First of all, visual learning is fast. Visuals are often more efficient for the brain to process than text. Let’s crunch some statistics:

We process images 60,000 times faster than words text (Drewnowski & Almiron-Roig, 2010). That doesn’t mean you can learn 60,000 more things in the same amount of time, but it does mean your material is taken in at a much quicker rate. This is because images are processed simultaneously, while text is processed sequentially, which takes more time (Kellaris & Kent, 1991). The human brain needs only 13 milliseconds to process an image, while 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Additionally, people remember 80% of what they see and do compared to only 20% of what they read and 10% of what they hear (Medina, 2008). And with the speed at which business moves these days, any time advantage you gain for your team is a huge win.

Second, images can convey complex concepts or relationships with ease that can’t be duplicated with text.

Visual aids in presentations can improve learning by up to 400% (Wharton, 2015).

The human eye can register 36,000 visual messages every hour

A third benefit of visual learning is teaching with images, because you can at least partially remove language barriers. With so many companies hiring from all parts of the world, when you get a concept across without translating huge blocks of text you have more time and energy to focus on your training content.

Our brains are tuned to the content of visual information. Over one-third of the human brain is dedicated to analyzing images. But image quality counts. This means different images have different impacts. Contrast using scale, color, hierarchy, and space affects how much of our attention an image receives. These design elements also play a role in where we focus our attention.