Whether we intend to or not, our actions and our words convey meaning — but how sure are we that we are fully understood?  

One could have hoped that with modern tools and human evolution, we have already perfected the process of decoding what the other person is trying to explain.But, alas, no matter how hard we try, some parts of our message still get inadvertently lost in translation. Here are but a few examples:

• When shown an icon of a videotape cassette like this: 📼 not all generations could understand how this was earlier used for watching movies.

• Some ordinary-looking hand gestures or hand signals such as the “okay” sign 👌can be taken as offensive or rude in other cultures.

• Your reader may be taken aback when reading your text message in ALL CAPS, as it could mean that you are sending it in anger.

Well, the list could actually go on and on from here.So you see, the way we attribute meaning can be affected by time, space and even the form of how the message was sent.But while little misunderstandings seem trivial, misinterpretations can come at a high cost to business and society.

• A misplaced phrase in an operations manual produces faulty products.

• In an impending catastrophe, residents wouldn’t feel compelled to evacuate when the public advisory is too technical to understand.

• A sales team who didn’t fully understand the new pitch could ruin the company’s chances of meeting sales projections.

So, how do you make your message cut across different levels of understanding?  

How about making it relatable — tell it through a story.

The storytelling, of course, comes in multiple forms.But if you just want a quicker way to drive your point and translate your data (no matter how complex) into a story, then an infographic can come in handy.

An infographic is powerful since it quickly allows your brain to attach a meaning or an emotional response to it, in exactly 100 milliseconds of time after it has processed the image, truly faster than any block of words can. You can read in my another article: Why you Need Less Content in your Presentation?

You could say how infographics are too common nowadays, and the first image that comes to our mind would be icons and symbols with big digits of percentages, similar to this: https://blog.adioma.com/how-airbnb-started-infographic/or this: https://venngage.com/blog/what-is-an-infographic/

‍There are dozens of relevant collections on Behance which you can use — just be sure to filter only those which you think you will need.

However, infographic illustrations do not have to replicate such templates.To be remarkable, it is best to deviate from other existing infographics.

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See, people are getting tired of seeing familiar illustrations and would rather pay more attention to something fresh and original — even a handwritten, crude sketch would work to your advantage when it is done right.In this age where authenticity is king, you can very well disrupt all the standards and expectations on the medium that you use, as long as it speaks of your brand and can deliver your message effectively.

Remember, infographics can be your powerful tool to demonstrate your company’s value proposition. It is both a cornerstone piece as well as a highly-reusable asset since you can run several main themes based on a central infographic.If you want to know how infographics can best educate and market your seemingly complex idea, I’m up for the challenge!

Better yet, let’s schedule a call so we can start visualizing.