Friday, October 15, 2010

Telling the Story of Data




Rowan Manahan, who knows a thing or three thousand about presentations, gives some great tips on how to present data. An excerpt:

3. Watch how he tells a story, with a timeline and characters - the Demographic Health Survey, the UN, Himself and, most importantly, the children of Kenya.

Learning point: 2+2=4, while being accurate, true and inarguable is not particularly interesting. Find the story behind your data. Think about how it will, or should, matter to your audience and then think about how you are going to tell that story. Dr R makes it look easy, conversational even. I wonder how long it takes him to come up with his story? I must ask him ...

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