Using stats in a presentation

Statistics are critical to communication, so using them effectively is important. Here's a couple of tips on dealing with stats

• Don't drop them off, drive them home. Demonstrate how this statistic impacts the listener. For instance, "20% of all money donated to charity is wasted. What does that mean? If you donated a hundred dollars to an organization it's like they dropped a twenty in the street on the way home."

• Large numbers can be difficult to imagine; that's why everyone compares things to the size of a football field. We've all seen a football field, but trying to imagine 360 feet by 160 feet is darned near impossible. So if your statistic is 5 million people, follow that up with, "About as many people as residents of Louisiana." 

• Use stats in a story. Your audience will respond better to a stat if it's contained in a story. For instance, "Jenny loved math but statistics show that less than 5% of young women who begin high school with an interest in math end high school with that same passion. Five percent! Where did the other 95% of that passion go? Why did Jenny drop out of algebra and calculus before she graduated?"

• A story will outdo a stat every time. Personalize the stat. Tell us that over 1,000 people in New York state are dying of AIDS and we think that's terrible but have a hard time getting too emotional about it. But tell us one of those people is Marcy, a six year old, and tell us that Marcy is dying and we'll get connected to your stat through the story.

• Point them to the source. "If you were to go the library and find "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. And if you turned to page 24 and looked to the bottom line of that page, you'd see he says more than 30% of all adults have not read a book in the past year." This gives your stat credibility and leads them through the process of finding it.

• Use statistics for involvement. Get them moving. If you want to demonstrate that 50% of all adults will get cancer in their lifetimes, ask everyone to look at the person next to them and say out loud, "One of us will get cancer". 

• Precise numbers seem more real and are more engaging than imprecise numbers. If you have the numbers give us an exact. 37.4 just seems more real than "more than 30". "One thousand one hundred twenty nine dollars and seventy six cents" sounds more real that 'over a thousand.' Be precise to capture their attention.

The problem with statistics is many people have a hard time keeping the statistic in their head. Too many statistics stacked on top of each other loses the audience. Keep statistics to the one or two that make your point without drowning the audience in numbers. This is one time when PowerPoint really helps. By showing the number visually and repeating it verbally, we have a better chance of the number sinking in.