Where’s Waldo?

Do you know Where’s Waldo?

Waldo is a jolly guy. He wears blue pants and a red-and-white-striped sweater.

In books about Waldo, you find illustrations depicting huge crowds. On the  beach, at the fair, on a ski slope: you name it.

The game is to find Waldo. This is difficult: he is usually well-hidden, and only partially visible. So it’s all the more satisfying if you find him.

Knowledge workers with whom I work sometimes make the opposite of a Waldo illustration. That is because, when you communicate about a complex topic, you very soon end up with abstract concepts. And zero people.

This is a disadvantage. Because people find stories about other people usually more appealing than an abstract alternative.

Example?

Let’s say your story is about underground CO₂ storage.

You may talk about global heating, CO₂ capture, transport, storage in deep rock layers, risks and costs.

To make the story more relatable, you then ask yourself the question: where are the people? Or: where’s Waldo?

You might describe people having to leave their houses because of forest fires resulting from global heating. Scientists from technical universities who develop technologies to capture CO₂. And crew members from ships transporting liquid CO₂,  taking training courses about safety.

Et cetera.

Looking for Waldo is fun. But you shouldn’t hide the people in your story.

Regards,

Arnaud