This article was co-authored by Lindsay Murphy. As data professionals, we often find ourselves immersed in a world of technical skills, focusing on programming languages, statistical analysis, and machine learning algorithms. In an industry that is expanding rapidly, it seems like there are always new and exciting technical skills to learn. While these skills are …
The Most Overlooked Skill for Data Professionals Read More »
One of the most sought-after skills in business communication is storytelling. Today, let’s break it down into 3 easy steps. First, what not to do: “We have a revolutionary pain-relieving product. And progress has been a bit slow. And we need additional funding to accelerate our efforts” This kind of structure is probably what you frequently hear in the workplace. …
How to Speak Like a Storyteller Using the ABT Framework Read More »
Have you ever left a presentation knowing it was really great, but unable to put your finger on what made it so special? Maybe you’re not even sure what you learned. But you just know the speaker really moved you. The reason? Delivery. Delivery is everything. If there’s anything you take away from this article, …
Tone: 3 Strategies You Need to Avoid a Stale Presentation Read More »
Text-heavy slides are attention-snappers. They instantly reduce attention to zero. Because audiences stop listening to you and start reading the screen. Philippa Leguen de Lacroix put it very well in her LinkedIn article: For every person, reading is like listening to a voice inside your head reading out-loud…[When] listening to themselves read, your audience will struggle …
Tables: 3 Steps To Make them Better Visualizations Read More »
If you were asked to give a 5 minute presentation off the cuff summarizing your favorite TV show, movie, book, or cinematic universe, you could probably do it. No questions asked. And people would want to listen – because people want to hear interesting stories. Now turn it around and let’s say you have to …
How to Make Dry Subjects Come Alive in 3 Simple Steps Read More »
Data professionals have very strong opinions about pie charts. In fact, The Hidden Speaker has its own article explaining all the reasons why they make a poor choice of visualization. However, despite all that intense criticism, pie charts have still managed to become firmly entrenched in our presentation vocabulary. So the game-changing question is: when …
The One Time Pie Charts are the Best Graphical Choice Read More »
The award for the most frequently-used, viscerally-despised chart of all time would probably go to…drum roll please…the pie chart. If you google “Why are pie charts bad” you will get an enormous diversity of articles ranging from “Some data on why pie graphs are bad” to “Pie Charts are the Worst” all the way to …
Have you ever looked at a slide with so much information you weren’t sure where to start? We talked about this common pitfall in a previous post. It’s very easy to treat slides like a repository for notes or a substitute for a good outline. But remember: a good slide serves as visual support for …
How to Make Your Slide’s Message Pop in 2 Simple Steps Read More »
As presenters, we always wonder, “How can we better engage our audience?” If we devote 45 minutes for a talk, how much goes one ear out the other, or way over everyone’s head? In higher education, this is essentially a question of active vs passive learning. The standard college lecture is an example of passive …
3 Easy Strategies for Interacting with Your Audience Read More »
The first few seconds of your presentation are pivotal. Will you capture your audience’s attention or will they lose interest for the next 15 minutes? With the rise of social media, the importance of those first few seconds cannot be understated. According to a LinkedIn internal study in 2018, viewer completion rate increased by 200% …
How to Hook Your Audience: 3 Steps for a Catchy Opening Read More »
