2. three
Using Visuals in Written and Oral Communication

3. Understanding the Visual Communication Process
Planning
Gathering and Collecting
Analyzing and Organizing
Choosing a Form
Placing and Interpreting
Evaluating

4. Planning Clarify complex or difficult information Illustrate relations
Reveal trends, patterns, and outliers
Emphasize facts
Add coherence
Overview and summarize data
Provide and keep interest
Enhance appearance 4

5. Gathering and Collecting
Mine data you or your company has already collected
Gather new data – internally or externally

6. Analyzing and Organizing
Analyze the data to gain a clear understanding of what you have
Organize the data to convey your message clearly to your reader

7. Choosing a Form
Select visuals to convey meaning quickly, easily, and completely.
Review content for ways visuals help communicate it.
Consider context of the audience that will use it and let the words you use to describe the information to complement the visual.

8. Source: http://www. visual-literacy. org/periodic_table/periodic_table

9. Placing and Interpreting
Place and use visuals near discussion of them.
Use an incidental reference to a visual carrying the primary message
Interpret thoroughly when words are carrying the primary message. One method (GEE) begins with a generalization or summary statement followed by examples and any exceptions.
Supplemental visuals should be placed in an appendix or at the end of a document or presentation.

10. Evaluating Ethically bound to present visuals with integrity.
Build credibility with accurate visuals by avoiding common errors.
Errors of scale (uniform scale size, scale distortion, zero points)
Errors of format (wrong chart type, distracting grids and shading, misuse of typeface, problems with labels)
Errors of misleading context (objective framing, reader empathy)
Ensure clarity through careful choices of format decisions and through factoring in context.
Create appeal that helps audience retain the information. 10

11. Choosing the Right Visual
Text-based Visuals
Data-generated Visuals
Other Visuals 11

12. Text-based Visuals Tables Pull Quotes Bullet Lists Text-based Charts
Organization charts
Flowcharts
Gantt charts
Decision trees
Concept or Mind map
Tag clouds 12

13. Data-generated Graphs and Mashups
Bar and Column Charts
Bars & Columns
Clustered (Multiple)
Bilateral
Stacked
Pictographs
Pie Charts
Line Charts
Area (surface)
Variance (High-Low)
X-Y (Scatter) Charts
Combination Charts & Mashups 13

14. Other Visuals Maps Three-dimensional Visuals Photographs
Quantitative (Statistical)
Physical (Geographical)
Three-dimensional Visuals
Photographs
Diagrams, Drawings, and more
Diagram
Drawing
Cartoons
Video clips and animation 14

15. Managing Visual Mechanics
Size Determination
Layout Arrangement
Type
Rules and Borders
Color and Cross-Hatching
Clip Art
Background
Numbering
Construction of Titles and Captions
Placement of Titles and Captions
Footnotes and Acknowledgments 15

16. Making Document Design Decisions
Layout
Type
Art
Color