The Picture Superiority Effect holds that concepts are much more likely to be remembered if they are presented as pictures rather than as words. Numerous experiments have shown that pictures dramatically outperform words or text alone when it comes to memory recall—perhaps by a factor of six or seven, according to some studies.
In this experiment, B2B DecisionLabs worked with Dr. Zakary Tormala, an expert in messaging and persuasion and a social psychologist at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, to test what kind of visual presentation is most effective at taking advantage of the Picture Superiority Effect—PowerPoint presentations or presentations that employ whiteboard-style visual imagery?
Specifically, the set of experiments was designed to assess whether whiteboard-style visual storytelling can enhance presentation effectiveness, as defined by metrics of engagement, enjoyment, credibility, and—most critically—recall and persuasive impact.
