June 05, 2005

Where did you see my proposal?

I know, I know, I've been neglecting this blog terribly. Most of my professional and blogging time has been devoted to helping Yvonne (see my last post) launch WME Books, the Author Services division of her business. The related blogs are A-ha!: Authors helping authors and Business Blogging Boot Camp.

But, speaking of Yvonne, I've been meaning to follow up on the serious side of the semi-serious/semi-playful post in which I asked her to marry me. The information design point I wanted to make related to the power of images to connect to the emotional side of the reader's brain.

Take another look at the picture in the post and think about where you envision it happening. If you're a sports fan, I bet you're in a stadium. If not, perhaps a park, or an ocean beach.

The point here is that the words alone might reach the emotional level for those who've experienced a marriage proposal personally, but have less impact on others. By adding an image, we can both expand the range of people who have some experience with the kind of message and to some extent direct their attention toward the kind of experience we intend -- in this case the joyful, exuberant delivery method shown may succeed in carrying that message even for readers who might have had less pleasant experiences themselves.

So, please forgive me for using a personal example and for letting my attention stray from this blog for so long. I can't promise how often I'll be able to post, but I have no intention of abandoning this blog and the wonderful conversations it has enabled me to take part in.

"Talk" with you soon.

Jun 5, 2005 10:13:22 PM | Information Design

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Getting the Message Across I'm going to use a personal example/experiment to test my contention that adding graphics to your writing helps your audience understand the message better and faster. The Story Recently a good friend came up to Yvonne and said she'd just heard that congratulations were in order. Yvonne was puzzled as to which recent event the friend had in mind (we've been pretty busy starting a new business, a new blog, and so on). So Yvonne was even more puzzled when it turned out to be our engagement. We've been engaged for more than a year. So, to clear up any confusion or failure on our part to tell any of our other friends, I thought I'd do the whole thing over: The Message Now, because we're both bloggers I can easily go to Yvonne's blog and pick one of her recent posts, Female-Friendly at Home (which I certainly try to be :-)) and use the track-back link to send her a "ping" and get her attention. Just in case, though, feel free to send her an e-mail or comment on her blog to let her know you saw something here that she ought to take a look at. Once she...
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Yeah!: Visual Writing I just had to stop what I was doing and post when I had the latest CIO magazine stuck in front of me, open to an article entitled, "Needed: Good Writers" (available online). The article makes a number of good points about the importance of writing skills in work settings. But the one that jumped out at me noted the finding in a study by the National Commission on Writing that ranked "e-mail as the number-one form of writing in America, followed closely by presentation/ visual writing." Visual writing. As I've written before, adding graphics to writing can greatly enhance both the clarity and the brevity of the text. I hope this isn't too "male" an example, but think back to sandlot football and how much it helped in getting the play called quickly and clearly to have the quarterback diagram the play in the dirt.

Tom Collins

Recovering attorney, serial entrepreneur, grandpa, with a passion for learning new and connecting old "dots" for creative solutions -- and helping others do the same!

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