Every good comedian knows that telling a joke well is all about timing. You need good material, yes, but if you deliver the punchline too early , your audience won't have had time to digest the setup line and understanding is lost. Wait too long and they might lose the thread. Again understanding is lost. The pregnant pause is a necessary gap.

Mind the Gaps

Applied Visual Thinking bridges gaps — gaps in communication, knowledge, and understanding. Sometimes, however, gaps can be useful in other ways. In a recent workshop I attended, the trainer explicitly left long pauses for questions and responses. She worked hard to let people process ideas, then pose their reflections, comments and questions rather than filling in the gaps with a barrage of chatter. What a relief for some of us who like to turn over ideas slowly like letting a fine piece of chocolate melt on the tongue. What a horror for others who are uncomfortable with silence. 

In this age of instant messaging, multiple screens in view at once, and advertising everywhere vying for attention, it's hard to let silence be OK. And I'll speak for myself here, silence is essential to my mental, physical and spiritual health. I need the quiet times to focus, be creative and get the tougher work done. 

Visuals need gaps, too. Open space is where the brilliance has room to emerge. Let's look at some ways you can use visuals to build open space into your work, whether you are drafting a workable agenda, designing a strategy meeting, or taking visual notes.

• PLACEHOLDERS. Where can/should you leave empty bullets? Room for forgotten items?
• TIMELINES. When creating a timeline, where can you leave wiggle room between dates and times for the unexpected?
• CONTAINERS. Create "containers" and leave some empty. Containers can be simple shapes that help differentiate blocks of information. Choose shapes to convey greater meaning, such as a speech bubble to contain a quote, a cloud to list a thought. 
• TEMPLATES. Many of our AVT templates contain simple diagrams intended to organize complex information. These could also be considered containers. 

Check out these templates and handouts from the AVT archives.