Winning The Room Creating and Delivering an Effective Data-Driven Presentation

This book focuses on common errors that people make when presenting technical data. These errors are magnified when presenting to non-technical audiences. Note that “presenting” in this case applies to both the written/visual presentation one might prepare and to how a person would verbally talk about those written points. While the book will be framed with examples from the analytics and data science space, the points are valid for anyone presenting data and analytics results. The flow of the book will be a series of specific tips. It is anticipated that there will be around 100 tips. Instead of the typical chapter-based format, this book will be broken into sections of general topic areas and then have specific tips within each area. It is anticipated that the topic areas would be of a number such that each has 10 – 15 tips within it.

Given the format, most of the tips will be comprised of just 2 – 3 pages. Most tips will have a very short (paragraph or two) description of a key point and then a visual of the concept being ignored and a visual of the concept being followed. For example, many people miss simple things like making the number of decimal points consistent across a table. Visually seeing how bad it looks when done wrong will help readers get the point.

Preface

Acknowledgements

About The Book

Intended Audience

Overview Of The Contents

Section 1: Planning: Reviewing Strategic Fundamentals

Tip #1: Results Are Not The Biggest Factor In Success

Tip #2: Data Literacy Is A Two Way Street

Tip #3 Don’t Write Your Story . . . Tell Your Story!

Tip #4: Facts And Figures Are Not A Story

Tip #5: Know Your Audience

Tip #6: Slides Must Be Short, Visual, And To The Point

Tip #7: Charts And Graphs Are Like Jokes

Tip #8: Short Presentations Are Harder To Prepare Than Long Ones

Tip #9: An Executive Presentation May Have No Slides At All

Tip #10: Budget Appropriate Time

Tip #11: Be Yourself And Be Authentic

Tip #12: What Is The Audience Buying Into? You!

Section 2: Planning: Designing The Presentation

Tip #13: Different Presentation Venues Require Different Approaches

Tip #14: Try Different Ways To Organize Your Story

Tip #15: Too Many Technical Details Will Undercut Your Impact

Tip #16: Reveal Details Only To The Extent Required

Tip #17: Focus On How To Use Your Results

Tip #18: Use Analogies To Make An Impact

Tip #19: Make Liberal Use Of Appendices

Tip #20: Create A Distinct Leave Behind Document

Tip #21: Create “Launch” Slides

Tip #22: Break Content Into Smaller Pieces

Tip #23: Animations Are Your Friend

Tip #24: Action Settings: A Hidden Gem

Tip #25: Show The Fewest Numbers Necessary

Tip #26: Distinguish Technical Significance From Business Significance

Tip #27: Give The Audience Your Headlines

Tip #28: Start With Your Recommended Actions

Tip #29: Don’t Focus On The “What”

Section 3: Developing: Wording And Text

Tip #30: Minimize The Number Of Words On Your Slides

Tip #31: Use Simple Terms And Definitions

Tip #32: Don’t Use Technical Terms

Tip #33: Clarify Your Definitions

Tip #34: Provide Both Layman’s And System Labels

Tip #35: Use Consistent Phrasing

Tip #36: If It Can’t Be Read, Don’t Display It

Tip #37: Don’t Shrink Your Font, Shorten Your Text

Tip #38: Use Appropriate Spacing

Tip #39: Use The Same Font Throughout Your Presentation

Tip #40: Beware The Missing Font

Tip #41: Address Every Agenda Item Listed

Tip #42: Identify When An Agenda Item Is Covered

Tip #43: Spellcheck Is Not Always Your Friend

Tip #44: Charts And Images Are Misspelling Factories

Tip #45: Beware The Right Word, Wrong Place

Tip #46: Keep Your Text Horizontal

Section 4: Developing: Numbers And Labels

Tip #47: Use Consistent Precision

Tip #48: Use Only The Precision Required To Make Your Point

Tip #49: Match Precision To Accuracy Level

Tip #50: Always Format Numbers

Tip #51: Always Show Percentages As A Percentage

Tip #52: Provide Both Quantities And Percentages

Tip #53: Never Use Scientific Notation

Tip #54: Use Names, Not Numbers, For Categories

Tip #55: Watch For Truncated Labels

Tip #56: Define All Acronyms And Abbreviations

Tip #57: Use Dedicated Definitions Slides

Tip #58: Clarify Aggregations Applied

Tip #59: Focus On The Outcome Of Interest

Tip #60: Validate That Your Numbers Make Sense

Tip #61: Add A Scale To Every Chart

Tip #62: Ensure Your Charts Have Consistent Scaling

Tip #63: An Axis Should Usually Start At 0

Tip #64: Number Your Slides

Section 5: Developing: Charts, Images, And Layouts

Tip #65: Use A Mix Of Chart Types

Tip #66: Use A Mix Of Slide Layouts

Tip #67: Do Not Show Raw Output

Tip #68: Keep It Simple

Tip #69: Choose Charts That Are Easy To Interpret

Tip #70: Don’t Show Incomprehensible Graphics

Tip #71: Use Complex Graphics Strategically

Tip #72: Coordinate Your Colors

Tip #73: Keep Colors In Context

Tip #74: Shun Technical And Architectural Diagrams

Tip #75: Don’t Let Accent Graphics Steal The Show

Tip #76: Format Tables Consistently

Tip #77: Use Shading To Make Tables Easily Readable

Tip #78: Don’t Put Borders Around Charts

Tip #79: Limit The Number Of Categories

Tip #80: Label Your Data

Tip #81: Avoid Stacked Bar Charts

Tip #82: Put The Cause On The X-Axis

Section 6: Delivering: Final Presentation Preparation

Tip #83: Practice Your Presentation

Tip #84: Consult Some Confidants

Tip #85: Don’t Overprepare

Tip #86: Adjust Your Story To The Audience

Tip #87: Focus On Time, Not Slide Counts

Tip #88: Always Be Prepared For A Short Presentation

Tip #89: The Audience Won’t Know What You Left Out

Tip #90: Scale Figures To Be Relatable

Tip #91: Be Clear About The Implications Of Your Results

Tip #92: Call Out Any Ethical Concerns

Tip #93: Use Simplified Illustrations

Tip #94: Don’t Include Low Value Information

Tip #95: Make Critical Numbers Stand Out

Tip #96: Make Important Text Stand Out Too

Tip #97: Have Support In The Room

Tip #98: Always Have Several Backup Plans

Tip #99: Use A Slide Clicker

Tip #100: Do Not Send Your Presentation In Advance

Section 7: Delivering: Giving The Presentation

Tip #101: Do Not Read Your Slides … Ever!

Tip #102: Read The Room And Adapt

Tip #103: Do Not Look At The Screen!

Tip #104: Physically Point To Important Information

Tip #105: Don’t Let Bright Lights Throw You Off

Tip #106: Don’t Stand Still

Tip #107: When Presenting Online, Look Right At The Camera

Tip #108: Anticipate Random And Irrelevant Questions

Tip #109: Handle Difficult People With Grace

Tip #110: Don’t Correct People In Front Of The Room

Tip #111: Never Pretend You Know If You Don’t!

Tip #112: Stress The Positive

Tip #113: Be Honest About Costs As Well As Benefits

Tip #114: Don’t Hedge Too Much

Tip #115: Be Clear About The Measure You Are Discussing

Tip #116: Don’t Ask Which Findings Are Important

Tip #117: Tie Facts To Impacts

Tip #118: Provide Specific Recommendations For Action

Tip #119: Close With A “Wow” Tied To The Larger Context