When choosing to engage multiple senses, we need to make sure they complement rather than compete with each other.
A common mistake I see, and one I used to make when presenting, is thinking visuals + talking = engagement.
Yes, kind of.
Giving your audience something to look at that supports your message can add to their understanding.
But.
As soon as you add text, something remarkable happens.
Instead of it being a visual process, it becomes an auditory one.
That’s because when people read text (like you’re doing now), they speak it in their mind.
And that means their auditory processing function is occupied.
So if you’re talking at the same time they’re reading, you’ve just created a logjam.
Now they have to choose which gets priority – what they’re “reading” or what you’re saying. What tends to happen is they ignore one mode to focus on the other, or they try to switch between them, meaning they’re not absorbing either.
👉 So, if you want people to listen, avoid lengthy text and instead prioritise imagery. If you want them to read something, shut up and let them.
Check out Jared Cooney Horvath’s book Stop Talking, Start Influencing for more on this.
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