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Visual Speech: how an artist drew my last Public Speaking performance

Last week I was speaking at the Association of Project Managers annual conference. The artist Vanessa Randall created a “Visual Speech”: a visual representation of my speech, as a record.

Visual Speech

It is fascinating seeing key content of my speech in a visual format. Of course I use visuals in my speeches: powerful images, BUT I don’t use powerpoint bullet points! So seeing a record and summary of your messages is fascinating.

I was aware of the five main points: after all, I had introduced these as the 5 top tips to being noticed in the workplace. Vanessa recorded these very clearly. But it was the other content: the asides; the off the cuff remarks and the responses to the audience reactions, that capture the whole experience for the listeners. I certainly didn’t script “Channel your inner Betty” and “Ding Dong” possibly requires some explanation!

And what did my audience say:

“You are Fab and you let your amazing voice come out once or twice. Wow. I’ve been to Verona to see Aida there. Amazing.  Well done to you. You were Fab and I will be recommending you where I can.” Monica Sasso: Fit Biz
” I enjoyed your session, and hadn’t realised that I was an example of “il divo”! thanks too for your simple advice on my vocal problem. I’ll certainly try it on Monday, which is my next major speaking engagement.” Dr David Hillson, The Risk Doctor

Vanessa Randall offers a service, creating a graphic representation of meetings, providing a visual record for participants. Her company, Thinking Visually offers a range of services as well as workshops, if you want to explore how to record in this medium.

As a public speaker, I find this fascinating. Our main communication streams are via visual, audio and kinaesthetic. Certainly these are all included in my speeches. Perhaps I should now consider creating a visual speech as a handout for future audiences.

What do you think? Do you feel the visual representation is a useful business tool?

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenny Andersson

    This is a fantastic idea Susan. I really love it and think it could be used in many areas of business. It would be interesting to see if a visual summary of any business meeting would be more effective than minutes!

    • Susan Heaton-Wright

      Thanks for your comment. Yes: it’s brilliant. Vanessa offers this as a service. We all have different learning styles and methods of absorbing information, so it is good that this is available to the ‘visual’ tribe!

  2. Sally

    Hi Susan,

    Love the idea of creating a visual of a talk. We so often hide behind PowerPoint – which I admit does have it’s uses in showing bullet points and data, but this goes further and has a greater impact long term. A new take on Mind Mapping?

    • Susan Heaton-Wright

      Absolutely; it is fascinating. I never use bullet points in presentations or speeches but have strong visual images. We all have different preferences for taking in information and learning styles; this is a great one and I am sure a very powerful business tool. Thanks for commenting.