SPEECH; LESS IS MORE
The Hebrew word (sefer, sipur and sapar) is the root word for ‘ ספר to relate’(as in, to relate a story). It is also carries the meaning of ‘border’. It is also used for ‘scissors’ as well as ‘story’ as well as ‘counting’ as well as ‘numbers’. If the same root is used for all these words they must share some essential aspect. Rav Moshe Shapiro of blessed memory explained that they all connote the idea of limiting, making something finite. This is certainly the case with scissors and border and counting and numbers. What is the association to ‘story’ and to ‘to relate’?
The reason why a picture is worth a thousand words is because no matter what words we use to describe something is limits the message to the words that are used. Each word has its defined definition which is inherently finite. Therefore when telling a story we limit its impact to the definition of the words that are used.