8/14/2019 Presenting Data: The Rules

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Presenting Data: the rulesThink about what you present,

and how you present it.

Most of your audience will be

accustomed to reading from left to

right, and top to bottom: display your

information accordingly.

Is your audience: the public? other

professionals? possible custom-

ers? Will they see it in print or on

the web?

Label your chart clearly: think about

whether it meets your aim

It is proper to start your

scale at zero: if this

makes your chart look

rubbish, think about

what else might meet

your aim

Label your axes

Excels chart wizardenables you to change

the grey background, add

or remove grid lines and

change bar colours.

Text Think about the readability

of your font, including when you

use numbers. Try to use plain English.

Remember: A.A.A.J! That

stands for Avoid Acronyms And

Jargon.

Colours Remember colours have

connotations. Use them if possible.

Nicola

Ignore me

Worry about me

Gender:

Importance:

Climate: Dry and sunny

Aid understanding! People often

have poor numeracy, or are lacking

confidence when dealing with numbers.

Use the minimum number of

figures required: 156,729 new homes

becomes 156,000 or almost 157,000 new

homes (depending on context).

Use commas: 156729 is tricky to

read compared to 156,729.

If you are using decimal points, line

them up so your audience can compare

figures: 156.7215.67

1.56

Put numbers into columns to

compare them.

Label your table clearly

Do you need this detail? Could you write about what it means, and why it is

important, and leave the detailed table in an annex?

Audience reads left to right, then top to bottom

Totals make use of left-right and top-bottom, putting the final total bottom right.

Bright colours can dominate.

If youve got lots of figures, use

white space to make the table easier to

read.

They all impede your audiences

ability to understand information.

Warren

Never use: 3D charts;exploded charts;

donut pie charts.

Numbers/tables

Bar charts: used for comparing values Pie charts: used for showing how 100% or 1 whole is

made up

If theres more than 1 chart in your publication, pick either

horizontal or vertical bars - and stick to it.

Label your chart clearly: think about

whether it meets your aim

Use graduations of the same colour to show theyreconnected

Start at 12 oclock

Biggest section first, getting progressively smaller

(dont have lots of tiny slivers, though)

Make sure youre: Clear Concise Consistent Correct

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Presenting Data: the resources

The classics

Edward Tufte Stephen Few

Robin Williams

The young pretenders

Garr Reynolds Nancy Duarte David McCandless

And online

www.tufte.com

www.presentationzen.com

www.informationisbeautiful.net

www.duarte.com

http://finiteattentionspan.wordpress.com

http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts

www.powerpointninja.com

Statistics: Power from Data! StatCan -

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/edu/power-pouvoir/toc-

tdm/5214718-eng.htm

www.ted.com

www.gapminder.org

www.istockphoto.comwww.everystockphoto.com

www.sxc.hu

www.imageafter.com

www.flickr.com/CreativeCommons

www.chartgo.com

http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/

http://www.improving-visualisation.org/

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com