A picture is worth a thousand words

Remember in school how they said there were three types of learners, visual, auditory, and hands-on? Based on my experiences trying to get grown-ups to "understand", I've come to the conclusion that everyone is a visual learner.

If anyone sends an email longer than a couple of lines, it will go unread or be misunderstood (sometimes drastically). That goes for me too. In fact, I'm probably the worst culprit.

Spoken words are almost immediately forgotton or misinterpreted, often immediately after, or even during, a conversation. I've seen arguments in meetings stretch on for almost an hour, only to discover that everyone was really trying to say the same thing.

But with a picture, everyone immediately understands. Which accounts for the success of Microsoft Powerpoint (a presentation tool for presenting ideas visually). And Microsoft Visio (a tool that can be used for graphically exploring ideas). There's even a methodology involving shapes, called cloud diagrams, to "think" on paper, so that everyone involved can actually see everyone's ideas.

I can't count the number of times I've tried to explain to someone that "when I'm finished, the button will go here", or something similar, but it very rarely works. If you don't have a picture, you're probably wasting your time.

There is one exception, however (in my humble opinion). If you can paint a picture using words, it's as good as if you were using a real picture. Repeating yourself also helps.

Like this...

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.


The Bible is a perfect book.