The Right Picture Is Worth Many More than a Thousand Words

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Do you have ideas that you want to express?

Do you need to influence people who have short attention spans?

Have you ever been accused of being long winded?

Do you like to have a powerful, lasting impact on other people?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, applying this blog post can help you become a master communicator.

I was inspired to write this post by two recent experiences. The first event was the speech I heard that Dr. Masaru Emoto made about how thought and music may affect the structure of freezing water. Dr. Emoto spoke little English, and his translator had trouble taking his ideas and casting them into English. But his photographs spoke eloquently by showing the processes involved in his experiments . . . and the results. As some say, "the results spoke for themselves" and I heard an eloquent lecture just from the images.

The second was a 15 minute talk given by Felice Frankel about creating a visual language in science. She works with scientists to help demonstrate their work with images taken of the work. For each scientific result, she showed several different images to make the point that subtle differences in images have a huge impact on how well a scientific idea is explained and understood. A little shadow more or less sometimes had a "night and day" influence on the quality of communication.

If abstract scientific ideas (normally explained in pages of formulas and diagrams) could be so powerfully communicated with photographs, I began to think that perhaps we should go first with photographs for all communications.

Experts in interpersonal behavior tell us that you have 7-12 seconds to grab someone's attention. Perhaps you are so attractive that your appearance will do that alone. Or perhaps you can tell you story very powerfully in 7 seconds. I cannot do either one. But I believe that I can show a picture that will get my point across in an arresting way in 7 seconds. And I think you can too.

Here are some ideas to help you.

1. Ask people who understand your point what images they think of that encapsulate the point.

Don't just ask a few people. Ask everyone you can. You will begin to hear themes of mental pictures that your work has conjured up for people. Those themes will give you the master key to images that you can use to express your point for others.

For instance, Carol Coles, Robert Metz and I wrote a book called The 2,000 Percent Solution. The idea is to get 20 times the results with the same effort. When I think of the concept, I first see a person who is out of shape trying to jump into the air and not going very high . . . and then I see a second person jumping down ten feet onto a trampoline and rebounding 20 times higher than the first person.

What images do you see for a 2,000 percent solution?

2. Ask everyone you know and meet what they think of when they see various images that have been suggested to you.

This process will help reveal flaws in the imagery. For instance, someone might tell me that the image I described is actually a before and after picture of someone who got into shape . . . rather than a 2,000 percent solution. That would tell me that my image needs further work, or I need to use a different image.

3. Try creating new pictorial executions of the various concepts based on the feedback you received.

For example, I might put in measurements to show that the second height is 20 times higher than the first one and add a caption "A 2,000 Percent Solution" to clarify the point.

Then I can show the revised image to new people to see what they interpret to be the lesson. I can continue to revise and repeat until the message is becoming clearer.

4. Create a large number of executions of the same image.

For example, some ideas work better as humor. I can look for cartoons that capture my message. Other times, memories help reinforce a message so I could use famous photographs to convey a point such as by putting one of Robert Goddard's rockets up next to a model rocket today that a child could launch to 20 times the altitude of Goddard's rocket. Or I might juxtapose a photograph of a letter carrier walking with mail in hand from 1900 with an image of someone sending an e-mail.

I can also stage photographs and have drawings done.

5. Have 300 people you want to influence look at the best images you have and tell you what they like and don't like about each one.

If you are making a speech to a large number of people at one time, you can simply try out the images at the beginning of your next speech. Or you can post the images on a Web site and ask people to vote for their favorite.

6. Test your best image in practice.

If you are a speaker, alternate images to begin your speeches and test how well the audiences respond. If you are a writer, put out different galleys of your writing with different images and ask people to rate the writing . . . and explain the messages.

7. Keep looking for a better image.

You can still improve your image if people are failing to explain your ideas to others to your satisfaction. When you have done your job well, you should be influencing the average person who sees your image to describe what they learned to 50 other people. Until you have reached that level of effectiveness, you haven't fully accomplished your purpose.

8. Run a contest to find a better image.

As I described yesterday, people love to help. If you pose the challenge of finding a better image, you will get lots of ideas. Keep sharing what works and doesn't and ask for improvements. Offer recognition and benefits for a better solution, and you will gain one.

In fact, share with me your ideas for how to illustrate the book that will be written based on this blog. Any ideas that I test will earn you an acknowledgment in the book. If your idea is the one we use for the book, I will spend a day in person or on the telephone (if you live far away from me) discussing how you can live better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day. Send your ideas to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com with a subject heading of "Images for Live Better than a Billionaire". I look forward to your ideas!

Please add your comments about ways you have found great images to express your ideas. I'm sure other readers will be grateful to you. Thanks!

Can any billionaire do better? I doubt it.

Billionaires usually don't have any ideas they want to share with anyone. A good idea for them is usually one that creates lots of wealth.

As a result, billionaires are unlikely to do lots of casual testing of images and ideas. That means that their ideas and images will be less developed than what you can accomplish.

Use your advantage!

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N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color. Many thanks to Linda Grace for her suggestions which I am following!

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Here are some upcoming subjects:

Tomorrow, let's design a great second date!

Saturday, we will visit Dr. Masaru Emoto again to explore his ideas for using Hado water to improve your health and the quality of your life.

Sunday, let's sit quietly and think about how prayer can enrich your Sundays.

On Monday, join me in looking at how blog writing can enrich your life better than a billionaire.

Tuesday, we'll look at how to enjoy your next (or first) cruise more.

On Wednesday, I'll share the story with you of the "accidental mansion owner" and I promise that you'll chuckle for days over this one.

Thursday, let's explore plans for a terrific Thanksgiving.

On Friday, I'll describe my fantastic visit to the University of Michigan-Penn State game in Ann Arbor and advise you on even more ways to enjoy college football.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to check out the updated table of contents entry that I posted on October 26. The table of contents will help you find earlier entries that may be of interest. I'll update this table of contents every week or so for your convenience.

August 31 was the most frequently read blog entry to date. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Check out the latest index at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005/10/latest-table-of-contents-to-this-blogs.html to pick out your choice.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell