Audience Engagement Soars with Visuals

Rule # 10 of Dr. John Medina’s book Brain Rules is “Vision trumps all other senses”. What is he telling us? That vision is by far our most dominant sense, taking up half of our brain’s resources.  That we learn and remember best through pictures, not through written or spoken words. According to Dr. Medina, “If information is presented orally, people remember about 10 percent, tested 72 hours after exposure. That figure goes up to 65 percent if you add a picture.”  

This paints a pretty clear picture why we need to inject visual elements into our events.  And not just on session slides where we’ve heard for years that we need less text, larger fonts and more images. Throughout your event there are tons of opportunities to add more visual engagement.

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Content

• Capture attention through the use of graphic recorders or live illustrators.
• Create opportunities for facilitated brainstorming and problem solving through the use of tools like Mural.
• Visuals reinforce what attendees have heard. Helping convert it to long-term memory.

Bring Attendees in on the Action

• Involving participants helps create memories of your event.
• When visuals are interactive, they keep your audience engaged with your event and their fellow attendees.
• Engage your audience by allowing them to personalize elements of your event (coloring, signing their name, adding words or phrases). This also provides them another opportunity to interact with their peers.

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Elements Can Change Throughout the Event

• By undergoing change throughout an event, visuals give attendees a reason to return and check it out. Place these in high traffic areas (foyers) or areas where you want to draw traffic (part of the exhibit hall).
• Visual elements that allow for attendee input can provide those who are hesitant to raise their hand an opportunity to participate in a way that doesn’t require them to speak in front of an audience.
• Changing the lighting colors of your general session set from day to day can keep participants guessing what’s next. You can change the colors to promote specific sponsors or change them based on the time of day for each session.

Utilize Local Talent, Reinforce Your Brand, and Create FOMO

• Celebrate and recognize the destination where your event is located by using local artists or their artwork. This could include murals, chalk art, and more.
• Give attendees opportunities to share their participation in your event by posing and posting with backdrops and props. Almost everyone is on Facebook or Instagram these days. Give them a backdrop to use and promote your event at the same time.
• Provide branding and marketing opportunities. These types of visuals are built for social media posts. #yourbrand #yourevent

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A picture is worth a thousand words. We’ve heard that for years and the science is behind it. “Put simply, the more visual the input becomes, the more likely it is to be recognized – and recalled,” says Dr. Medina in Brain Rules. Make your event more memorable and engaging for your attendees. Add more visual elements!

To get more ideas on how to add visual elements to your event, download the complimentary Idea Book available on the right-hand side of this page.

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