For candidates and interest groups, raising funds and effectively communicating the right message are two important tasks that are seemingly never complete.

But to provide strategies for better approaching those tasks, the Huck Group, a visual communications consulting firm based in Los Angeles, has opened a political division.

"There are so many great people who just cannot simplify and clarify their message in a persuasive way," said Juliet Huck, the firm's founder and CEO.

What does she suggest to hone a message? Just add visuals. "We have statistics to show that the level of retention goes up by 70 percent as soon as you put visuals in front of" an audience, she said.

Since 1999, Huck has spread her gospel of "visually persuasive storytelling" to lawyers and business executives. She has also consulted for government departments, including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and helped the DOJ on the Enron case.

"You have to get information out there in a way that people relate to it," Huck said. To reach that goal, she consults with clients on the full gamut of visual techniques, from old-fashioned poster boards to high-tech graphics.

Through her consulting process, Huck hopes to teach politicians how to bring an audience to "a moment when you don't have to make a decision because it's already right there in front of you."

Huck is opening the political division now because she sees a glaring need for her type of consulting in D.C. For example, she says groups and lawmakers working on health care reform haven't been able to communicate their message effectively because they haven't shown the American people how reform will be beneficial.

People "only want change if it's going to benefit them, and they don't see -- literally see -- how [health care reform] is going to benefit them," she said.