Start communicating more visually today with these three simple tools

We've been going through a simple but revolutionary transition with our company and with our customers, and that simple transition is: visual communication.  It all started with our adopting tools like TechSmith's SnagIT (which allows you to capture and annotate screen shots - still images - from your PC),  PDF-Xchange (from Tracker Software)  for marking up PDF documents, and Camtasia (also from TechSmith) for recording live motion on your screen with audio and webcam to create videos.  The long and short of all of this is that we began using these tools to create learning and readiness content for our clients; then we started using them to communicate with clients--not just for deliverables--and lastly--and I suppose this is a big, 'duh'--but better late than never--we started using them for communicating internally. We do a lot of virtual work, both internally as our offices are spread out in Washington State, Pennsylvania, and Manila, and because our clients tend to be global.  it is amazing how much easier it is to communicate when you capture an image, mark it up, and record a voice-over, instead of trying to explain it over the phone or through what can end up being a big, hairy, obtuse email. While this all may sound like an intuitive grasp of the obvious, if you don't have and aren't using these tools to communicate within your teams, with other groups, and with your customers, you should.  We "knew" a picture is worth 1,000 words before we got into this mode--but there's a gap a mile wide between knowing and doing sometimes.  Start communicating more visually today--you'll be glad you did.