VISUAL MEDIA

Chapter 9
 Chapter 9 Outline

 When to Use Visuals

 Identifying Points to Illustrate
 When to Use Visuals
 The following are situations where you should
use visual media:
 1) To clarify: To support text descriptions of topics
that are graph-centered.
 Graph-centered topics include:
 Quantitative or numeric information
 Explanation of trends, descriptions
 When to Use Visuals
 2) To simplify: Divide complex descriptions into
parts that can be shown with conceptual models,
flowcharts, organization charts, or diagrams.
 3) To emphasize: You can call attention to a
specific point by illustrating them with line, bar, and
pie charts.
 4) To summarize: You can review the main point in
a narrative by providing a chart or table to
summarize the data.
Organization Chart
Simple Flowchart
Simple Diagram
Line Chart
Pie Chart
Bar Chart
 When to Use Visuals

 5) To reinforce: You can present

information in visual form to complement
descriptions in text.
 6) To attract: You can make material
much more interesting by decorating the
cover or title page and by breaking up
the text with visual aids.
 When to Use Visuals

 7) To impress: Build confidence by using

visual material to communicate
authenticity and precision.
 8) To unify: Show the relationships
between various parts of a whole.
 Identifying Points to Illustrate
 When you are deciding which points you should
to present visually, think of the five Cs:
 1) Clear: If you are having a tough time expressing
an idea in words, ask yourself if a visual element
will do the job instead.
 2) Complete: Visual elements, especially tables can
provide the supporting details for a main idea or
recommendation.
 Identifying Points to Illustrate
 3) Concise: If a part of your message requires detailed
explanation, see if there is a way to communicate this
information visually.
 4) Connected: A key goal of many business messages
is to show connections of some kind—similarities or
differences, correlations, cause-and-effect relationships,
and so forth.
 When you want your audience to see some kind of
connection, determine whether a chart, a diagram, or
another illustration can help you make that connection.
 Identifying Points to Illustrate
 5) Compelling: Will one or more illustrations make
your message more persuasive and more
interesting?
 Reference
 Bovet, S.L., & Thill, J.V. (2018). Business
Communication Today, 14th edition, Pearson
Education Limited.