by Ken Lopez
Founder/CEO
A2L Consulting

Increasingly, battles of the mind are fought with pictures. Whether in the courtroom, in the boardroom or in a legislative setting, visual imagery is often the primary weapon of choice for those looking to influence decision-making and change minds.

Take a look at any of your social media feeds and you'll see why. The world-altering increase in the rate of information exchange caused initially by the Internet and now accelerated by social media has elevated the need for visual persuasion skills.

For more clarity, I think a definition of "visual persuasion" is in order. I'd define it as using science-based, visually-oriented methods to influence the decision-making of people, governments and businesses. The key part of the definition, I think, is "science based." In the last 20 years more science about how (and which) pictures influence decision-making has emerged than in the previous 100 years.

Indeed, the science about how to change minds with pictures is emerging so quickly that it is impossible to for any layperson to keep up with. At A2L Consulting, we spend a large portion of our time focused on using science-based visual tools to influence juries as part of a suite of litigation graphics consulting services. Being good at that, and I'm pretty sure we're the best, requires A2L to stay current on the science.

To address this demand for science-based visual persuasion, visual advocacy and visual influence in areas outside of the courtroom, A2L has added a forth item to its state of the art consulting services. In addition to jury consulting services, litigation graphics consulting services and on-site courtroom technology support consulting, A2L Consulting is now offering visual persuasion as a service.

We have been writing about visual persuasion for many years now, and these articles listed below describe interesting elements of this important topic:

• How Pictures Are Increasingly Influencing You
• 5 Ways to Apply Active Teaching Methods for Better Persuasion
• 12 Ways to SUCCESSFULLY Combine Oral and Visual Presentations
• 5 Chart Tricks and Cheats to Watch Out For
• 7 Ways to Avoid Making Your PowerPoint Slides Your Handout
• 14 Tips for Delivering a Great Board Meeting Presentation
• Presentation Graphics: Why The President Is Better Than You
• 12 Reasons Bullet Points Are Bad (in Trial Graphics or Anywhere)
• Font Matters - A Trial Graphics Consultant's Trick to Overcome Bias
• 6 Studies That Support Litigation Graphics in Courtroom Presentations
• 8 Videos and 7 Articles About the Science of Persuasion
• Could Surprise Be One of Your Best Visual Persuasion Tools?
• Advocacy and Lobbying Presentations

If you seek to change minds and influence people, it is critical to remember that more than two-thirds of people prefer visual communications to the written word - and that's not pictures of words. It's pictures. No longer is it enough to use a bullet-point ridden PowerPoint presentation where you stand before an audience and read bullets if you want to have a meaningful impact.

We're in a new era. The world has changed and done so very very quickly. Fortunately, there are firms like A2L Consulting and a handful of other visual persuasion consulting firms around the world who can help you keep up. Whether you are a lawyer hired to influence the public's opinion on a topic, a consultant seeking to increase your win rate on your client pitches, a political campaign looking to use social media to influence voters, or an advocacy organization seeking to change opinions, you must now become an expert in visual persuasion - or outsource the effort.