2.

Despite my long history with this song, I had only ever heard ABBA
sing it — now, I would actually be able to watch ABBA sing it.
Fully expecting to be transported to my glorious youth, I hit play
… that’s when I saw it. During the opening verse, both singers clearly
rounded their pursed lips into an unmistakable ‘J’ form. For the first
time in my life, I heard the correct lyrics: ‘You can dance, you can jive’.

Images + Speech
The song was never about someone passing away; it’s always been
about someone getting down (which, in hindsight, makes a whole lot
more sense).
So what happened? How is it possible that watching someone sing
a song could overwrite twenty years of memory forged by listening to
that song?

We hear and apprehend only Hear with your eyes, see with
what we already half know. your ears
— Henry David Thoreau My Dancing Queen debacle was a real-world example of the McGurk
Effect, a psychological phenomenon that illustrates how what we see
can drive what we hear.
If you were to take part in a typical McGurk experiment, it would
ABBA.
go something like this. You’re sitting in front of a computer screen,
Dancing Queen.
watching a man exaggeratedly mouth the word ‘baba’ while over a set
I take little pride in admitting it, but for a short period during
of speakers you hear him saying that same word. Every second or so
my formative teenage years, this was easily my favourite song. In fact,
you hear it: ‘baba … baba … baba’.
I’d say I listened to it upwards of 300 times throughout the mid-90s
Suddenly, while the voice continues unchanged over the speakers,
— and during all that time I was absolutely certain that the opening
the man on the screen starts mouthing a different word. Rather than
lyrics were: ‘You can dance, you can die, having the time of your life’.
pressing his lips together to form ‘ba’, he deliberately puts his front
To be honest, this did always strike me as slightly macabre, but come
teeth against his lower lip and exaggeratedly makes a ‘fa’ form.
on … it’s ABBA … what else could I expect?
That’s when it happens.
Jump to earlier this year. I’m at work surfing YouTube when
Rather than the clear ‘b’ syllable you’ve been hearing all along,
I randomly stumble upon the original Dancing Queen music video.
you start to hear a much softer ‘f ’. Even though you know the audio

26 Images + Speech 27
 hasn’t changed in any way, you start to hear a totally different word:
‘fafa … fafa … fafa’.
Convinced the researchers must be playing some sort of trick
on you, you close your eyes. With the face gone, the audio clearly
reverts to what it’s been all along: ‘baba’. But as soon as you open
your eyes and focus back on the man’s face, the voice shifts again
to ‘fafa’.
Many people seem willing to accept that vision can drive hearing
(perhaps this has to do with the tangible nature of visual objects as
opposed to the largely ‘invisible’ nature of sound waves). However, it
might come as a bit of a shock to learn that this relationship isn’t a
one-way street. For as many instances as we can find of vision driving
hearing, there are an equal number of hearing driving vision.
Perhaps the best-known example is something known as
the Shams Illusion. If you were to take part in a typical Shams
experiment, it would start similarly to the McGurk experiment
above. You’re sitting in front of a blank computer screen. Suddenly,
at random intervals, a loud beep plays over the pair of speakers
while, simultaneously, a small circle quickly appears and disappears
on the screen.
Occasionally, two loud beeps play in rapid succession over the
speakers while two circles quickly appear and disappear on the
screen. It’s all fairly simple — when you hear one beep, you see one
circle; when you hear two beeps, you see two circles. Nothing to get
too excited about.
Of course, it’s all an illusion. Regardless of how many beeps
are played over the speakers, only one circle is ever flashed on the
computer screen. At no time do two circles ever appear on the screen
— yet you’d swear you see two circles every time you hear two beeps.
ILLUSTRATION 10. THE MCGURK EFFECT This is essentially the flipside of the McGurk Effect. Whereas before
what you saw changed what you heard, in this illusion what you hear
changes what you see.

28 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 29

 The ecological shift
There’s clearly a strong and integrated relationship between what we
‘Where’ Pathway see and what we hear. But how does all of this work?
In the last chapter we learnt that when we hear something, this
Motion/Speed
information is first processed along the sides of the brain within the
auditory cortex.
Form
Conversely, when we see something, this information is first
Primary processed along the back of the brain within the visual cortex. This very
large neural area is divided into several distinct regions, each of which
serves to process a different aspect of whatever it is we are looking at.
Colour For instance, when watching a bird fly, different regions of the visual
‘What’ Pathway cortex process the edges of the bird, the colour of the bird, the motion
of the bird, etc.
Earlier, we saw that trying to funnel two different streams of
ILLUSTRATION 11. YOUR VISUAL BRAIN
information down a single processing channel causes a bottleneck
which leads to a loss of information. Luckily, hearing and vision
utilize different processing channels. This not only eliminates any
bottleneck, but also allows us to combine hearing and vision into
HEARING
a single, consolidated signal. This process is what is meant by
sensory integration.
Importantly, sensory integration is not an additive process (A + B
= A and B) — it is an ecological process (A + B = C). As an example,
imagine if you dropped a dozen non-native beetles into an otherwise
balanced garden. The results wouldn’t simply be the same garden plus
beetles. Rather, this one addition would change everything: the food
chain, the nutrients in the soil, the survival conditions. The same is
VISION
true for hearing and vision. In a very real sense, when what we hear
joins with what we see, a completely new entity emerges. Perhaps no
ILLUSTRATION 12. SIGHT AND SOUND MIX FREELY — NO BOTTLENECK!
process has better epitomized the phrase ‘The whole is greater than
the sum of its parts’.
Let’s see what this all means in the real world.

30 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 31

 Interpretation
Let me quickly acknowledge the elephant in the room: over the
next couple of sections I am going to attempt to demonstrate how
hearing and vision combine to generate meaning. To that end, I’m
not 100 per cent sure a book is the best medium with which to
accomplish this task. However, as we learnt in the previous chapter,
reading written text is similar to listening to oral speech. As such,
although the examples we’ll use aren’t ideal, they should be effective
enough to get the basic points across.
To begin, I’d like you to take a look at the picture opposite, then
read the passage following it.
Again, allowing for the fact that reading is standing in for listening,
I imagine you found this passage relatively simple and straightforward.
It’s an innocuous tale of a group of friends gathering for a weekend
card game. Fair enough.
Now I’d like you to take a look at the image on the next page and
read the passage following it.
Every Saturday night, three good friends get together. When Jerry Same story, same words, same sounds entering your ears — yet
and Casey arrive at Karen’s house, Karen is sitting in her room writing the accompanying image changes how you interpret this auditory
some notes. She quickly gathers the cards and stands up to greet her information. When the image changes, words like notes, score and
friends at the door. They follow her into the living room but, as usual,
performance suddenly take on a totally different meaning. Similarly,
they can’t agree on exactly what to play. Casey eventually takes a
stand and they begin. Early in the evening, Casey notices Karen’s hand
phrases like ‘She quickly gathers the cards and stands up’ and ‘the tempo
and the many diamonds. As the night progresses, the tempo of play of play increases’ resonate in completely novel ways. Importantly, this
increases. Finally, Karen says ‘Let’s hear the score.’ They listen carefully interaction works both ways: the sounds you are hearing (or, in this
and comment on their performance. When all is done, Karen’s friends case, reading) impact the way you interpret each visual image. In the
go home, exhausted but happy.
first sequence, you likely attached the name Casey to one of the male
characters and took special interest in Karen’s flush draw. Conversely,
ILLUSTRATION 13. INTERPRETATION — PART I in the second sequence, you likely attached the same name to one of
(INSPIRED BY ANDERSON ET AL. 1977) the female characters and took special interest in the rings adorning
Karen’s bow hand.
This is what I meant earlier by an ecological process. As information
enters your eyes, it changes the way you process and interpret

32 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 33

 information entering your ears. Similarly, as information enters your
ears, it changes the way you process and interpret information entering
your eyes. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Comprehension
Again, allowing for the fact that we are confined to using reading as a
substitute for hearing, read the passage below.

If the balloons popped, the sound wouldn’t be able to carry

since everything would be too far away from the correct floor.
A closed window would also prevent the sound from carrying,
since most buildings tend to be well insulated. Since the whole
operation depends on a steady flow of electricity, a break in the
middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course, the
fellow could shout, but the human voice is not loud enough to
Every Saturday night, three good friends get together. When Jerry carry that far. An additional problem is that a string could break
and Casey arrive at Karen’s house, Karen is sitting in her room writing
on the instrument. Then there could be no accompaniment
some notes. She quickly gathers the cards and stands up to greet her
friends at the door. They follow her into the living room but, as usual, to the message. Clearly, the best situation would involve less
they can’t agree on exactly what to play. Casey eventually takes a distance. Then there would be fewer potential problems. With
stand and they begin. Early in the evening, Casey notices Karen’s hand face-to-face contact, the least number of things could go wrong.
and the many diamonds. As the night progresses, the tempo of play
increases. Finally, Karen says ‘Let’s hear the score.’ They listen carefully
and comment on their performance. When all is done, Karen’s friends
go home, exhausted but happy. If you’re like most people, you probably found this a bit odd. At a base
level, the words in this passage are simple and easy to follow — but
what do they mean? Although these words make sense, there is simply
ILLUSTRATION 14. INTERPRETATION — PART II
nothing tying them all together into a coherent concept. In fact, if I were
(INSPIRED BY ANDERSON ET AL. 1977)
to test your memory for what you’d just read, you might be able to recall a
fleeting detail here or there, but overall you’d likely perform quite poorly.
Now, take a look at the image on the next page.

34 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 35

 the number of floors between the singer and the woman) while other
details fade to the background (the moon in the sky, the city buildings)
and meaningful comprehension is achieved.

Is all of this really necessary?

You may have noticed that, in each of the examples above, I could
have simply added additional words in order to clarify details. For
instance, I could have said, ‘Imagine a man is playing a guitar, and
that this guitar is plugged into an amplifier, and that the amplifier is
being hoisted six storeys off the ground by a dozen balloons …’. This
would have gotten the point across, no picture needed.
So, what’s the point of including images with spoken words?

EXPEDIENCE AND SPECIFICITY

It boils down to expedience and specificity. To demonstrate, below is the
original written description of a famous literary character. Read it and see
ILLUSTRATION 15. SENSORY INTEGRATION DRIVES COMPREHENSION how long it takes for you to determine which character this is describing.
(FROM BRADMAN & JOHNSON, 1972)

His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his

Suddenly, the earlier passage makes sense. With the inclusion of features as beautiful. His yellow skin scarcely covered
the visual information, what you hear comes to life: specific details are the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was
spotlighted, patterns are formed and coherence is reached. Whereas of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly
before you could read the words, now you comprehend them. whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more
But, as before, this isn’t a one-way street: if I were to have first
horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed
shown you the picture in isolation — with no accompanying sounds/
words — you likely would have found it cute but ultimately lacking almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in
in specificity. With the accompanying passage, certain details take on which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and
special importance (the wires tying the speaker to the ground console, straight black lips.

36 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 37

 Expedience: images allow us to process an incredible amount of
information in an amazingly short time. Whereas it probably took you
about 30 seconds to read the original written description, it likely took
you about 0.2 seconds to recognize the image opposite.
‘But wait,’ you might be saying. ‘You could have simply said the
words “Frankenstein’s monster” and I’d have gotten it just as quickly’.
This is absolutely true — which brings us to the second topic.
Specificity: over the last century, there have been dozens of
variations of Frankenstein’s monster. Beyond Mary Shelley’s original
description and Boris Karloff ’s definitive portrayal, there is Peter
Boyle’s comical spin in Young Frankenstein, Robert De Niro’s emotional
deconstruction in the 1994 film version, Rory Kinnear’s pale gothic
take in the television program Penny Dreadful. If I had simply said
the words ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ then continued with a lengthy oral
discussion of this character, there is simply no guarantee everyone
would be conjuring up the same mental images of the monster.
Seeing as the images we conjure up will change how we interpret and
comprehend the words we hear, using a picture ensures everyone is on
the same page and building the same understanding.
In summary: audio alone works fine. Visuals alone work fine. But
audio and visuals together can be transcendent.

ILLUSTRATION 16. THIS IS MUCH EASIER

38 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 39

-
BURNING QUESTION 1:

QUANTITY

‘How many images should I

include on each slide?’
Implications for leaders,
teachers and coaches When people first learn of the power of images, they can
sometimes go a little overboard. The thought process is clear
enough: if adding one picture can improve memory, then
1. Use (predominantly) images on slides adding ten pictures should blow memory right out of the water.
Unfortunately, more is not always better.
In the previous chapter, we learnt that filling a PowerPoint slide Earlier, we learnt that people can analyze and recognize
with text will force the audience to choose between listening to the images incredibly quickly (around 0.2 seconds). Unfortunately,
words you speak or reading the words you wrote; they cannot do both this speed is confined to one complex image at a time. In order to
simultaneously. So what should we be putting on our slides? You’ve comprehend multiple complex images appearing simultaneously,
probably guessed the answer: images. people must process each in turn. This not only increases the time
As outlined above, not only can visual images and oral speech be it takes to interpret multiple images, but also drains attentional
processed simultaneously, but this combination will also assist the resources and impairs memory for the different images being
audience in interpreting, comprehending and learning the presented analyzed. In fact, if I were to show you multiple visual scenes
material. In fact, memory can increase up to 20 per cent when images simultaneously, your memory would be up to 50 per cent worse
and speech are combined (as opposed to presenting them in isolation). than if I were to show you those same scenes one at a time.
Furthermore, the inclusion of images with speech has been shown to For this reason, when designing PowerPoint slides, try to imagine
enhance audience engagement, receptivity and judgments of likability. you are flipping through personal photos with a friend. You’d never
In all seriousness, scientific research has demonstrated that when you reminisce by throwing a dozen photos haphazardly on a table and
replace text with images on your PowerPoint slides, your audience will attempting to discern them all simultaneously. Rather, the natural
view you as better prepared and more professional, and they will like (and effective) practice is to go through them one photo at a time,
you more — no joke! allowing each to be analyzed and discussed in turn.

40 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 41

 BURNING QUESTION 2:

GRAPHS AND TABLES

VS
‘What about graphs? Does
it only take 0.2 seconds for
people to interpret them?’

If you remember nothing else from this chapter, please let it be

this: graphs and tables are not like other images. The reason we
ILLUSTRATION 17. ONE IMAGE PER SLIDE IS PLENTY
are able to analyze complex scenes in the blink of an eye is largely
due to the fact that most scenes have an underlying pattern or
‘gist’. For instance, if I show you a picture with 1000 evergreen
trees, you don’t need to analyze each individual tree in order to
get the gist and recognize the image as one of a forest.
Unfortunately, graphs and tables rarely have a gist. Rather,
they are meaningful only in their specif ic details — every
number, letter and shape carries information necessary to
comprehend the whole. For this reason, deciphering graphs
and tables is far from fast and almost never easy. In fact, each
time we pop a graph or table onto a PowerPoint slide, it’s akin
VS
to projecting a Where’s Waldo image: although we might
know exactly where to look to locate the information relevant
to our talk, the audience must weed through a complex maze
in order to decipher the meaning of what they’re seeing. As
you can probably guess, when the audience is forced to expend
ILLUSTRATION 18. GRAPHS ARE NOT PROCESSED LIKE TYPICAL IMAGES
attention and mental energy analyzing a graph or table, this
almost always comes at the cost of them listening to and
understanding your speech.

42 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 43

 When including a graph or table during a presentation, one
option is to present it piecemeal. For example, you might start
by displaying and explaining only the axes, then layer on data
one line at a time, explaining each new section as it appears.
This process allows you to quickly walk the audience through
the figure to ensure they are focused on the correct information
at the correct moment and are not wasting precious cognitive
resources trying to decrypt a complicated figure.
The next best option is to explicitly highlight or delineate
relevant aspect/s of the figure to guide the audience’s attention
only to those areas worth analyzing. Luckily, human beings will
almost automatically home in on any aspect of an image that
breaks an otherwise uniform pattern. Psychologists call this the
Pop-Out effect. Grey in a sea of black; bold in a sea of standard;
COLOUR SIZE
CAPITAL in a sea of lowercase. When the audience can easily
discern where to look, they will more easily comprehend the
point you are making.

BURNING QUESTION 3:

RELEVANCE
SHAPE ORIENTATION

ILLUSTRATION 19. THE POP-OUT EFFECT ‘Do images need to be relevant

to the topic I am discussing?’

Unfortunately, the terms engagement and learning are not

synonymous. When an audience is engaged, this means they are
primed and ready to learn … but this does not ensure they will
actually do any learning.

44 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 45

 I bring this up to highlight the fact that including cute, silly 3. Use images to support digital narration/text
or otherwise irrelevant images during an oral presentation
has been shown to boost engagement but potentially impair This may be beating a dead horse, but the issues inherent with
learning. Conversely, including relevant images that support oral speech, written text and visual images do not change when a
verbal content has been shown to help audiences build deeper presentation or artefact goes digital. Accordingly, when developing
connections and ultimately increase learning, but to potentially a novel program or website that includes oral or textual elements,
decrease engagement. try to support these with images. As before, if the goal is simply
As such, the issue of image relevance is predicated upon the to hook people’s attention and get them engaged and excited, then
purpose you are trying to achieve. During the early stages of a the relevance of these images is largely unimportant. However,
presentation, when your goal might be to ensure the audience if the goal is to meaningfully convey information in order to
is on board and excited to hear what you have to say, then drive learning, then ensure images are relevant to and support the
irrelevant images might prove your greatest ally. However, textual information.
during the later stages of a presentation, when your goal might
be to ensure the audience understands and will remember the
4. Beware of the Attenborough Effect
issues being discussed, then irrelevant images might be your
greatest enemy. Simply being clear on your ultimate intention People seem to love sleek, sexy, flashy products. All you have to do is
for an included image will help you determine how relevant look at the rapid evolution of movie visual effects to realize that the
that image needs to be to the words you’re speaking. more ‘wow factor’, the more audiences will clamour for it. The same
appears to be true in learning situations. When people watch high-
gloss, well-produced videos or presentations, most feel as though they
2. Use (predominantly) images on handouts have understood better and learnt more than those who watched the
Any handouts given to an audience during a presentation should same material presented in a drier, less fancy manner.
follow the same general rules as those that apply to PowerPoint Here’s the issue: it’s all an illusion. Regardless of how sexy or well
slides. Last chapter, we saw that handouts with textual information put together a video or presentation appears, the actual learning that
will force the audience to choose between reading or listening. occurs does not appear to change. We call this the Attenborough
Luckily, handouts with visual images will not drive this same Effect. If you’ve ever watched one of those sleek David Attenborough
selection: people will be able to analyze images on handouts while nature specials, you were likely hooked and swore you’d always
continuing to comprehend the speaker. As such, try to ensure any remember every moment. Truth is, though, that if I were to test your
hard-copy information handed out during a presentation is largely memory one week after watching the show, you’re likely to have
visual rather than textual. Keep in mind, however, the issues outlined forgotten exactly as much as someone who watched the same material
above concerning quantity, relevance and the unique nature of presented in a more straightforward manner with simple speech and
graphs and tables. static images.

46 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 47

 This is all to say, don’t sweat the small stuff when trying to develop
specific teaching materials. If you have two hours to prepare a
AT A GLANCE
presentation, and the ultimate goal of that presentation is to ensure Listening to speech while looking at images can improve
others will understand and learn from the presented material, then learning and memory.
your time will be much better spent refining your story, content, and »» Hearing and vision are processed separately and
ideas than trying to create sleek and sexy material meant to wow your undergo an ecological combination: the whole is more
audience. than the sum of the parts.
»» Hearing and vision combine to guide interpretation and
comprehension.
»» Visual images allow for an expedience and specificity
not easily matched by oral speech.

APPLICATIONS

1. Use (predominantly) images on PowerPoint slides.

»» One image at a time is plenty.
»» Relevant images can support learning; irrelevant images
can support engagement.
»» Graphs and tables are not like regular images!

2. Use (predominantly) images on handouts.

3. Use images to support digital narration/text.

4. Beware of the Attenborough Effect.

»» Engagement is not the same as learning.

48 Stop Talking, Start Influencing Images + Speech 49