Episode #42: Presentations Backed By Evidence Do Better

It is a fine line we have to tread. We want to be supplying data etc as evidence to support what we are saying. However, there is the danger that the data overwhelms the point we are trying to make. It can also become a distraction from us, as everyone focuses on the screen and we disappear. We need to be the center piece and we need to make the data our servant rather than the other way around.

Before we get into this week’s topic, here is what caught my attention lately.

The Bank Of Japan says household assets in Japan are up by two point five percent at the end of March according. This is the sixth year in a row there has been an increase. The household asset total is one point eight three quadrillion yen or seventeen trillion dollars. The rise is attributed to the rise in the share market. Cash and deposits were up two point three percent to nine hundred and sixty one trillion yen. Japan still holds the bulk of its investments in cash and bank deposits, the latter earning a microscopic interest rate.

This is episode number 42 and we are talking about Presentations Backed By Evidence Do Better. Soredewa ikimasho, so let's get going.

There are a number of common structures for giving presentations and one of the most popular is the opening-key points/evidence-closing. We consider the length of the presentation, the audience, the purpose of our talk and then we pour the contents into this structure. Generally, in a thirty minute speech we can only have a few key points we can cover, so we select the most powerful and then look for the evidence which will persuade our audience. This is where a lot of presentations suddenly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The structure flow is a simple one, the analysis of the occasion is straightforward but at this next stage we can get confused about what we are trying to achieve. We might become so engrossed in the evidence assembly component that we forget the crucial “WHY” aspect of this effort. We are not here to produce mounds of statistics, battalions of bar charts or proffer reams of text on a screen. Technically oriented presenters love to bludgeon their audience with detail, usually in font or scale so small, it is barely visible on screen.

No, the WHY is all about persuading the audience of our conclusion or way of thinking, This is communication skill rather than archeological or archival skill. Line charts, pie charts, comparison tables are trotted out to do battle with the perceptions and biases of the audience. The errors though include a presentation style where the actual detail is unapproachable and so is not fully accepted. The tendency to imagine that this quality data will stand by itself and not require the presenter to do much, is another grave error. “I don’t have to be a good speaker, because the quality of my information is so high”, is a typical if somewhat pathetic excuse.

Another common error is to invest the vast majority of the time for the presentation preparation on the accompanying slides for the talk. Digging up the data, tweeking the detail, creating the charts, arranging the order. We become quite busy. So busy, in fact, that we forget to practice the delivery of the talk. We find ourselves presenting the content for the first time up at the podium, peering down at our audience. We are in fact practicing on our audience and this is not a best practice.

Welcome back How should we fix this approach? Some examples of evidence are really powerful when they are numbers but instead of drowning our audience with too many numbers, we can select one and use a very big font to isolate out that one number. We then talk to that number and explain what it means. If we want to use line charts or trend analysis then one chart per slide is a good rule. We don’t split the visual concentration of our audience. We speak to the significance of the trend knowing that our audience can see the trend line for themselves.

To improve our communication effectiveness, we go one step further and we tell stories about these numbers. Who was involved, where, when and what happened. We recall stories more easily than masses of data. This helps to get us around to the WHY of our talk, the key point we want the audience to absorb. And we practice the delivery over and over until we are comfortable we have the cadence right. We recall Professor Marahbian’s study about the importance of not just what we say but how we say it. Emphasising particular words, adding gestures for strengthening key points, engaging our audience by using eye contact, allowing pauses so ideas can sink in and reducing distractions so our words are heard.