By Kendra Lee, President, KLA Group
Like the phoenix rising from its ashes, an infographic is the rebirth of what trainers have been using for decades: the job aid.
Just as it sounds, an infographic is an effective, visual way of presenting information, like a map of a subway system. The pictures help the reader quickly see patterns and trends, along with key information. Because of its graphic nature, infographics are appealing to the eye and a lot less dependent on text than more traditional job aids. As such, the content contained in an infographic is much easier to grasp and implement.
Infographics typically have larger fonts than the old job aids and are limited to one or two pages.
When designing an infographic for one of your workshops:
- Keep it quick and easy to use. Infographics should be a fast read and make it easy to grasp key information quickly. Don’t try to repeat everything in the training program in them. Just highlight the highlights. It’s a simple format that shows how to do something important you did in training and want participants to remember.
- Create it using the steps of a process. Or group the information so it’s easy for you to communicate in this abbreviated form. Think tip sheets and laminated cards like we used to create.
- Incorporate a lot of pictures and graphics. This is what makes it fun and engaging. You can pull the graphics from your training and then they become visual reminders of that workshop’s content.
- Reinforce the infographic by using it in other trainings. It can take more time to create an infographic, so use it in multiple places. One graphic we’ve used highlights the concepts from my recent book and is used in two of our Master Series and in several of our company’s articles. To see the full infographic as an example, visit http://www.klagroup.com/tminfographic or download it below. The more places you use your infographics, the “stickier” your training becomes.
- Align it with systems. Make sure your infographic aligns directly with the systems you want the learner to use as a result of the training, and you’ll increase adoption of both.
- Don’t overthink it. The trick is to make the infographic look more engaging—like something learners would want to hang in their cubicle. If you as a trainer can get learners to hang what you’re using as a job aid on their wall, then Boom! You’re going to reinforce your training.
A note on design: Graphic designers can create a nice infographic quickly with their design software. You can create one in a Word program, but the graphics may be a bit harder to manage.
In addition to being used as a job aid in training, an infographic is a great way to get people talking about you in social media—they might re-pin it on Pinterest, post it on Facebook, or tweet the link on Twitter. That’s a great way to get your content out there—and passed along.
Kendra Lee is a top IT seller; prospect attraction expert; author of the newly released book, “The Sales Magnet”; and president of KLA Group. KLA Group develops custom training programs to help clients break in and exceed revenue objectives in the small and midmarket business (SMB) segment. Lee is a frequent speaker at training conferences, national sales meetings, and association events. For more information, visit http://www.klagroup.com or call 303.741.6636.