meaning of vivid presentation

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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13.2 Using Language Effectively

Learning objectives.

• Explain what it means to use appropriate language.
• Explain what is meant by vivid language.
• Define inclusive language and explain why using it is important for public speakers.
• Explain the importance of using familiar language in public speaking.

Kimba Howard – megaphone – CC BY 2.0.

When considering how to use language effectively in your speech, consider the degree to which the language is appropriate, vivid, inclusive, and familiar. The next sections define each of these aspects of language and discuss why each is important in public speaking.

Use Appropriate Language

As with anything in life, there are positive and negative ways of using language. One of the first concepts a speaker needs to think about when looking at language use is appropriateness. By appropriate, we mean whether the language is suitable or fitting for ourselves, as the speaker; our audience; the speaking context; and the speech itself.

Appropriate for the Speaker

One of the first questions to ask yourself is whether the language you plan on using in a speech fits with your own speaking pattern. Not all language choices are appropriate for all speakers. The language you select should be suitable for you, not someone else. If you’re a first-year college student, there’s no need to force yourself to sound like an astrophysicist even if you are giving a speech on new planets. One of the biggest mistakes novice speakers make is thinking that they have to use million-dollar words because it makes them sound smarter. Actually, million-dollar words don’t tend to function well in oral communication to begin with, so using them will probably make you uncomfortable as a speaker. Also, it may be difficult for you or the audience to understand the nuances of meaning when you use such words, so using them can increase the risk of denotative or connotative misunderstandings.

Appropriate for the Audience

The second aspect of appropriateness asks whether the language you are choosing is appropriate for your specific audience. Let’s say that you’re an engineering student. If you’re giving a presentation in an engineering class, you can use language that other engineering students will know. On the other hand, if you use that engineering vocabulary in a public speaking class, many audience members will not understand you. As another example, if you are speaking about the Great Depression to an audience of young adults, you can’t assume they will know the meaning of terms like “New Deal” and “WPA,” which would be familiar to an audience of senior citizens. In other chapters of this book, we have explained the importance of audience analysis; once again, audience analysis is a key factor in choosing the language to use in a speech.

Appropriate for the Context

The next question about appropriateness is whether the language you will use is suitable or fitting for the context itself. The language you may employ if you’re addressing a student assembly in a high school auditorium will differ from the language you would use at a business meeting in a hotel ballroom. If you’re giving a speech at an outdoor rally, you cannot use the same language you would use in a classroom. Recall that the speaking context includes the occasion, the time of day, the mood of the audience, and other factors in addition to the physical location. Take the entire speaking context into consideration when you make the language choices for your speech.

Appropriate for the Topic

The fourth and final question about the appropriateness of language involves whether the language is appropriate for your specific topic. If you are speaking about the early years of The Walt Disney Company, would you want to refer to Walt Disney as a “thaumaturgic” individual (i.e., one who works wonders or miracles)? While the word “thaumaturgic” may be accurate, is it the most appropriate for the topic at hand? As another example, if your speech topic is the dual residence model of string theory, it makes sense to expect that you will use more sophisticated language than if your topic was a basic introduction to the physics of, say, sound or light waves.

Use Vivid Language

After appropriateness, the second main guideline for using language is to use vivid language. Vivid language helps your listeners create strong, distinct, clear, and memorable mental images. Good vivid language usage helps an audience member truly understand and imagine what a speaker is saying. Two common ways to make your speaking more vivid are through the use of imagery and rhythm.

Imagery is the use of language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. The goal of imagery is to help an audience member create a mental picture of what a speaker is saying. A speaker who uses imagery successfully will tap into one or more of the audience’s five basic senses (hearing, taste, touch, smell, and sight). Three common tools of imagery are concreteness, simile, and metaphor.

Concreteness

When we use language that is concrete , we attempt to help our audiences see specific realities or actual instances instead of abstract theories and ideas. The goal of concreteness is to help you, as a speaker, show your audience something instead of just telling them. Imagine you’ve decided to give a speech on the importance of freedom. You could easily stand up and talk about the philosophical work of Rudolf Steiner, who divided the ideas of freedom into freedom of thought and freedom of action. If you’re like us, even reading that sentence can make you want to go to sleep. Instead of defining what those terms mean and discussing the philosophical merits of Steiner, you could use real examples where people’s freedom to think or freedom to behave has been stifled. For example, you could talk about how Afghani women under Taliban rule have been denied access to education, and how those seeking education have risked public flogging and even execution (Iacopino & Rasekh, 1998). You could further illustrate how Afghani women under the Taliban are forced to adhere to rigid interpretations of Islamic law that functionally limit their behavior. As illustrations of the two freedoms discussed by Steiner, these examples make things more concrete for audience members and thus easier to remember. Ultimately, the goal of concreteness is to show an audience something instead of talking about it abstractly.

The second form of imagery is simile . As you probably learned in English courses, a simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared. Both aspects being compared within a simile are able to remain separate within the comparison. The following are some examples:

• The thunderous applause was like a party among the gods.
• After the revelation, she was as angry as a raccoon caught in a cage.
• Love is like a battlefield.

When we look at these two examples, you’ll see that two words have been italicized: “like” and “as.” All similes contain either “like” or “as” within the comparison. Speakers use similes to help an audience understand a specific characteristic being described within the speech. In the first example, we are connecting the type of applause being heard to something supernatural, so we can imagine that the applause was huge and enormous. Now think how you would envision the event if the simile likened the applause to a mime convention—your mental picture changes dramatically, doesn’t it?

To effectively use similes within your speech, first look for instances where you may already be finding yourself using the words “like” or “as”—for example, “his breath smelled like a fishing boat on a hot summer day.” Second, when you find situations where you are comparing two things using “like” or “as,” examine what it is that you are actually comparing. For example, maybe you’re comparing someone’s breath to the odor of a fishing vessel. Lastly, once you see what two ideas you are comparing, check the mental picture for yourself. Are you getting the kind of mental image you desire? Is the image too strong? Is the image too weak? You can always alter the image to make it stronger or weaker depending on what your aim is.

The other commonly used form of imagery is the metaphor , or a figure of speech where a term or phrase is applied to something in a nonliteral way to suggest a resemblance. In the case of a metaphor, one of the comparison items is said to be the other (even though this is realistically not possible). Let’s look at a few examples:

• Love is a battlefield .
• Upon hearing the charges, the accused clammed up and refused to speak without a lawyer.
• Every year a new crop of activists are born .

In these examples, the comparison word has been italicized. Let’s think through each of these examples. In the first one, the comparison is the same as one of our simile examples except that the word “like” is omitted—instead of being like a battlefield, the metaphor states that love is a battlefield, and it is understood that the speaker does not mean the comparison literally. In the second example, the accused “clams up,” which means that the accused refused to talk in the same way a clam’s shell is closed. In the third example, we refer to activists as “crops” that arise anew with each growing season, and we use “born” figuratively to indicate that they come into being—even though it is understood that they are not newborn infants at the time when they become activists.

To use a metaphor effectively, first determine what you are trying to describe. For example, maybe you are talking about a college catalog that offers a wide variety of courses. Second, identify what it is that you want to say about the object you are trying to describe. Depending on whether you want your audience to think of the catalog as good or bad, you’ll use different words to describe it. Lastly, identify the other object you want to compare the first one to, which should mirror the intentions in the second step. Let’s look at two possible metaphors:

• Students groped their way through the maze of courses in the catalog.
• Students feasted on the abundance of courses in the catalog.

While both of these examples evoke comparisons with the course catalog, the first example is clearly more negative and the second is more positive.

One mistake people often make in using metaphors is to make two incompatible comparisons in the same sentence or line of thought. Here is an example:

• “That’s awfully thin gruel for the right wing to hang their hats on” (Nordquist, 2009).

This is known as a mixed metaphor, and it often has an incongruous or even hilarious effect. Unless you are aiming to entertain your audience with fractured use of language, be careful to avoid mixed metaphors.

Our second guideline for effective language in a speech is to use rhythm. When most people think of rhythm, they immediately think about music. What they may not realize is that language is inherently musical; at least it can be. Rhythm refers to the patterned, recurring variance of elements of sound or speech. Whether someone is striking a drum with a stick or standing in front of a group speaking, rhythm is an important aspect of human communication. Think about your favorite public speaker. If you analyze his or her speaking pattern, you’ll notice that there is a certain cadence to the speech. While much of this cadence is a result of the nonverbal components of speaking, some of the cadence comes from the language that is chosen as well. Let’s examine four types of rhythmic language: parallelism, repetition, alliteration, and assonance.

Parallelism

When listing items in a sequence, audiences will respond more strongly when those ideas are presented in a grammatically parallel fashion, which is referred to as parallelism . For example, look at the following two examples and determine which one sounds better to you:

• “Give me liberty or I’d rather die.”
• “Give me liberty or give me death.”

Technically, you’re saying the same thing in both, but the second one has better rhythm, and this rhythm comes from the parallel construction of “give me.” The lack of parallelism in the first example makes the sentence sound disjointed and ineffective.

As we mentioned earlier in this chapter, one of the major differences between oral and written language is the use of repetition . Because speeches are communicated orally, audience members need to hear the core of the message repeated consistently. Repetition as a linguistic device is designed to help audiences become familiar with a short piece of the speech as they hear it over and over again. By repeating a phrase during a speech, you create a specific rhythm. Probably the most famous and memorable use of repetition within a speech is Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of “I have a dream” in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In that speech, Martin Luther King Jr. repeated the phrase “I have a dream” eight times to great effect.

Alliteration

Another type of rhythmic language is alliteration , or repeating two or more words in a series that begin with the same consonant. In the Harry Potter novel series, the author uses alliteration to name the four wizards who founded Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. There are two basic types of alliteration: immediate juxtaposition and nonimmediate juxtaposition. Immediate juxtaposition occurs when the consonants clearly follow one after the other—as we see in the Harry Potter example. Nonimmediate juxtaposition occurs when the consonants are repeated in nonadjacent words (e.g., “It is the p oison that we must p urge from our p olitics, the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late”) (Obama, 2008). Sometimes you can actually use examples of both immediate and nonimmediate juxtaposition within a single speech. The following example is from Bill Clinton’s acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention: “Somewhere at this very moment, a child is b eing b orn in America. Let it be our cause to give that child a h appy h ome, a h ealthy family, and a h opeful future” (Clinton, 2005).

Assonance is similar to alliteration, but instead of relying on consonants, assonance gets its rhythm from repeating the same vowel sounds with different consonants in the stressed syllables. The phrase “how now brown cow,” which elocution students traditionally used to learn to pronounce rounded vowel sounds, is an example of assonance. While rhymes like “free as a breeze,” “mad as a hatter,” and “no pain, no gain” are examples of assonance, speakers should be wary of relying on assonance because when it is overused it can quickly turn into bad poetry.

Use Inclusive Language

Language can either inspire your listeners or turn them off very quickly. One of the fastest ways to alienate an audience is through the use of noninclusive language. Inclusive language is language that avoids placing any one group of people above or below other groups while speaking. Let’s look at some common problem areas related to language about gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disabilities.

Gender-Specific Language

The first common form of noninclusive language is language that privileges one of the sexes over the other. There are three common problem areas that speakers run into while speaking: using “he” as generic, using “man” to mean all humans, and gender typing jobs.

Generic “He”

The generic “he” happens when a speaker labels all people within a group as “he” when in reality there is a mixed sex group involved. Consider the statement, “Every morning when an officer of the law puts on his badge, he risks his life to serve and protect his fellow citizens.” In this case, we have a police officer that is labeled as male four different times in one sentence. Obviously, both male and female police officers risk their lives when they put on their badges. A better way to word the sentence would be, “Every morning when officers of the law put on their badges, they risk their lives to serve and protect their fellow citizens.” Notice that in the better sentence, we made the subject plural (“officers”) and used neutral pronouns (“they” and “their”) to avoid the generic “he.”

Use of “Man”

Traditionally, speakers of English have used terms like “man,” “mankind,” and (in casual contexts) “guys” when referring to both females and males. In the second half of the twentieth century, as society became more aware of gender bias in language, organizations like the National Council of Teachers of English developed guidelines for nonsexist language (National Council of Teachers of English, 2002). For example, instead of using the word “man,” you could refer to the “human race.” Instead of saying, “hey, guys,” you could say, “OK, everyone.” By using gender-fair language you will be able to convey your meaning just as well, and you won’t risk alienating half of your audience.

Gender-Typed Jobs

The last common area where speakers get into trouble with gender and language has to do with job titles. It is not unusual for people to assume, for example, that doctors are male and nurses are female. As a result, they may say “she is a woman doctor” or “he is a male nurse” when mentioning someone’s occupation, perhaps not realizing that the statements “she is a doctor” and “he is a nurse” already inform the listener as to the sex of the person holding that job. Speakers sometimes also use a gender-specific pronoun to refer to an occupation that has both males and females. Table 13.1 “Gender Type Jobs” lists some common gender-specific jobs titles along with more inclusive versions of those job titles.

Table 13.1 Gender Type Jobs

Ethnic Identity

Another type of inclusive language relates to the categories used to highlight an individual’s ethnic identity. Ethnic identity refers to a group an individual identifies with based on a common culture. For example, within the United States we have numerous ethnic groups, including Italian Americans, Irish Americans, Japanese Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Cuban Americans, and Mexican Americans. As with the earlier example of “male nurse,” avoid statements such as “The committee is made up of four women and a Vietnamese man.” Instead, say, “The committee is made up of four women and a man” or, if race and ethnicity are central to the discussion, “The committee is made up of three European American women, an Israeli American woman, a Brazilian American woman, and a Vietnamese American man.” In recent years, there has been a trend toward steering inclusive language away from broad terms like “Asians” and “Hispanics” because these terms are not considered precise labels for the groups they actually represent. If you want to be safe, the best thing you can do is ask a couple of people who belong to an ethnic group how they prefer to label themselves.

Sexual Orientation

Another area that can cause some problems is referred to as heterosexism. Heterosexism occurs when a speaker presumes that everyone in an audience is heterosexual or that opposite-sex relationships are the only norm. For example, a speaker might begin a speech by saying, “I am going to talk about the legal obligations you will have with your future husband or wife.” While this speech starts with the notion that everyone plans on getting married, which isn’t the case, it also assumes that everyone will label their significant others as either “husbands” or “wives.” Although some members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender/transexual community will use these terms, others prefer for more gender neutral terms like “spouse” and “partner.” Moreover, legal obligations for same-sex couples may be very different from those for heterosexual couples. Notice also that we have used the phrase “members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender/transexual community” instead of the more clinical-sounding term “homosexual.”

The last category of exclusive versus inclusive language that causes problems for some speakers relates to individuals with physical or mental disabilities. Table 13.2 “Inclusive Language for Disabilities” provides some other examples of exclusive versus inclusive language.

Table 13.2 Inclusive Language for Disabilities

Use Familiar Language

The last category related to using language appropriately simply asks you to use language that is familiar both to yourself and to your audience. If you are not comfortable with the language you are using, then you are going to be more nervous speaking, which will definitely have an impact on how your audience receives your speech. You may have a hard time speaking genuinely and sincerely if you use unfamiliar language, and this can impair your credibility. Furthermore, you want to make sure that the language you are using is familiar to your audience. If your audience cannot understand what you are saying, you will not have an effective speech.

Key Takeaways

• Using appropriate language means that a speaker’s language is suitable or fitting for themselves, as the speaker; our audience; the speaking context; and the speech itself.
• Vivid language helps listeners create mental images. It involves both imagery (e.g., concreteness, simile, and metaphor) and rhythm (e.g., parallelism, repetition, alliteration, and assonance).
• Inclusive language avoids placing any one group of people above or below other groups while speaking. As such, speakers need to think about how they refer to various groups within society.
• Using familiar language is important for a speaker because familiar language will make a speaker more comfortable, which will improve audience perceptions of the speech.
• Watch the news and find an example of someone using inappropriate language. Why did the speaker use inappropriate language? How could the speaker have prevented the use of inappropriate language?
• Watch a presidential press conference or a political speech. Identify the uses of imagery and rhythm. How did the imagery and rhythm help the speech? Can you think of other ways the speaker could have used imagery and rhythm?
• Why is inclusive language important? Write down the various groups you belong to in life; how would you want these groups to be referred to by a speaker? Share your list with a friend or classmate and see if that person reaches the same conclusions you do. If there are differences in your perceptions, why do you think those differences are present?

Clinton, W. J. (2005). My life . New York, NY: Vintage Books, p. 421.

Iacopino, V., & Rasekh, Z. (1998). The Taliban’s war on women: A health and human rights crisis in Afghanistan . Boston, MA: Physicians for Human Rights.

National Council of Teachers of English (2002). Guidelines for gender-fair use of language . Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/genderfairuseoflang .

Nordquist, R. (2009). Mixed metaphor . Retrieved from About.com at http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/mixmetterm.htm

Obama, B. (2008, January 20). The great need of the hour. Remarks delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta. Retrieved from http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/the_great_need_of_the_hour.html

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Painting a Picture with Words: Using Vivid Language for Impactful Presentations

June 1, 2023 / Blog

Have you ever listened to a speaker who could transport you to another world with their words? Their descriptions were so vivid that you could almost see the scenes they were painting, hear the sounds they were describing, and feel the emotions they were conveying. Such presentations leave a lasting impact on the audience and make the information truly memorable.

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In this blog, let’s explore how vivid language creates impactful presentations.

Choosing the Right Words

One of the keys to creating a visual experience through words is selecting the correct vocabulary.

By carefully choosing descriptive adjectives and adverbs, you can bring your ideas to life and engage your audience’s imagination.

Instead of saying, “The building was tall,” you could say, “The towering skyscraper reached for the clouds, casting a shadow over the bustling city streets.” This simple change adds depth and visual imagery to your description.

Similes and metaphors are also powerful tools for vivid language. They create connections and comparisons that help the audience understand and visualize abstract concepts.

For example, you could say, “Her smile was as bright as the sun, spreading warmth and joy to everyone around her.” This comparison helps the audience envision a radiant and cheerful expression.

Moreover, incorporating sensory details can make your presentations more immersive. You can transport your audience into the scene you’re describing by appealing to the senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.

For instance, instead of saying, “The room was quiet,” you could say, “The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop, creating an atmosphere of anticipation and intrigue.”

Creating Visual Imagery

Visual language is a powerful tool for painting a picture with words.

By carefully selecting your words, you can create vivid images in the minds of your audience. Imagine describing a serene beach scene: “The turquoise waves gently lapped against the golden shore, the soft sand caressing your toes. The palm trees swayed in the warm breeze, casting dancing shadows on the crystal-clear water.” Through this description, the audience can imagine themselves in this idyllic setting, feeling the sand between their toes and hearing the soothing sounds of nature.

To bring characters and actions to life, use descriptive language that paints a clear picture in the minds of your audience.

Instead of saying, “He was nervous,” you could say, “His hands trembled, sweat glistening on his forehead as he anxiously glanced around the room.” This vivid description helps the audience feel the character’s nervousness and relate to his emotional state.

Evoking Emotions through Language

To create impactful presentations, it is essential to engage the emotions of your audience .

Using powerful and evocative words can help you achieve this. For instance, instead of saying, “We must protect the environment,” you could say, “It is our moral duty to safeguard our planet, ensuring that future generations can enjoy the beauty and abundance of nature.”

Appealing to the audience’s sense of responsibility and their love for the natural world can inspire action and create a deeper connection.

Storytelling is another powerful way to evoke emotions. Weaving narratives that resonate with your audience can make your presentations more relatable and engaging. 

Sharing personal anecdotes or real-life stories helps create an emotional connection and makes the information more memorable. When telling a story, be descriptive and use language that brings the audience into the experience, allowing them to feel the emotions firsthand.

Using vivid language in presentations can make a significant difference in engaging your audience and creating impactful experiences. Therefore, the next time you prepare for a presentation, remember the power of vivid language and unleash its potential to make your message memorable.

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Dictionary Definition of 'vivid'

Exceptionally clear, bright, and intense in its appearance or presentation. "The woman gave the police a vivid description of the intruder."

Detailed Meaning of 'vivid'

When an object, image, or experience is described as vivid, it implies that it is marked by striking and lively colors, details, or sensations that are highly noticeable and evocative. For example, a vivid sunset might showcase a spectacular array of colors that ignite the sky, while a vivid memory can evoke strong and detailed recollections of a past event. "Vivid" can also be used metaphorically to describe the liveliness and intensity of emotions, descriptions, or storytelling, emphasizing the ability to create a clear and lasting impression on the senses or the mind. Overall, "vivid" conveys a sense of extraordinary clarity and intensity, making it a term often used to depict experiences or images that are both memorable and captivating.

History and Etymology of 'vivid'

The adjective 'vivid' traces its etymological origins to the Latin word 'vividus,' which means 'lively' or 'full of life.' Over time, 'vividus' evolved into the Old French term 'vivid,' which retained the sense of liveliness and vibrancy. Thus, etymologically, 'vivid' is closely tied to the idea of something being exceptionally clear, bright, and intense in its appearance or presentation, much like a lively and vibrant scene. This word aptly captures the essence of vividness, often used to describe colors, images, or descriptions that are so striking and lifelike that they evoke a strong and vivid impression in the observer's mind. Its etymology emphasizes the dynamic quality of 'vivid,' where life and intensity converge to create a powerful sensory experience.

Examples of 'vivid' in a Sentence

1. He was well-known for his flamboyant style and strikingly vivid outfits. 2. The sky was a vivid shade of blue. 3. She described the accident in vivid detail. 4. The flowers in the garden were a vivid array of colors. 5. He had a vivid imagination and loved to make up stories. 6. The painting was so vivid that it seemed to come to life. 7. She could still remember her dream vividly. 8. The sun was so bright that it cast a vivid reflection on the water. 9. The colors in the stained glass window were vivid and vibrant. 10. The fireworks display was a vivid display of colors and patterns. 11. The speaker used vivid language to describe her experiences. 12. The cloth was dyed a vivid shade of red. 13. The scar on his cheek was a vivid reminder of the accident. 14. The memories of her childhood were still vivid in her mind. 15. The colors of the autumn leaves were vivid and beautiful. 16. The dream was so vivid that it felt real when she woke up.

eb68db_1636b7cf29de488f8114eb25635f7c41.mp3

Quiz Categories Containing 'vivid'

Multiple Choice

Opposite Words

Same / different

Spelling Bee

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Vivid and Sensory Words Make Your Speech Come Alive

“I want pictures in my mind,” I tell my students. “Paint me pictures. Give me word pictures.” The more I can see, feel, taste, and smell what is happening in the speech, the more I am engaged. This chapter is about how to give your students a sensory experience when you speak. It is about using vivid and sensory words to engage the audience.  I want to “show” you what this looks like by giving you several quality speeches to experience for yourself.

The tongue can paint what the eyes can’t see. Chinese proverb.

Consider This

Which of these two sentences gets your attention? 

The glass shattered into tiny pieces or the glass broke

If you are like most people, the sentence that says the “glass shattered into tiny pieces” captured your attention and caused you to visualize the breaking glass. You might have even thought of the last time you broke a glass. It works because it used vivid language.

Listen as Matthew Dicks explains what it is like to be homeless and taken in by a family that has a pet goat that chews on his hair at night and then he continues to tell his story of being robbed at gunpoint. Notice how you can “see” his story in your mind’s eye.

Watch Live life like you are 100-years old – Matthew Dicks (16 mins) on YouTube

Video source: TEDx . (2016, March 28). Live life like you are 100-years old – Matthew Dicks [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/vnatyrn6DFE

In an experiment of investing in the market, researchers tested whether or not language would affect investor judgment. They tested vivid words versus pallid words.  In this study, a vivid phrase was “sales jumped. ..analysts viewed this as very impressive” and the pallid phrase was ” sales increased. .analysts view this performance as positive. ” The vivid phrase showed stronger results. In other words, how you tell people to invest can impact the outcome. This is just one of many studies that show the impact of vivid language on thoughts and behaviors.

In other research studies, v ivid messages created greater desirability for the product, caused people to have more favorable beliefs toward an idea and even influenced judgments.  Why do they work? Vivid messages work, in part, because they hold our attention. 

For vividness to be effective, it must do all the following:

• Emotionally interesting.
• Vivid enough to produce sensations or visual images.
• Relatable. It must be consistent with the audience’s experiences and knowledge.
• Related to the central thesis.

At the center of it all, is the audience. The key to making vividness work is audience understanding. For example, A cenote is a pool of water made by a sinkhole that exposes groundwater. This water is usually very clear, very clean, and very cool. Unless you’ve been to a cenote, you may have no idea what a cenote is and therefore would have no idea when a speaker says the lake water was like the cool, clear, water of a cenote.  Instead of evoking images, it only produces confusion. Vividness works when the audience can relate, and they can call up the sensations or visual images.

It is also important that the vivid statements relate to the thesis. Researchers Guadagno, Rhoads, and Sagrins tested why sometimes vividness worked and other times it did not.  With testing,  they found that vivid words persuaded only when the message was strong and the vivid words regarded the central thesis.  When vivid information was introduced that did not relate to the main point, it became a distraction.  It seems that vividness enhances persuasion, but only when purposefully used, otherwise it is just a distraction that undermines persuasion. Oh yeah, no surprise here, but vividness can’t save a weak argument.

Angelina Jolie Speaks at World Refugee Day

Let’s look at a strong speech that uses vividness.

• Stripped of home and country, refugees are buffeted from every ill wind that blows across this planet.
• They guided me into a small dirt house with no roof to keep out the scorching heat, and they dusted off the two old mats that they ate, slept and prayed on. And we sat and we talked, and they were just the loveliest women. And then with a few twigs and a single tin cup of water, they made the last of their tea and insisted on me to enjoy it.
•  He had a dusty face, the brightest green eyes I have ever seen but such a sad look but she explained that he’s always asking for more food. And it hurts her to say that they have nothing. And she asked if we would consider taking him, would we take her sons so he could eat. And she said it with tears in her eyes with such desperation.
• He sat on the dusty floor; he’s been shot on the back and left paralyzed. And he crawled forward to shake my hand, he was no more than fifteen. He had big pretty eyes, big wide sparkling smile, and after all he’d been through, he’s full of laughter and love. Later that night I asked whether he’d not been taken to a hospital or at least given a wheelchair and I was told that the boy’s entire family had been killed so there was no one to look after him.

Watch Angelina Jolie speaks out on World Refugee Day (8 mins) on YouTube

After you read this chapter, revisit this speech. While looking at the transcript, try to make a list of all the vivid and sensory words. Categorize them based on the sense they activate.

Use Sensory Words

One type of vividness comes from sensory words.  Research demonstrates that we process those words faster than other words. By sensory words, I’m talking about words that have to do with seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching.  For just a moment, imagine you are in Paris and you look up to see the top of the Eiffel tower where the structure touches the sky. Chances are, as you thought about this, your eyes went up. You sensed with your body the words that were being spoken. When you hear or read sensory words that you can relate to, your brain lights up. Your brain lights up in the same area that the actual experience would occur–it is as if you are experiencing the word and not just hearing it.  When someone talks about the “sweet, gooey cookie pulled out of the oven, and the sweet aroma fills the air and you look down at the partially melted chocolate chips and are eager to take a bite. ” This sentence caused many of you to taste and see the cookie and your brain lights up as if you are eating one. Words that evoke a mental image are the most likely to evoke a sensory image. The more you create “word pictures” that we see in the movie of our minds, the more likely we are to experience it with other senses. 

What follows is a chart of the main senses and with examples of the words associated with that sense

The Power of Sensory Words

Tactile words describe the texture of how something feels. You can also use them to describe feelings and abstract concepts.

gritty, creepy, slimy, sticky, rough

Examples of touch words:

• Two minutes into the interview, I knew his  abrasive  personality would be an issue if we hired him.
• With a forced smile, I put on the  itchy  Christmas sweater my grandmother bought me.

Sound Sensory Words

Words related to hearing often describe the sound.

crashing, thumping, piercing, thundering, squeaking

Examples of hearing words:

• He had a big,  booming  voice.
• The sound of  screeching  tires was soon followed by the  deafening  sound of a car horn.

Sight Sensory Words

Visual words describe the appearance of something. They may indicate color, shape, or appearance.

gloomy, dazzling, bright, foggy, vibrant

Sight word examples:

• Her  golden  hair looked  disheveled  thanks to the gust of wind.
• He was a  towering  presence.

Taste and Sensory Words

Taste words are interesting because often they are a metaphor for something else. For example, a “bitter rejection” has nothing to do with taste.

zesty, tantalizing, sweet, stale

Examples of taste words:

• It’s a  bittersweet  situation.
• The  scrumptious  jalapeno poppers comforted Karl after his  bitter  rejection.

Smell Sensory Words

Words related to smell describe — yes, you guessed it — how things smell. Often underutilized, sensory words connected with smell can be very effective.

putrid, flowery, stinky

Examples of smell words:

• The  pungent  smell was unmistakable: someone in this elevator was wearing Axe Body Spray.
• No matter the expiration date, it was clear from its  rancid  stench the milk had gone bad.

Many of these examples are from smartblogger.com and exchangedmarketing.com.

Notice how Brene Brown describes a situation–She has on white slacks and a pink sweater set and how she dropped her coffee on the tile floor, and it splashed on her. She goes on to say that she blamed her husband. She uses it to make a powerful point about blame and accountability and demonstrates for us the power of how vivid descriptions can draw us in and make us want to listen.

Watch Brené Brown on blame (3 mins) on YouTube

Video source: RSA. (2015, February 3). Brené Brown on blame [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/RZWf2_2L2v8

Considerations of Using Vividness

The easier that information is for me to think about, remember, and recall, the more that information influences my decisions. Your goal should be to give the information in such a way that people can process that information. The availability heuristic suggests that when making decisions we tend to base those decisions on things that come to our mind easily.  If information is recent, vivid, and fits into our thought patterns, it is more available and therefore is more likely to influence our decision-making.

We are likely to think crime is a threat if there has been a recent break-in in our neighborhood. We are more likely to feel afraid if we watch a lot of crime shows or if there has been a featured news story on assaults. Since that information is recent in our mind and the stories were told to us in a vivid manner, we are more likely to pay attention to that information and then bring it to mind when someone suggests taking a self-defense course.

In this next video, the founder of charity water, Scott Harrison tells how he got involved in charity water and what his organization does. Watch this documentary and speech video as he talks about drinking from “scummy swamps.”  And how he describes how the women are “breaking their backs to get it.” (You can stop watching at the statistics part –but I warn you it may be hard to stop). What is the point here? The point is for you to notice how he infuses speech, powerful visuals, and vivid words to persuade us to act and to help others to get clean water.

Watch The Spring – The charity: water story (20 mins) on YouTube

Video source: charitywater. (2020, February 13). The Spring – The charity: water story [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/bdBG5VO01e0

If you watched the video, you saw a worm in the water. Some of you likely had a visceral reaction. For many of you, it caused you to sympathize with the cause, for others, it may have gone too far, and you protected yourself by not watching or by making fun of the video.

If you try to take vividness too far, it can backfire on you.   Thoughts that are too uncomfortable, might cause people to suppress the information or deny it altogether. This is particularly true when creating messages that instill fear.

The Extended Parallel Process Model looks at how people respond to messages that create fear as a way to drive positive health outcomes. For example, to get someone to wear a condom, a speaker might activate fear and make them afraid that they will get a sexually transmitted disease. A speaker might share statistics, gruesome stories, and even show slides of infections (flashback to high school health class). The challenge is that people have different reactions to fear-invoking situations–they either minimize their fear–“That’s not going to happen to me, I could tell if my partner has an infection” or they minimize the danger and wear a condom. So what makes the difference?

A speaker who is trying to use research and analogies that produce fear has to find the “sweet spot” in order to get the audience to react in a way that produces a positive health outcome. If the danger feels like it is too much, the listener will just panic or deny the danger. Describing things in too vivid of detail can often backfire and cause people to worry but do nothing or deny that the situation is real.

The goal should be to use just enough vividness that it is memorable and to direct examples towards the specific audience, so they are relatable. Most importantly, fear messages work best when coupled with a specific plan of action. If people feel like there is a do-able way to get rid of the fear, and they are capable of doing it, they are more likely to react.

To recap. For an audience to be impacted, the message has to be relatable. It should be vivid enough to be memorable and activate the senses–but not so vivid that it overwhelms the main message.  Vivid descriptions should support the central message. If you are trying to persuade an audience and you use vividness to produce fear, you need to offer them specific, manageable ways to act. Vividness is one more tool in your public speaking toolbelt. Use it wisely!

Key Takeaways

Remember this!

• For vivid words to work they must be emotionally interesting, vivid enough to produce sensations or visual images, relatable to the audience, and related to the central thesis.
• Vivid messages are easier to remember and can be more persuasive.
• When using fear appeals, make sure you could the fear with an action that the audience is capable of performing.

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, this chapter is adapted from “ Professional Speechwriting: Vivid and Sensory Words Make Your Speech Come Alive ” In Advanced Public Speaking by Lynn Meade, licensed under CC BY 4.0 .

Duncan, K.J. (2021). 583 Sensory words to take your writing from bland to brilliant. https://smartblogger.com/sensory-words/

Guadagno, R, & Rhoads, K. & Sagarin, B. (2011). Figural vividness and persuasion: Capturing the “elusive” vividness effect. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 37,  626-38. doi: 10.1177/0146167211399585

Hales, J., Kuang, X. & Venkataraman, S. (2011) Who believes the hype? An experimental examination of how language affects investor judgments. Journal of Accounting Research, 49 (1), 223-255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-679X.2010.00394.x

Henneke. How to arouse the magic of sensory words (Even in Business Writing). Enchanting Marketing. https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/sensory-words/

Juhasz, B.  & Yap, M. & Dicke, J. & Taylor, S. & Gullick, M. (2011). Tangible words are recognized faster: The grounding of meaning in sensory and perceptual systems . Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,  64. 1683-91. doi:10.1080/17470218.2011.605150.

Lacey S, Stilla R, Sathian K. (2012). Metaphorically feeling: Comprehending textural metaphors activates somatosensory cortex. Brain Lang, 120(3), 416-21 DOI:10.1016/j.bandl.2011.12.016

McGili, A. L., & Anand, P. (1989). The effect of vivid attributes on the evaluation of alternatives: The role of differential attention and cognitive elaboration. Journal of Consumer Research, 16( 2), 188-196. https://doi.org/10.1086/209207

Melcher, C. (1999).  Provocatively and evocatively vivid language: An extension of language expectancy theory  (Order No. 9934847). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304495279). Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/provocatively-evocatively-vivid-language/docview/304495279/se-2?accountid=8361

Nisbett, R., & Ross, L. (1980). Human inference: Strategies and shortcomings of social judgment . Prentice-Hall.

Ralston, S. M., & Thameling, C. A. (1988). Effect of vividness of language on information value of reference letters and job applicants’ recommendations.  Psychological Reports, 62 (3), 867–870. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1988.62.3.867

Shedler, J., & Manis, M. (1986). C an  the  availability   heuristic   explain   vividness  effects?  Journal  of  Personality  and  Social   Psychology , 51 (1), 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.1.26

Speakola (2009). Angelina Jolie: ‘I am here today to say that refugees are not numbers,’ World Refugee Day–2009. https://www. speakola.com/ideas/angelina-jolie-world-refugee-day-2009.

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185, 1124-1130. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1738360

Witte K,  & Allen M. A (2000). Meta-analysis of fear appeals: implications for effective public health campaigns. Health Education Behavior. (5):591-615. doi: 10.1177/109019810002700506.

Witte, K. (1992). Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model.  Communication Monographs, 59 (4), 329–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759209376276

Witte, K. (1994). Fear control and danger control: A test of the extended parallel process model (EPPM).  Communication Monographs, 61 (2), 113–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759409376328

Dynamic Presentations Copyright © 2022 by Amanda Quibell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How does the Vivid Method simplify Public Speaking?

It’s a revolutionary method that dissolves mental interference (caused by information overload and normal speaking nerves), so you can think clearly, manage anxiety and speak persuasively. It gives you:

• A simpler way to  control nerves. 
• A simpler way to structure your ideas. 
• A simpler way to engage your audience with natural delivery skills. 

It removes the obstacles and develops you as a relaxed, credible and persuasive speaker – ready to deliver compelling presentations, speeches and media conversations.

The Vivid Method has 3 parts :

1. The ClarityFirst Principles

• Principles to think clearly and  dissolve anxiety , so you can relax and get on with your talk.
• When you’re clear on WHAT to do and HOW to do it, your mind and body automatically help you succeed.
• Help you develop a relaxed, Natural Style and speak with certainty.

2. Create a Speech Outline

• The SpeechOutline Process is a flexible framework to create a Presentation Outline.
• It guides you to clarify the central message and group information in a  Chunk Structure .
• This step  reduces preparation time  (save hours or even days).
• Download the free PDF template for the SpeechOutline Process.

3. Give Great Explanations

• Simple options to  engage  your audience with natural delivery skills.
• Visual Explanations: How to use visual support.
• How to use your presence, maintain poise and handle questions.
• Persuasive techniques to  sell ideas  and get support for them.

Get  training  in the Vivid Method in workshops, seminars and coaching programs that show you how to leverage communication skills to improve personal success and organisational performance. They help you:

• think clearly
• speak with certainty  
• lead effectively

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of vivid in English

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• She electrified her audience with her vivid stories .
• My younger son has a very vivid imagination .
• I have vivid memories of that evening .
• I have a very vivid picture of the first time I met Erik.
• Her latest novel paints a very vivid portrait of the aristocracy in the 1920s.
• compellingly
• cumulative effect
• devastating
• devastatingly
• high-impact
• hyperintense
• life-altering
• life-changing
• take (something) over
• tenaciously
• unconquerable

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

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Vivid | intermediate english, examples of vivid, translations of vivid.

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to add harmonies to a tune

Shoots, blooms and blossom: talking about plants

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strikingly bright or intense, as color, light, etc.: a vivid green.

full of life; lively ; animated : a vivid personality.

presenting the appearance, freshness, spirit, etc., of life; realistic : a vivid account.

strong, distinct, or clearly perceptible: a vivid recollection.

forming distinct and striking mental images: a vivid imagination.

Origin of vivid

Synonym study for vivid, other words for vivid, other words from vivid.

• viv·id·ly, adverb
• viv·id·ness, vi·vid·i·ty [vi- vid -i-tee], /vɪˈvɪd ɪ ti/, noun
• o·ver·viv·id, adjective
• o·ver·viv·id·ness, noun
• un·viv·id, adjective
• un·viv·id·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use vivid in a sentence

They use vivid descriptions of symptoms to justify why they can’t write a report or go on a video call.

In a few words, he could distill layers of history and culture into vivid brushstrokes of narrative.

The data is a grim and vivid reflection of the struggle many students face with remote instruction.

That’s when the most vivid dreams come, entire epics packed into the 15 or 20 minutes before I wake again.

The way they came together in the definition of a single object is a vivid illustration of the way math grows more complex over time — and of why it’s so important to lay the foundations of mathlib correctly.

On this head the Short History may be admitted to have occasionally purchased vividity at the price of exactitude.

British Dictionary definitions for vivid

/ ( ˈvɪvɪd ) /

(of a colour) very bright; having a very high saturation or purity; produced by a pure or almost pure colouring agent

brilliantly coloured : vivid plumage

conveying to the mind striking realism, freshness, or trueness to life; graphic : a vivid account

(of a recollection, memory, etc) remaining distinct in the mind

(of the imagination, etc) prolific in the formation of lifelike images

making a powerful impact on the emotions or senses : a vivid feeling of shame

uttered, operating, or acting with vigour : vivid expostulations

full of life or vitality : a vivid personality

Derived forms of vivid

• vividly , adverb
• vividness , noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Definition of 'vivid'

Video: pronunciation of vivid

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Vivid in american english, examples of 'vivid' in a sentence vivid, cobuild collocations vivid, trends of vivid.

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Vivid is a term used to describe something that is strikingly bright, intense or clear in color or definition.

It can also refer to an image, experience, or memory that is extremely intense and memorable. Vividness in art, literature and the natural world can have a powerful effect on our senses, inspiring creativity and emotion.

In this article, we’ll explore how vividness can be used in both creative and everyday settings to create unique experiences and lasting memories.

Introduction

Definition of vivid.

The term “vivid” is used to describe something that evokes a strong sense of color, intensity and clarity. It can refer to both physical objects (such as artwork or a bright light) and experiences (such as a dream or memory).

Vividness can create powerful experiences that linger in the mind long after the moment has passed. For example, a vivid painting may stir emotion in the viewer, while a vivid dream may lead to a creative breakthrough.

Importance of understanding the meaning of vivid

The importance of understanding the meaning of vivid cannot be overstated. Vividness can add depth and emotion to our everyday lives, allowing us to experience the world in a more meaningful way.

By recognizing and appreciating vividness, we can open ourselves up to powerful and unique experiences that will linger in our memories for years to come.

Appreciating vividness can also help us become better communicators and creators, as it allows us to use vivid imagery to our advantage when conveying ideas or telling a story.

Visual aspects of vivid

How vivid is related to imagery.

Vividness is closely related to imagery, creating a powerful connection between sight and emotion. Vivid imagery has the power to spark creativity, evoke emotion and bring an idea or story to life.

In art, vivid colors can create a sense of atmosphere and mood that helps draw the viewer into the piece. Similarly, vivid descriptions in writing can add life to a narrative, allowing readers to better visualize the story and connect with the characters.

Examples of vivid descriptions in literature

As the morning sun streamed through the window, its light filled the room with a warm and comforting glow. Every inch of the room was enveloped in its golden hue, almost as if it were being hugged by an invisible force.

The walls had been freshly painted in a peaceful shade of blue that seemed to shimmer and sparkle as if tiny diamonds had been sprinkled across its surface.

As I stepped further into the room, my eyesight was drawn to a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers perched atop an old wooden desk that sat against one wall. The vibrant array of colors—from bright yellows to deep purples—took my breath away, reminding me of how vibrant and alive life truly is.

Emotional aspects of vivid

How vivid is related to feelings and emotions.

Vividness is closely related to feelings and emotions. By evoking strong visuals, vividness can spark powerful emotional reactions in viewers or readers.

In literature, vivid descriptions of characters and settings can help readers better connect with the story, immersing them in the characters’ world and allowing them to feel what they are experiencing.

Similarly, vivid art can evoke a range of emotions from viewers, from joy to sorrow or even fear.

Examples of vivid emotions in film and TV

Vivid emotions can be powerfully depicted in films and television shows, drawing viewers into the story and eliciting strong reactions.

From moments of intense suspense to heart-warming scenes of joy, these stories are often made more impactful by the vivid use of visuals, sound and dialogue. For example, a scene depicting a character’s devastating grief may be made more impactful by the use of slow-motion or a haunting soundtrack, allowing viewers to feel the character’s emotions and better empathize with them.

Similarly, a scene depicting a moment of joy may be made more vivid by the use of vibrant colors and upbeat music, evoking a sense of happiness in viewers that lingers long after the story has ended.

Sensory aspects of vivid

How vivid is related to senses (e.g. sight, sound, touch, taste, smell).

Vividness is closely related to the senses, allowing us to experience the world in a more immersive and meaningful way. Through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell, vividness can evoke powerful emotions and reactions.

Through sight, vivid colors or shapes can be used to create an atmosphere or mood that draws viewers in. Through sound, a range of sounds can be used to evoke different feelings and reactions. Through touch, textures can be used to create different sensations. Through taste, flavors can be used to create unique experiences.

And through smell, scents can be used to create a memorable atmosphere or evoke strong emotions. By using vividness to engage our senses, we can make any experience more meaningful and enjoyable.

Examples of how vivid descriptions can engage multiple senses

Vivid descriptions have the power to engage multiple senses, allowing viewers or readers to experience a story in a more immersive and meaningful way.

And through smell, scents can be used to create a memorable atmosphere or evoke strong emotions. By using vividness to engage multiple senses, we can make any experience more powerful and enjoyable.

Practical applications of vivid

How to incorporate vivid language into your own writing or communication.

Incorporating vivid language into your own writing or communication can help make your words more impactful and memorable. To do this, focus on using descriptive language that engages the senses.

For example, instead of simply saying “the flower smelled nice”, try adding in details such as “the fragrant aroma of the delicate pink rose filled my nostrils as I bent to smell it”. Another way to make your words more vivid is to use metaphors and similes, which allow you to compare two things that may be seemingly unrelated, creating powerful imagery and spark deeper understanding.

Finally, remember to use strong verbs and adjectives that capture the emotion or feeling you are trying to convey. These tips will help you make your words more vivid and engaging, allowing them to come alive and have a greater impact on your listeners or readers.

Tips for making something more vivid

Tips for making something more vivid include using descriptive language that engages the senses, using metaphors and similes to create powerful imagery, and choosing strong verbs and adjectives to convey emotion.

For example, instead of simply saying “the sky was blue”, try adding in details such as “the brilliant azure of the cloudless sky sparkled in the afternoon sun”.

The main points discussed in this article are that vivid emotions can be powerfully depicted in films and television shows, and that sensory aspects of vividness such as sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell can evoke powerful emotions and reactions.

Additionally, it was discussed how to incorporate vivid language into one’s own writing or communication by using descriptive language that engages the senses, using metaphors and similes to create powerful imagery, and choosing strong verbs and adjectives to convey emotion.

Finally, tips for making something more vivid were discussed such as using descriptive language, metaphors, similes, and strong verbs/adjectives.

Importance of incorporating vivid language into your communication

The importance of incorporating vivid language into communication is that it allows us to convey powerful and meaningful experiences to our listeners or readers. By using descriptive language that engages the senses, we are able to evoke powerful emotions and reactions that are more likely to be remembered.

For example, instead of simply saying “the sky was blue”, try adding in details such as “the brilliant azure of the cloudless sky sparkled in the afternoon sun”. This type of language helps to paint a vivid mental picture that will capture the imagination and draw people in. Incorporating vivid language into communication can help us to create powerful experiences for our readers or listeners, making our words more meaningful and memorable.

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In what contexts can graphic take the place of vivid ?

In some situations, the words graphic and vivid are roughly equivalent. However, graphic stresses the evoking of a clear lifelike picture.

When can picturesque be used instead of vivid ?

The meanings of picturesque and vivid largely overlap; however, picturesque suggests the presentation of a striking or effective picture composed of features notable for their distinctness and charm.

Thesaurus Entries Near vivid

Cite this entry.

“Vivid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vivid. Accessed 8 Apr. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on vivid

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“I want pictures in my mind,” I tell my students. “Paint me pictures. Give me word pictures.” The more I can see, feel, taste, and smell what is happening in the speech, the more I am engaged. This chapter is about how to give your students a sensory experience when you speak. It is about using vivid and sensory words to engage the audience.  I want to “show” you what this looks like by giving you several quality speeches to experience for yourself.

The tongue can paint what the eyes can’t see. Chinese proverb.

Listen as Will Smith describes jumping out of an airplane. By describing the light colors and what is going on in his mind, we begin to feel his story.

Consider This

Which of these two sentences gets your attention? 

The glass shattered into tiny pieces or the glass broke

If you are like most people, the sentence that says the “glass shattered into tiny pieces” captured your attention and caused you to visualize the breaking glass. You might have even thought of the last time you broke a glass. It works because it used vivid language.

Listen as Matthew Dicks explains what it is like to be homeless and taken in by a family that has a pet goat that chews on his hair at night and then he continues to tell his story of being robbed at gunpoint. Notice how you can “see” his story in your mind’s eye.

 I n an experiment of investing in the market, researchers tested whether or not language would affect investor judgment. They tested vivid words versus pallid words.  In this study, a vivid phrase was “sales jumped. ..analysts viewed this as very impressive” and the pallid phrase was ” sales increased. .analysts view this performance as positive. ” The vivid phrase showed stronger results. In other words, how you tell people to invest can impact the outcome. This is just one of many studies that show the impact of vivid language on thoughts and behaviors.

In other research studies, v ivid messages created greater desirability for the product, caused people to have more favorable beliefs toward an idea and even influenced judgments.  Why do they work? Vivid messages work, in part, because they hold our attention. 

For vividness to be effective, it must do all the following:

(a) Emotionally interesting. (b) Vivid enough to produce sensations or visual images. (c) Relatable. It must be consistent with the audience’s experiences and knowledge. (d) Related to the central thesis.

At the center of it all, is the audience. The key to making vividness work is audience understanding. For example, A cenote is a pool of water made by a sinkhole that exposes groundwater. This water is usually very clear, very clean, and very cool. Unless you’ve been to a cenote, you may have no idea what a cenote is and therefore would have no idea when a speaker says the lake water was like the cool, clear, water of a cenote.  Instead of evoking images, it only produces confusion. Vividness works when the audience can relate, and they can call up the sensations or visual images.

It is also important that the vivid statements relate to the thesis. Researchers Guadagno, Rhoads, and Sagrins tested why sometimes vividness worked and other times it did not.  With testing,  they found that vivid words persuaded only when the message was strong and the vivid words regarded the central thesis.  When vivid information was introduced that did not relate to the main point, it became a distraction.  It seems that vividness enhances persuasion, but only when purposefully used, otherwise it is just a distraction that undermines persuasion. Oh yeah, no surprise here, but vividness can’t save a weak argument.

Angelina Jolie Speaks at World Refugee Day

Let’s look at a strong speech that uses vividness.

• Stripped of home and country, refugees are buffeted from every ill wind that blows across this planet.
• They guided me into a small dirt house with no roof to keep out the scorching heat, and they dusted off the two old mats that they ate, slept and prayed on. And we sat and we talked, and they were just the loveliest women. And then with a few twigs and a single tin cup of water, they made the last of their tea and insisted on me to enjoy it.
•  He had a dusty face, the brightest green eyes I have ever seen but such a sad look but she explained that he’s always asking for more food. And it hurts her to say that they have nothing. And she asked if we would consider taking him, would we take her sons so he could eat. And she said it with tears in her eyes with such desperation.
• He sat on the dusty floor; he’s been shot on the back and left paralyzed. And he crawled forward to shake my hand, he was no more than fifteen. He had big pretty eyes, big wide sparkling smile, and after all he’d been through, he’s full of laughter and love. Later that night I asked whether he’d not been taken to a hospital or at least given a wheelchair and I was told that the boy’s entire family had been killed so there was no one to look after him.

Angelina Jolie World Refugee Day transcript

After you read this chapter, revisit this speech. While looking at the transcript, try to make a list of all the vivid and sensory words. Categorize them based on the sense they activate.

Use Sensory Words

One type of vividness comes from sensory words.  Research demonstrates that we process those words faster than other words. By sensory words, I’m talking about words that have to do with seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching.  For just a moment, imagine you are in Paris and you look up to see the top of the Eiffel tower where the structure touches the sky. Chances are, as you thought about this, your eyes went up. You sensed with your body the words that were being spoken. When you hear or read sensory words that you can relate to, your brain lights up. Your brain lights up in the same area that the actual experience would occur–it is as if you are experiencing the word and not just hearing it.  When someone talks about the “sweet, gooey cookie pulled out of the oven, and the sweet aroma fills the air and you look down at the partially melted chocolate chips and are eager to take a bite. ” This sentence caused many of you to taste and see the cookie and your brain lights up as if you are eating one. Words that evoke a mental image are the most likely to evoke a sensory image. The more you create “word pictures” that we see in the movie of our minds, the more likely we are to experience it with other senses. 

What follows is a chart of the main senses and with examples of the words associated with that sense.

Notice how Brene Brown describes a situation–She has on white slacks and a pink sweater set and how she dropped her coffee on the tile floor, and it splashed on her. She goes on to say that she blamed her husband. She uses it to make a powerful point about blame and accountability and demonstrates for us the power of how vivid descriptions can draw us in and make us want to listen.

Considerations of Using Vividness

The easier that information is for me to think about, remember, and recall, the more that information influences my decisions. Your goal should be to give the information in such a way that people can process that information. The availability heuristic suggests that when making decisions we tend to base those decisions on things that come to our mind easily.  If information is recent, vivid, and fits into our thought patterns, it is more available and therefore is more likely to influence our decision-making.

We are likely to think crime is a threat if there has been a recent break-in in our neighborhood. We are more likely to feel afraid if we watch a lot of crime shows or if there has been a featured news story on assaults. Since that information is recent in our mind and the stories were told to us in a vivid manner, we are more likely to pay attention to that information and then bring it to mind when someone suggests taking a self-defense course.

This collection of motivational stories is powerful because they are real and because in each case, they are told with vividness.

In this next video, the founder of charity water, Scott Harrison tells how he got involved in charity water and what his organization does. Watch this documentary and speech video as he talks about drinking from “scummy swamps.”  And how he describes how the women are “breaking their backs to get it.” (You can stop watching at the statistics part –but I warn you it may be hard to stop). What is the point here? The point is for you to notice how he infuses speech, powerful visuals, and vivid words to persuade us to act and to help others to get clean water.

If you watched the video, you saw a worm in the water. Some of you likely had a visceral reaction. For many of you, it caused you to sympathize with the cause, for others, it may have gone too far, and you protected yourself by not watching or by making fun of the video.

If you try to take vividness too far, it can backfire on you.   Thoughts that are too uncomfortable, might cause people to suppress the information or deny it altogether. This is particularly true when creating messages that instill fear.

The Extended Parallel Process Model looks at how people respond to messages that create fear as a way to drive positive health outcomes. For example, to get someone to wear a condom, a speaker might activate fear and make them afraid that they will get a sexually transmitted disease. A speaker might share statistics, gruesome stories, and even show slides of infections (flashback to high school health class). The challenge is that people have different reactions to fear-invoking situations–they either minimize their fear–“That’s not going to happen to me, I could tell if my partner has an infection” or they minimize the danger and wear a condom. So what makes the difference?

A speaker who is trying to use research and analogies that produce fear has to find the “sweet spot” in order to get the audience to react in a way that produces a positive health outcome. If the danger feels like it is too much, the listener will just panic or deny the danger. Describing things in too vivid of detail can often backfire and cause people to worry but do nothing or deny that the situation is real.

The goal should be to use just enough vividness that it is memorable and to direct examples towards the specific audience, so they are relatable. Most importantly, fear messages work best when coupled with a specific plan of action. If people feel like there is a do-able way to get rid of the fear, and they are capable of doing it, they are more likely to react.

To recap. For an audience to be impacted, the message has to be relatable. It should be vivid enough to be memorable and activate the senses–but not so vivid that it overwhelms the main message.  Vivid descriptions should support the central message. If you are trying to persuade an audience and you use vividness to produce fear, you need to offer them specific, manageable ways to act. Vividness is one more tool in your public speaking toolbelt. Use it wisely!

Key Takeaways

Remember this!

• For vivid words to work they must be emotionally interesting, vivid enough to produce sensations or visual images, relatable to the audience, and related to the central thesis.
• Vivid messages are easier to remember and can be more persuasive.
• When using fear appeals, make sure you could the fear with an action that the audience is capable of performing.

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Public Speaking by Lynn Meade is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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