Have you ever heard the expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words?” If so, it should be no surprise that 83 percent of people claim to learn best visually. As communicators, it is becoming increasingly important to present our material with more images and less words, particularly since audiences today retain 84 percent of the images they see versus 14 percent of the words they read.

Through the success of sites and programs like Pinterest and Instagram, images prove to be one of the most powerful ways to communicate.

Incorporating more visuals in the content we create was an important part of the conversation at Mindset Digital’s FastForward Camp that I attended a few weeks ago in Columbus, Ohio. During the seminar, we looked at new tools and strategies that professionals can use to create powerful messages in a fast-paced world. We also talked about the latest technologies and platforms, like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and the new realities of the digital space, including data visualization, which simply describes the visual representation of data.

Through the success of sites and programs like Pinterest and Instagram, images prove to be one of the most powerful ways to communicate. The trick is to package your content thoughtfully so it appears simple while still effectively communicating the meaning of your message. As part of our discussion, Mindset Digital shared some useful tools available on the web to help you present your content in more creative and compelling visual formats.

• Wordle – Creates word clouds from text; giving greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text
• Many Eyes – Uses your information to create interesting data or text visualizations
• BatchGeo – Provides an easy way to plot your locations on a map
• easel.ly – Allows you to create and share visual ideas and infographics online

To learn more about Mindset Digital or their FastForward Camp please visit their websiteor follow them on Twitter at @mindsetdigital.