of the information. To combat this for key messaging, incorporating visuals in your day-to-day emails, signage, or presentations can refresh business communication in a way that benefits everyone involved.

The Most Popular Types Of Visual Communication

Visual communication doesn’t have to consist of advanced graphic design work or complex data portrayal, with plenty of examples that are simple to create and just as simple for the reader to digest. Whether you are using visual communication to show the results of a project, draw attention to key information, tell a story, or outline any new processes in the workplace, consider the best form of visuals to use from the following:

• Diagrams
• Infographics
• Imagery
• Flow charts
• Graphs
• Presentations
• Mind maps
• Icons

Improving Your Visual Communication In 6 Steps

1. Cut out the waffle

As much as you don’t want to be writing pages and pages of information, people don’t want to be reading it! Skip the excess text and consider which parts are necessary, focusing on what matters. If you are in a position where you are looking to visually communicate information for somebody else, take a recording of them explaining the information to you (with their consent, of course) and use this to jot down any key takeaways in note form.

2. Reconsider your email style

Emails are something that employees from many industries report taking up a huge chunk of their day, distracting them from their daily duties. We all send many emails, but how many are useful? Although it is a crucial communication tool, cutting down on unnecessary information will not only save you time but likely see a better output as the recipient(s) can process your communication easier. Swapping words for screenshots or diagrams is an effective way to improve visual communication, both clarifying your message and being more engaging for the reader so they do not have to scroll through paragraphs of text.

3. Take note of good visual communication

Now that you’re aware of what visual communication is and how it can help, you will start to notice good examples all around you. If you notice an impactful sign, email, or presentation, take a picture or write some notes so you can refer to them at a later date and incorporate the visual communication style into your own business. Keeping a folder of inspiration is a great way to improve yourself or show others, opening a discussion of what people think works well and how this can be used when communicating together.

4. Bring in some expertise

With so many of us being back to back all day, finding the time to improve our visual communication techniques can feel impossible. Instead of getting overwhelmed or delivering poor results, onboard a new member of staff to help out with the graphic design element. Being a popular approach for larger organizations, their skill set can be put towards things such as corporate presentations, creating diagrams for training purposes, creating informative video content, or designing signage to display around the site.

5. Open up the conversation

We can all improve our visual communication so as well as bettering our own, and help others do the same. Providing feedback does not have to be seen as criticism; instead, tactfully improve communication between yourself and a colleague or stakeholder by suggesting an improved method. For example, instead of sending endless emails back and forth, bring in visuals and suggest that the recipient does the same, sending data as a graph or turning paragraphs of text into a more consumable video.

6. Create a template

Switching to visual communication may not always feel like the most effective approach if it means having to take time to compile data for a graph or create an edited video. To speed up the process and help out your employees in the process, create business templates that can be used to quickly create a visual. Whether this is a graph that can be updated by just reentering the figures, a flow chart that can be edited online, or a presentation template that can be used for consistency, having an online bank of templates will benefit the whole organization while maintaining a professional appearance.