It is difficult to sum up a whole art form in 500 words, let alone 5, but by streamlining our concepts, it can lead to some surprising insights about the circus sector. That is the idea we had when we decided to try the new initiative 5-Words, a website meant to help public speakers, educators and business people by compounding the visual data around a concept, using pie charts and word clouds, which are always the most pleasing infographics to behold. We asked 5-Words how a tool like this could be used by artists and circus companies to understand their business or audience better. 

Zsofia Hornyai, head of Marketing at 5-Words replied, “Circus companies and artists can benefit from 5-WORDS in their internal and external communication and decision-making. Companies that use 5-WORDS enjoy running quick and fun surveys, and they can utilize direct feedback and audience insights.” In an effort to distinguish the differences between various peoples’ concept of circus, CircusTalk asked an international audience the simple question: “What is circus? Imagine that you could only use 5 words to describe circus as an art form. What would those 5 words be?” The results are as eye-opening as they are pleasing: In an article published recently on 5-words discussing the data, Hornyai...