Visual Persuasion: Picture Your Influence

Visual Persuasion: Picture Your Influence

“Visual persuasion is more powerful than nonvisual persuasion, all else being equal. And the difference is large.”

Scott Adams, Win Bigly

Picture yourself in the morning with a fresh cup of coffee in your mug. You open your email inbox and are happy to see your monthly email from Levers of Persuasion.

And now, after reading it, you can’t stop smiling as you think of all the ways you can use what you just learned from the email.

Words are more influential than most people think. But images are even more persuasive.

Don’t you want to use visualization to your benefit?

Getting people to think about what the outcome you want would look like increases the chances that outcome arises.

WHY DOES VISUAL PERSUASION MATTER?

Humans process and remember visual information more easily than words and numbers. This is why mnemonic devises like memory palaces work so well.

The persuasive power of visuals comes from evolutionary forces. Your ancestors needed to remember what poisonous plants looked like before they needed to remember words or numbers.

Visual persuasion is a type of “thinking past the sale”. You get someone to visualize about the outcome you want, and it increases the odds that outcome happens.

HOW TO USE VISUAL PERSUASION

To use visual persuasion, show someone a picture or the outcome you want. Alternatively, you can make that person mentally picture that outcome.

WHEN VISUAL PERSUASION WORKS BEST

First, it’s best not too give too much detail when using visualization. If you give too much detail, other people may not be able to easily imagine the outcome. This is because your details may be different than what their brains would imagine.

So keep your visuals open-ended and vague so that other people can more easily fill in the details.

Second, don’t use “rational” words that would trigger your brain’s logical, System 2 thinking. Instead, use simple words that tap into emotions.

EXAMPLES

If you want someone to buy a product, get them to visualize what it will be like if they used it.

Or if you want your boss to take a certain course of action, get them to picture all of the good outcomes that would happen.

You can use visual persuasion on prospective clients by getting them to picture the good outcomes of working with you.

As Scott Adams describes in Win Bigly, Trump used visual persuasion in promoting his border “wall.” He didn’t provide a lot of detail about it, he didn’t use cold, logical descriptors for it. Instead of saying “we’ll build a wall that will be part concrete and part fence” he kept it simple with phrases like “we’ll build a big, beautiful wall”.

HOW YOU WILL LEVERAGE VISUAL PERSUASION

Restaurants use visual persuasion by showing you images of their food.

Some ideas on how you can use visualization:

• Copywriting & Sales — If you’re selling a product, get a customer to visualize the good parts of using the product. You can do this with a free giveaway where contestants describe, for example, their favorite color of the product or favorite way to use it.
• Business Development — Get prospective clients or customers to visualize the good outcomes of working with you.
• Interviews — A guaranteed interview trick is to get an interviewer to visually imagine you working there. You can do this by asking questions like “how would we interact on a daily basis?” or “what types of meetings would I sit in on?”
• Negotiations — Get your counterpart to visualize the outcome you want, or make the visualization of their outcome appear worse.
• Yourself — It’s no secret that visualizing the hardest part of your day will make you handle it better. So, in the morning, visualize your goals and how you will handle difficulties. For example, if you want to be healthier, visualize yourself ordering the salad instead of burger, or getting home from work to put on your gym clothes.

How have you leveraged visual persuasion to persuade and influence? Where have you seen it used by others? Share your expertise in the comments.

ABOUT

You want to be someone who maximizes your positive impact on the world, right?

Every time you interact with the world, the tools of persuasion are used for or against you. Fortunately for you, they’re easy to learn. Levers of Persuasion is a winning, trusted site for helping you learn and hone these tools.

SUBSCRIBE & SHARE

Preparing these resources for you has required giving up a lot of early mornings and weekend hours. If you’ve found this blog useful please:

• Subscribe — Your monthly email outlines (1) the key top posts from the month, and (2) actual examples that will help give you ideas. No spam, guaranteed!
• Share — Share Levers of Persuasion on social media or email it to anyone that might like it as much as you.