What is the "Sensory Layering" technique of writing/storytelling?

Sensory layering is a writing device that engages the reader on a multi-sensory level (touch, sight, sound, smell, taste) by painting a picture that illustrates multiple details without taking up too much of their narrative time.

 

In copywriting, for instance, sensory layering looks like product descriptions or visuals that appeal to multiple senses of the customer, allowing them to “experience” what you are selling before they even touch it. Sensory layering allows the writer/creator to create something that will build a strong mental picture in the mind of the customer as well as a deeper connection with their emotional center, beyond just a logical decision making or emotional triggers.

 

Take the example of a high-end coffee, both while selling it through only written word, and through written word plus visuals.

 

Instead of just “Our coffee tastes good,” a sensory-layered description of this coffee would read something like this:

 

“Wake up to the invitation of the rich, roasted flavor of our heavy-bodied coffee, whose sweet, smoky aroma has been sourced from the fertile volcanic slopes of Kokopapa mountains. The coffee dances on your tongue in a smooth tapdance of dark chocolate and toasted nuts, with jazzy notes of caramel toffee married to the undertones of rum and whiskey.”

 

For visual-style storytelling, take the example of Nescafe’s commercial.

 

From the color of the boy’s tee shirt to the texture of the crushed roasted coffee beans as he scoops a spoonful from the jar, the colors add to the sense of sight. Added to this is the visual of this coffee powder dissolving into milk, forming a golden brown emulsion that exudes a velvety effect to the viewer’s eye. The bubbly, dribbly, gurgly sounds that pop in the commercial as the coffee pours into a glass, depicting a frothy liquid, the crystalline ice cubes bouncing in the air and plunging into the glass, the clink of the cubes as they touch the glass, as well as the cool bubbles of condensation on the glass’s surface – all these details are part of sensory layering that evoke reaction in the different sense of the viewer, thereby, prompting them to desire this coffee and have a sip.

 

By punctuating the copy or the commercial with hints of sensory material, the writer/creator creates a new sensory world that feels “undeniably real” to the consumer/viewer. The sensory elements will attract the person to experience the “pleasurable sensory feeling” and they will be inspired to purchase or consume this product. 

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