When was the last time you went to shop, picked up a piece of clothing and said - 'wow, the hemming on this piece is done so well' or 'it would've taken really long for them to dye this exact color'? Probably never, unless of course you're a designer or well, just finding reasons not to spend money.
The point I'm trying to make here is that although we don't notice these things, if they weren't done well, it would convince our decision to purchase them.
Similarly, when it comes to social media, the concept is the same. The display of our thought process behind building an idea needs to be presented well otherwise the impact is lost. Precise visualisation has therefore, gained so much importance in the last few years. From infographics to animated slideshows, presentation has definitely taken a seat in the front row in this storytelling thriller.
In the movie, Catch Me If You Can, Leonardo Di Caprio's father told him that the Yankees always won not because they had Mickey but because people can't keep their eyes off the stripes on their uniform. From being a to-die-for gorgeous co-pilot without knowing what's the jump seat in a cockpit to being a Harvard graduate, he constantly displayed efficient presentation skills to get his way around.
When I was in college, we had to submit a biology journal which had all sorts of intricate dissection diagrams of experiments we had conducted during that month. Being an aspiring systems engineer, one was always overwhelmed by the workload and it was easy to forget essential deliverables. One night I remembered that I hadn't submitted the journal for an entire quarter and next day was the last day to submit it to acquire the subject credits. I had two options - work my butt off and write 43 experiments in one night or make up some excuse and repeat the subject again next sem. The former wasn't possible and I couldn't let the latter happen! So assuming that I would end up failing the subject anyway, I drew all the diagrams and wrote whatever I could (few experiments here and there) in my all time best handwriting. The next day, I submitted it just like everyone else and dreaded the results the week after. Turned out that I aced biology and got a first on the practicals. What had happened baffled me so I asked the supervisor about my journal. She said - "Oh honey your handwriting is a pleasure to read." So basically she read the first few experiments and the last few, saw the neat diagrams and didn't bother going through each and every page.
Now, I'm not trying to imply that you can fool anyone by merely decorating a good-for-nothing idea/piece of work but what I am saying is that you can lure one into thinking that the effort put into something is obviously worth considering. Especially with all the clutter and competition, one is always looking for good quality work and we as storytellers need to capitalise on that to stand out.
What do you think?
