Comments on: How to use graphs in presentations

By: Vapormatic

Vapormatic — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 09:08:56 +0000

This detailed description of using the graphic presentations brings me in a safe presenter. Lovely graphic presentation speaks more which is fruitful.

By: VTR1000 lady

VTR1000 lady — Mon, 31 May 2010 04:58:58 +0000

Great detailed information, I just bookmarked you on my google reader.

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By: Getting situations to shift « Real. Smart. Now.

Getting situations to shift « Real. Smart. Now. — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:35:33 +0000

[...] Contact « How to use graphs in presentations [...]

By: Chris Witt

Chris Witt — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:58:26 +0000

Call me a contrarian, but I don’t think the goal of a presentation — even a technical presentation — is to communicate data. I think the goal is, or should be, to put forth and explain ideas that make sense of the pertinent data and information so that people (paraphrasing Andrew) can and want to take action.

It’s the presenter’s job to collect, assess, and sift through the data and information in order to provide context and meaning. In the process, it’s necessary to make choices about what to include and what to exclude.

Most of the time I want the data or information on any one slide to make one and only point. (If the data makes two or three points, create two or three slides.)

It’s possible to present complex ideas in a presentation, juxtaposing seemingly contradictory points, in order to tell the truth. But PowerPoint has a limited ability — a very limited ability — to project complexity and detail. (Consider how useless Excel spread sheets become when they’re imported into PowerPoint. They almost always prompt the presenter to say my least favorite phrase, “You probably can’t read this, but…”) And people have an equally limited ability to remember data and information.

By: Andrew Lightheart

Andrew Lightheart — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:30:32 +0000

Hi Todd

Yep – Edward Tufte is a god. I spent a couple of days just sitting in the library reading Visual Display… genius. I love that the book itself is self-exemplifying – a book that beautifully displays how to display data beautifully.

It’s a hard one about telling the whole story with your data.

I agree about telling the truth, and sometimes the full set of data is difficult for non-specialists to digest, especially with time/motivation constraints.

No easy answer to that one – thinking the data through in light of their interests is a start…

By: Todd J. List

Todd J. List — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:01:41 +0000

I agree with both you and Seth. Not a big surprise, since presenting data effectively is to speakers as Oxygen is to, well, speakers.

Anyone who has data to present would be well-served by reading Edward Tufte’s work, especially The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi). His essay on Powerpoint (http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_pp) is also worth a look. Some might argue that Tufte’s minimalist tendencies in presenting data are extreme, but I think he makes a good case for dragging the pendulum of gross graphics back toward a more sensible ground.

My biggest concern with presenting data, though, is that one tell the WHOLE story. It is tempting to make a point by truncating a bit of data, but it’s misleading. That to me is unconscionable. Things are rarely as simple as they first seem. Don’t mislead your audience into believing that they are. They deserve better.

Do you want to earn my respect as a presenter? Tell me the truth, and tell it plainly. I might disagree with you, but I’ll respect you.