This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Practice Persuasion
Using your cell phone or camera, take some photos of a family member or friend. Alter the position of the camera and the framing based on the ideas in the chapter.
Look at the images and see whether they convey different emotions or perspectives to you. Then, show them to someone else and see whether they get the same or different reactions.
Just as a note, don’t ask the person you photographed to critique your photos. They will be too busy worrying about how they look to pay any attention to your photography. For this reason, most talent are not good judges of the programs they are in.
PERSUASION P-O-V: IDEAGRAMS
Dennis Starkovich
Ideagram.co
Website: www.ideagram.co
In 1979, when I was 30 years old, I started creating diagrams of an analytic and personal nature that were an outgrowth of my professional role as a management consultant. I specialized in providing PERT/CPM network analysis for planning, developing, and implementing projects of all types, sizes, and complexity. I realized that this technique could also apply in our personal lives.
This was my initial insight into creating “IdeaGrams.” These took the PERT/CPM methodology of process and project planning into a tool for examining written material and extracting the core elements or ideas into a visual diagram.
)
I consider an IdeaGram to be a mix of alchemy and artistry for ideas. An IdeaGram (which is my term) is a unique, evolutionary approach to visual diagramming to analyze and convey the intrinsic ideas, content, and wisdom contained in written or narrative material. Mind maps, which you may have heard about, and IdeaGrams are complementary in that the mind map is first and foremost a brainstorming tool while the IdeaGram chart is best suited for analyzing and presenting ideas in a methodical, sequential, and inherently legible manner.
The unique aspect of the IdeaGram charts is that they succinctly and graphically extract the core ideas from a narrative, in a visually sequential and legible manner.
The reference to alchemy is an acknowledgment that concentrating on ideas in this way helps initiate a change in one’s understanding, perspective, and perception. The concentration required to study and extract the information from a written narrative is unique, somewhat difficult to perform, but exceedingly rewarding to undertake and accomplish.
The reference to artistry is that the presentation to an audience of an IdeaGram prepared by another person provides both a view into the mental framework and understanding of the person who created the IdeaGram and an illustration of the thought that had been essential to development of the initial written narrative.
Who could use IdeaGrams? My answer is, everybody! IdeaGrams have unlimited creative as well as professional application. They are useful in areas of new learning, self-improvement, planning, time management, and education. They provide us with a new model for creatively mapping any project, goal, or understanding.
I’m sincerely interested in sharing the clarity of thinking that develops as a result of applying the techniques of critical analysis and concentration that are required to analyze a subject or narrative and create a chart that reflects the content of the process or written material.
The illustration is a sample IdeaGram, in this case to explain the process itself.
)
Here’s how I define these different steps:
Personal Study and Understanding. The development of these charts and diagrams over the past 40 years stemmed from a personal vision that sometimes resulted from the necessity of simplifying a complex series of ideas into a simple visual illustration. At other times, the impetus was simply to capture what might have been a complete book into a simple chart.- Simplify Complex Subjects for Others’ Understanding. This began as I was raising a child and observing and participating in the development of his knowledge growth from kindergarten to adulthood. Having encountered meaningful concepts that I feel others might appreciate, I began a process of categorizing and exhibiting them as IdeaGrams.
- Collaboration. Develop a platform for expanding the “library” of IdeaGrams and enable others to share their creations and subject matter. Similar sites exist for “mind maps,” but mind maps, in my opinion, are not easily read (i.e., left to right, top to bottom, visually organized in logic and categorization).
- Infrastructure. Develop a tool that digitally enables the creation of IdeaGrams in the diagramming format shown.
- Content. Implement the creation of a significant volume of educational material to help others of all ages to understand, experience, and create similar documents and expand their understanding of various subjects.
- Enable Others to Think Clearly. I believe that the clarity of thinking that is required to create an IdeaGram can be learned. This clarity develops as a direct result of the critical thinking and concentration that are required to analyze a subject and create a chart that reflects the content of a process or a piece of written material.
- Charts Become a Graphic Learning Tool. Even as a picture is worth a thousand words, there is something special about an IdeaGram that conveys special insight into a process or narrative. I seek a wider discussion of this concept. I know what the development and use of this process have contributed to my awareness, understanding, and patience regarding my observations. I would like to better understand what effect this tool would have with others as they learn, explore, and collaborate with the use of this tool.
As I write this description for Techniques of Visual Persuasion, I am more and more interested in sharing these techniques with others. I have never stopped reading, learning, studying, diagramming, and applying the process to my personal knowledge, understanding, and development. I invite you to join me on this journey!
