Want to Give a Great Presentation? Use Ugly Sketches | Martin J. Eppler | TED

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: XU Gloria

How can we use the power of pictures at work?

我们该如何在工作中 运用图片的力量？

How can you visualize what you think, what you know,

如何可视化你的所知所想，

and make that accessible for others to improve collaboration?

让别人都看得见，从而改善合作？

I have been obsessed with this question for 30 years.

我执着于这个问题已经有 30 年了。

In 20 books, in 200 articles,

从 20 本书、200 篇文章、

in more than dozens of experiments.

几十场实验中寻找答案。

And what I found are amazing benefits that happen when you draw,

我发现了一些神奇的好处， 就来自你画画、

when you use visualization software,

使用可视化软件、

when you sketch, when you doodle.

画草图、涂鸦的时候。

You boost your creativity,

你可以增强创造力、

you improve collaboration and communication,

改善协作和沟通、

have better conflicts.

改善冲突。

And you also improve your decision quality

当你可视化手上的信息时， 还能改善决策质量。

when you visualize the information that you have.

But what I also found was that many of us

但我也发现很多人

don't use the potential of visualization at all.

完全不利用可视化的潜力。

We stick to old ways of presenting, of discussing.

我们坚持使用老套的演讲和讨论方式。

Can I ask you this?

我能问这个问题吗？

Who among you still loves standard presentation slides with bullet points?

在座有谁还喜欢一点一点 罗列出来的标准幻灯片？

Who loves to sit through that?

有谁喜欢听这些？

OK, we have four people

好的，有四位？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

For the rest, can you give me alternatives?

其余各位， 能给我别的替代选项吗？

What can you do instead of bombarding people with slides?

除了用片子轰炸观众， 还能做些什么？

What would be a visual way of working?

工作中有什么可视化方式？

Storytelling, what else?

讲故事，还有什么？

Prezi, yes.

普瑞奇，没错。

Sketching.

涂涂画画。

What else? Mind mapping.

还有什么？思维导图。

Whiteboard, right?

白板，对吧？

There are many ways.

有很多方法。

When you invite people to visualize with you, to co-create,

当你邀请别人和你一起 可视化、共同创造时，

what you're actually doing,

你其实就是在……

and this is the first of many visual metaphors to come,

这是我要讲到的众多视觉比喻之一，

you're sort of laying out a mini red carpet

你就像在铺一张迷你红地毯，

to invite them to shine.

邀请他们大放异彩。

It's also a red thread

这也是这个对话的红线，

that the conversation has

when you invite others to visualize with you.

当你邀请他人 与你一起可视化时牵上的。

So what I'd like to share in the next five to six minutes with you

我将在接下来的五六分钟里 与大家分享三种做法，帮助你

are three practices that help you

to invite others to visualize together.

邀请他人一起进行可视化。

But first, can I take you back just a minute

但首先，我想稍微带大家 回到我第一场重要的演讲。

to my very first high-stake presentation?

Not as a university professor,

不是作为大学教授，

but in my former life as a consultant.

而是在我以前的顾问生涯里。

A client had asked us to analyze

一位客户要求我们分析

if they should enter a new multi-billion market.

他们是否应该进入 一个新的数十亿美元市场。

And we worked very hard to analyze this market.

我们非常努力地分析了这个市场。

And I had produced about 40 data-driven slides

我制作了大约 40 张 基于数据的幻灯片，

to show the client that we had worked hard

向客户展示我们辛勤工作，

and that he should not enter this business.

表明他不应该进入这个行业。

Just as I was ready to go and bombard the client with those slides,

就在我准备去用那些幻灯片 轰炸客户的时候，

my then-boss said,

我当时的老板说：

"Martin, take a seat, hold your horses."

“马丁，坐下，别着急。”

And instead of me going through the slides,

他没有让我一张张讲片子，

he showed the perplexed audience one sketch, one visual metaphor.

而是向困惑的观众 展示了一幅草图，一个视觉比喻。

And it was this one.

就是这张。

It was a fortress built on sand.

是一座建在沙子上的堡垒。

This guy had just summarized all of my 40 slides in a single image

这个人刚刚把我的 40 页片子 总结为了一张图片，

because he was right.

因为他是对的。

This new market was like a fortress,

这个新市场就像一座堡垒，

very hard to conquer because of patent shields,

由于专利保护、 规模经济和合同，很难攻下。

economies of scale, contracts.

And it was not even worth conquering.

它甚至不值得征服。

It was sinking into the sand, so to speak,

可以说，它之所以沉入沙中，

because the technology was being replaced by another one.

是因为这项技术 正在被另一项技术所取代。

And of course, the client then asked about details

当然，客户随后询问了

like the patent analysis I had done, or the contracts and so forth,

我做好的专利分析或合同等细节，

and I could show, finally, my slide with that analysis.

让我最终可以展示 我的幻灯片和分析结果。

But this leading with a visual metaphor

但是以视觉比喻开场 确实改变了对话的动态。

really changed the dynamics of the conversation.

It was much more collaborative.

协作性要强得多。

First, the overview with this visual metaphor

先以视觉比喻概览，

and then the details on demand.

再按需提供细节。

And I realized, it's all about a conversation.

我发现一切都与对话有关。

It's much better this way

顺带说一句，借助比喻 先展示概览要好得多，

when you first show overview with the help of a metaphor

that, by the way, the client picked up and used also verbally.

这样客户容易快速理解， 也容易口头上说起它。

And that got me thinking as a researcher.

这让我以研究人员的身份开始思考。

And in many experiments with managers and students,

在许多与经理和学生的实验中，

we found three practices

我们发现了三种方法，

that I want to share with you

我想与大家分享，

that you can use to really reap the power of pictures professionally.

你可以用于真正 专业地运用图片的力量。

And the first one might shock you,

第一个可能会让你大吃一惊，

especially the design aficionados among you.

尤其是在座的设计爱好者。

If you want visualization, graphic representations to work for you

如果你想让可视化和图形 对你和协作有用，

and for collaboration,

make them ugly.

那就画得丑一点。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Beauty is the enemy of collaboration.

美是合作的敌人。

If something looks too nice,

如果某些东西看起来太漂亮，

it looks like it doesn't need revision or improvement.

它就看起来好像不需要修改或改进。

I call this the museum effect.

我称之为“博物馆效应”。

People just stare at it and say, "Yeah, that looks perfect,"

人们只是盯着它说： “嗯，看起来很完美”，

and the thinking stops there.

思考就此停止。

So you want to use the power of provisionality.

那么你就该用上“临时性”的力量。

You want to signal with your drawings

你想这样用你的图画发出 “作品还在创作中”的信号并邀请协作。

"this is a work in progress" and invite collaboration in this way.

So this is good news for all of us who are terrible at drawing, right?

对于各位不擅长绘画的人来说， 这是个好消息，对吧？

So it's not a bug, it's a feature.

这不是个“故障”， 而是个“功能点”。

The technical term is low perceived finnishness, right.

这两个技术术语 感觉远远没做完，没错。

It looks provisional.

它看起来是临时性的。

It invites collaboration.

它在邀请合作。

And by the way, banks and telecom companies

顺便说一句，银行、电信公司

and insurances have been using this all along.

和保险公司一直在使用这个策略。

It's called pencil selling, right?

这叫“铅笔销售”，对吧？

When instead of using shiny slides,

不使用华丽的片子，

you just sketch something with a pencil for a client, like a product.

而是用铅笔为客户画点什么，比如产品。

And in our experiments, we were able to show this actually is much better.

在我们的实验中， 我们证明了这确实要好得多。

It leads to more sales.

它带来了更多的销售量。

So if you want to harness the power of visualization for collaboration,

如果你想运用可视化的力量进行协作，

make them look ugly,

那就把它们弄得丑一点吧，

make them look provisional,

让它们看起来是临时的，

use sketches and doodles.

用草图和涂鸦吧。

And we've shown in our experiments,

我们在实验中表明，

even little tweaks to software to make it look more sketchy

即使对软件稍作调整， 让它看起来更粗糙，

boosts collaboration and creativity.

也可以增强协作和创造力。

And this brings me to the second advice I'd like to share with you.

这就说到了我想分享的第二条建议。

Like my boss, lead with visual metaphors.

像我老板那样，用视觉比喻开头。

Don't just use diagrams, although they are powerful,

不要只使用示意图， 尽管它们很强大，

or charts or maps.

也不要只使用图表或地图。

Visual metaphors are magical.

视觉比喻很神奇。

They access what people already know.

它们能触达人们已知的知识。

They bring out new solution ideas.

它们会引出新的解决方案。

They make things much more concrete, like a mini red carpet or a red thread.

它们会让内容更加具象化， 就像迷你红地毯或红线。

Let me give you an example.

我来举个例子。

In a study that we originally did for BMW Financial Services

在我们起初为宝马金融服务 进行并发表的一项研究中，

and then published,

we used the identical strategy of BMW

我们将宝马的同一套战略，

and communicated it to different staff members, groups.

传达给了不同的员工和人群。

Once we used standard bullet point slides,

我们先用了标准按点罗列的片子，

then we used a diagram.

然后我们用了图表。

And for the third group,

对于第三组，

we used the mountain trail visual metaphor

我们使用了登山步道的视觉比喻，

with the same content as the other two.

其内容与其他两组相同。

And guess what?

你猜怎么着？

For the group where we visualized through the mountain trail,

对于我们使用登山步道 进行可视化的小组来说，

the strategy,

这个策略，

not only did they remember a lot more later on,

不仅他们后来记得更牢，

they were also much more motivated to implement the strategy.

他们也更有动力实行这个战略。

Now, I've never [used] a metaphor I didn't like,

我从来没用过我不喜欢的比喻，

but clearly not all metaphors are equally well-suited.

但显然不是每一条比喻都同样合适。

You want to make sure that the metaphor is simpler

你要确保这个比喻 比你想要解释的内容简单，

than what you're trying to explain,

that it's concrete and that people have a connection with it,

它是具体的， 人们可以产生联想，

and that is hopefully the right connection.

而且最好是正确的联想。

I will never use again the volcano metaphor,

我再也不会用火山的比喻，

as I did once for creativity,

我之前把它用在了创造力上，

in a country that is at risk of active volcanoes.

而那个国家正面临活火山的威胁。

So choose your metaphors well, and if you do that,

好好选择你的比喻， 如果你好好选了，

then it will resonate with people,

它会引起人们的共鸣，

it will be much more memorable,

它会更令人难忘，

it sticks like a red ribbon on the floor.

它会像红丝带一样粘在地板上。

Here's another example of such a visual metaphor.

再说一个视觉比喻的例子。

It can come from nature,

它可以来自自然，

it can come from technology,

可以来自科技，

it can come from mythology, you name it.

可以来自神话等等。

Here, I used the bridge to visualize a few --

我在这里用一座桥来可视化一些……

I'm a professor of communications management --

我是一名传播管理学教授……

a few communication problems.

一些沟通问题。

And so it's simple, also visually.

问题很简单，视觉上也很简单。

And the beauty of this kind of visual,

这种视觉元素的美妙之处在于

we can learn that from comic strips,

我们可以从漫画中了解到，

is that it starts a series that people then want to complete.

在于它开启了一个 人们想去补全的系列。

And I think that's very powerful in collaboration.

而且我认为这在协作中非常有用。

I call this third practice

最后，我想与大家分享第三种做法，

that I want to share with you in conclusion,

I call this visual variation.

我称之为“视觉变体”。

You use a metaphor or a diagram and then you vary it.

你使用了比喻或图表， 然后对其进行修改。

You repeat it, but slightly differently.

你会反复使用，但略有不同。

And the magic that this does for collaboration

这对于协作的神奇之处在于

is people start to extend the series you're giving them.

人们开始扩展你给他们的系列内容。

So for example here,

举这个例子，

communication is one-sided because of a lack of listening, right?

由于缺乏倾听， 沟通是单向的，对吧？

A one-way street,

一条单行道，

or the bridge is not aligned, there's misunderstandings,

或者桥没有对齐，产生误会，

or it's too full,

或者太挤了，

the too many messages crowd out the key message,

太多的信息把关键信息挤走了，

and people automatically think of other communication problems

人们会通过桥的比喻 自动想到其他沟通问题，

through the metaphor of the bridge,

like one car going off the bridge

比如一辆车开下了桥，

maybe because the person is too emotional, right?

可能是因为那个人情绪太激动了，对吧？

Or the bridge being shaky

或者桥摇摇晃晃，

maybe because there is no trust in the relationship.

可能是因为人们对这段关系没有信任。

Visual metaphors spark the imagination.

视觉比喻能激发想象力。

Especially if they come in a series of images.

特别是如果它们以一系列图片呈现。

This is, by the way, a very empirically validated theory.

这是一个经过实证验证的理论。

It's called variation theory.

叫做“变异理论”。

And it basically says that you do not understand anything

除非你以大于一种方式理解 某样事物，不然你什么都不理解。

until you understand it in more than one way.

And so if you ask me for advice

如果想问我有什么建议，

how to make visuals more part of your everyday work,

如何让视觉元素 成为你日常工作的一部分，

I would say start a series, start a simple image.

我会说开启一个系列， 从一张简单的图片开始。

It doesn't have to be sophisticated,

不一定要很复杂，

and invite others to build on that.

可以邀请其他人在此基础上完善。

Here is my final example for that.

这是我的最后一个例子。

As a university professor, we often advise students

作为一名大学教授， 我们经常为学生提供建议，

and many of our students still have this stereotypical career path in mind

许多学生脑子里还是有 循规蹈矩的职业规划，

that it only goes upward in terms of salary or hierarchy.

要么加薪要么升职。

And I drew this visual variation

我画了这个视觉变体，

to invite them to think about alternative career trajectories

邀请他们思考其他的职业轨迹，

so the career doesn't have to be linear.

这样职业生涯就不必是线性的。

In fact, I find, I don't know about you,

我发现，不知道你是怎么想的，

that the most intriguing careers are often non-linear

最有趣的职业往往是非线性的，

or different than this upward staircase model.

或者与这种向上阶梯的模式不同。

So in conclusion,

总之，去用可视化或消失吧。

go forth and visualize or vanish.

Use the power of pictures and when you do that,

利用图片的力量，当你这样做时，

you will see it boosts your creativity,

你会发现它可以增强你的创造力，

it improves decisions,

它可以改善决策，

especially if you use images that signal that they are work in progress,

特别是当你用图片表示它们尚未完成，

that invite others like a carpet,

就像一条地毯、一条红地毯那样 邀请别人一起闪耀、

a red carpet to shine together,

to co-create something new together.

一起创造新事物。

Especially if you don't just rely on abstract diagrams or charts,

特别是如果你不只是 依赖抽象的图示或图表，

but use the power of visual metaphors to activate what people already know.

而是利用视觉比喻的力量 激活人们已经知道的东西。

And thirdly, of course, if you don't just use a single image

当然，第三，如果你不只使用一张图像，

and overload that one,

塞满那张图片，

but start a sequence that your colleagues can build upon.

而是开启一个系列， 让你的同事一起完善。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）