Visual Storytelling: Part 3 - Tell a Story

CFBISD has increased engagement on their social media platforms by over 100 percent the last six months by transitioning to a more visual storytelling model for its posts. The majority of our messages contain either a picture, video, infographic, SlideShare, or visual link. Remember, visual communication has been around 32,000 years. We have only been writing for 5,000 years. Most people prefer visuals.

This is part one of a five part series on visual storytelling. Much of my ideas are modified from an excellent book called The Power of Visual Storytelling by Ekanterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio. Part one begins with be engaging in your visuals and part two dealt with knowing your audience.

Part 3: Tell a Story

It sounds pretty simple, but this is usually the hardest thing to do when you are dealing with visual storytelling. It can be pretty hard to tell a story with a photo or a graphic. Many people think that any pretty picture will do the job.  However, you have to find the right picture to evoke emotion in your audience. You have to find that one picture that is going to turn an average story into a great story.

Here are some tips on how to tell a story:

1. Establish a Setting

Your audience should know where the story takes place. If someone looks at your picture, will they have a good sense of the location? Can they use context clues to know which school, stadium or complex the narrative belongs to?

2. Establish the Character

 All great stories have great characters. Does your picture feature a student or teacher doing their thing? People love to see action, especially if it is their child. Show your character doing something interesting and you will have an interesting, engaging story.

3. Bring the Emotion

The best stories play on our emotions. Is your picture compelling? Will it heighten the emotion of your audience? It could bring fear, happiness, joy, or excitement. Just as long as your audience wants more. 

Recent Example

We recently featured a student who had to sit out a year of football due to medical issues. The whole school, the whole district was behind this student. The one thing we all wanted to see is this young gentlemen play the game he loves… football.

 He got his chance, and we were able to show not only his triumphant return, but show the support from his team and the community. The picture to the left tells a story. The story of a man who beat an illness by suiting up and making it back onto the football field.

We also filmed a video that was equally as powerful. Sometimes moving pictures help tell a more powerful story. You can see the emotion as it unfolds.  Always be ready to capture the stories.