Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 67
ESCAPE Weekly
July 10 - 16, 2009 – 16
Guys are graphic
Men prefer their information to be exchanged in simple visuals
S
ome holdouts will waste your time
simplification of advanced concepts
disputing it, but we’ve pretty much
includes, of course, “the finger,” “pull my
all accepted that men are more
finger,” licking the fingers, and a finger
“visual” than women. That’s why women inserted into the nose (“you’re boring
suffer in high heels — because men like
me”) or ear (meaning “duh” and usually
the look.
accompanied by the tongue
I submit, and recent
sticking out).
studies have shown, guys
It’s fast,
are also more graphic. That
effective, graphic
certainly applies to their
communication.
inclination for “graphic”
As you might
verbal descriptions of things
assume, this guy(such as women in high
desire for graphic
heels), but it also applies to
visualization is
how they understand things.
most apparent in,
Jim Walker
Take for example the old
Don’t Take Me Seriously well…graphs.
playground retort, “I’ll show
Guys like
you five reasons why you’ll
graphs, such as bar graphs,
do it.” As the guy speaking counts off
pie charts, bubble graphs and that most
“one,” “two,”… up to “five,” he folds each exquisite illustration, the x/y graph. With
finger and the thumb on his hand down, these tools you get-it-at-a-glace.
with the end result, at “five,” of presenting
And, beyond being effective forms of
his clenched fist in the proximity of his
communication, graphs can be funny.
listener’s face.
Visit http://graphjam.com and you’ll
It’s powerful, effective, graphic
see some good examples. A couple of my
communication. The guy listening
favorites are:
understands clearly and nothing further
The bar graph of “The Chance
needs to be said.
of Someone Believing an Outrageous
A woman on the listening end of this
Statement,” showing “Saw It on Oprah”
would probably want to discuss each
as the tallest bar
reason as it folds — and then ask, “Is
The bubble graph showing “chicken”
something bothering you?”
in one bubble and “fingers” in another
This guy-appreciation for graphic
bubble, and the area where they overlap is
labeled as “lies.”
The
pyramid graph
of the food
chain, showing
zombies above
humans
And the
Illustrations created by Jim Walker
one showing
The x/y graph of “Barney’s Hot vs. Crazy Scale,” as seen on “How I Met Your
two, mutuallyMother.” To remain desirable, a woman needs to stay above the diagonal.
exclusive bubbles
She’d stab you with a fork, and then get
of “Things
a boob job.” Meanwhile, he’s drawing
Twittered” and “Things I Care About.”
this in the air with his finger. (Boys, this
scene is a must-view on YouTube at www.
youtube.com/watch?v=3zdGBL0PhJE.)
As any bro who is currently out there
knows, this concept should be taught in
“Dating 101,” because attractive women
make full use of it. However, I’d propose
an additional, bubble-type graph,
showing “crazy” in one huge bubble and
However, the pinnacle of guy
“hot” in a very small bubble — which is
communication simply has to be the x/y
completely engulfed in the crazy one.
graph of “Barney’s Hot vs. Crazy Scale”
I’m just sayin’… guys are graphic.
as shown on the hit sitcom “How I Met
Your Mother.”
To wit: To be desirable, any girl
considered must stay above the diagonal
line on the hot/crazy scale. A girl is
allowed to be crazy, as long as she’s
equally hot. Thus, if she’s so-and-so crazy,
she has to be so-and-so hot. As she gets
crazier, she must get hotter to remain on
the desirable side of the diagonal. And
Barney offers the line: “A girl I dated
played jump rope with that line. She’d
shave her head, then lose 10 pounds.
