From Socks, Training Wheels, and Mental Images — The Power of Storytelling

 

“Leadership is about change. It’s about taking people from where they are now to where they need to be. The best way to get people to venture into unknown terrain is to make it desirable by taking them there in their imaginations. In other words, by telling them stories.”— Noel M. Tichy

Anyone seeking to drive change must do more than take their audience on a journey through stories. They must also succeed in describing the destination as vividly as possible — or better yet, showing it. That is why the images stories evoke are so powerful and compelling for speakers and presenters.

“Something (…) which is paramount to consider when constructing the perfect explanation, is the need to paint a vivid picture for your audience and really captivate their imagination. One way to do this is by using images.”— Simpleshow

Yet when the illustrators at Simpleshow — an agency specializing in explainer videos — speak about the “power of images,” they do not merely mean actual photographs or graphics. They are also referring to imaginary images: the pictures in our minds triggered by metaphors and analogies.

Why Physicists Love Socks

“When referring to images in any form of explanation, be it as a video, a presentation or even an email, what we are really referring to is the use of metaphors. A metaphoric image allows you to contextualise your point and really make it stick — building complexity not confusion!”— Simpleshow

Metaphors and analogies make complex ideas easier to understand because they project familiar images into our minds — such as socks.

James Kakalios, Professor of Physics at the University of Minnesota, explains the physical principle of entropy to non-scientists through the behavior of socks in a clothes dryer.

In an orderly state, socks exist as pairs. But once you place multiple pairs of socks into a dryer, the probability that matching socks will emerge side by side becomes vanishingly small. The dryer continually tosses the socks around, creating countless possible combinations of mismatched pairs.

Entropy works much the same way. It describes a system upon which order is imposed from the outside, yet that order constantly shifts and dissolves. Scientists dealing with entropy-driven problems are confronting randomness — and must accept that socks rarely come out of the dryer in the same combination twice.

(If you would like to learn more physics from Professor James Kakalios, watch his presentation Physics of Superheroes.)

More often than not, it is the simplest images that create the strongest associations and linger longest in our minds. Consider the comparison between a training wheel for children and a bicycle.

Creative people tend to keep expanding their ideas. They fall so deeply in love with a concept that they add detail upon detail. Yet the ideas that truly persuade are often the lean, elegant, and streamlined ones. But how do you illustrate the mental discipline of reduction — without discarding the entire idea altogether?

Again, an image or analogy can help clarify this abstract concept: some ideas need a little assistance before they can hit the road. Like training wheels, they may initially require an extra support system — a third or even a fourth wheel that makes the ride easier at first. But with practice, these supporting wheels can be removed, reducing everything to the essentials: the bicycle itself.

Ideas can be refined in much the same way, stripped back piece by piece until their core essence emerges. As creatives, we should ask ourselves, do I want to present with a training wheels first — or ride the bicycle right away?

(Video tip: An outstanding awareness campaign by the Australian patient organization MSWA demonstrates how a bicycle can also serve as a creative metaphor for illness — specifically multiple sclerosis. Search YouTube for This Bike Has MS.)

The Power of Visual Storytelling

But why rely on words alone when you can make things easier for your audience and show them directly what you mean?

Our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Images allow us to grasp complex processes within fractions of a second because our limbic system — the intuitive part of the brain responsible for emotions, drives, and instincts — reacts to visual stimuli almost instantly, evaluating them within milliseconds.

For this reason alone, you should embrace visual storytelling through photographs, infographics, and video. What matters, however, is that “visual storytelling” does not refer to conventional imagery. Effective visual communication requires far more than the generic stock photos so commonly used in PowerPoint presentations and more.

You know this kind of images. You've seen it too often: polished stock photography featuring sharply dressed executives shaking hands with radiant smiles to symbolize “partnership.” Gleaming darts embedded in pristine dartboards to represent “hitting the target.” Goldfish leaping from one fishbowl to another to illustrate “change” or “transformation.” And thanks to AI slop, this kind of imagery is becoming even more widespread.

Such symbolic, unreal images merely decorate text. They achieve little else. Although we register them visually, their informational value is so low that we barely perceive them consciously.

Visual storytelling is something entirely different.

It relies on images that spark attention, provoke curiosity, generate interest, and inspire action. These are images that stand out because they tell a story. They are narrative images — pictures that stimulate our senses and ignite our imagination. Images that remind us of stories we already know or make us curious about new ones: the stories behind the pictures themselves.

Successful, narrative visual concepts share four essential characteristics:

1. Realness: Use images that reflect real life and feel genuinely authentic. Draw from your own experiences, your company, your team, or your environment rather than relying on anonymous stock models.

2. Cultural Relevance: Use images that provide recognizable reference points: familiar places, identifiable moments in time, and contexts meaningful to the audience. Connect your visuals to current events or everyday experiences.

3. Storytelling Archetypes: Reference stories and events your audience already knows. Draw upon the symbolism of Harry Potter, Superman, or Luke Skywalker. Audiences instantly recognize these images and associate them with familiar narratives. Alternatively, evoke universal personal memories and emotions — the first day of school, a first kiss, childhood experiences. Often, a small trigger is enough to awaken entire stories and emotional scripts stored in the audience’s memory.

4. Sensory Impact: Use imagery that appeals to all the senses: images that evoke smells, sounds, textures, and physical sensations. Zoom in closely. Show sparks flying, wood splintering, water splashing. Especially in an era dominated by virtual and digital work, images of tangible, physical experiences provoke powerful emotional responses. Engage every sense your audience has.



Find more tips for your storytelling in Between the Lines – A Guide to Storytelling by Petra Sammer, 2026, available on Amazon. Follow this link: https://a.co/d/06y5UbdS

Or join me online for a webinar or online-training session on LinkedIn Learning. I look forward to seeing you there.

All upcoming events: https://www.petrasammer.com/on-tour/

This text was written by a human; AI tools were used for translation, spelling, and grammar review. Photo by Erik Mclean by Unsplash