If I asked you how many plastic bags are floating around in the Dubai desert for camels to eat, you may not think there were many. Plastics in the desert wouldn’t seem to be a problem, right?
But a presentation by plastics researcher and environmentalist Marcus Eriksen proved otherwise. In addition to personal stories and statistics that presented alarming facts about the enormous amount of plastic pollution in oceans, the desert, and every corner of Earth, Ericksen came equipped with startling evidence. He shared a suitcase-sized wad of plastic bags that he unearthed from the carcass of a dead camel! After the lecture, he allowed people to touch it, hold it, pose for photos, and truly grasp the depth of plastic pollution occurring even in isolated places. It was simultaneously disgusting and powerful.
There are others who have used dimensional artifacts to shock others into action: a manager who curated a collection of 424 gloves used in his company to show the problem with independent purchasing processes or a consultant who brought piles of videotapes to a committee to illustrate the need to revise an award selection process.
We can recite facts and even tell stories until our voices are hoarse but a compelling visual is hard to discount. Visuals gain attention (what picture do you think was on the front page of the newspaper for Erikson’s lecture?), generate word-of-mouth retelling, and imprint an indelible image on our mind that remains long after the statistics have faded. If you need to make an impression, do it in a 3D way.
