Have you ever attended a presentation that had so much data in the slides the speaker’s message was utterly lost on you? Would you know what the speaker’s message was if you were asked after the presentation?

As a kid, I received my data from radio, television, and newspapers. If I wanted to shut off the data coming at me, I could turn off the radio and television and not buy a newspaper.

Fast forward some decades later. Can you easily shut off the data coming at you? Hardly. My educated guess is you have a cell phone. But it is much more than a phone. It has apps of every conceivable use to men and women.

Don’t forget about notifications. Those are the pop-ups on your cell phone about the latest natural disaster, stock tip, or happenings of your favorite Hollywood star.

Remember, as a speaker, the people in your audience are bombarded by the same data. They are trying to sift through all this data like you are. So you don’t want to add to this data overload.

You mustn’t require them to sift through the data in your presentation. Below are three tips to keep your presentation lean and fit by “throwing overboard” the data that doesn’t contribute to your message:

How Much Data is Needed?

I have found that most speakers I coach have no idea what their audience wants and needs. They don’t take the trouble to get to know their audience, which is a pity. This information is essential for a successful presentation. Don’t leave home without it.

They cover all bases they think are their audience’s possible wants and needs. But, as a result, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they miss the mark and are quizzical as to why their presentation isn’t successful.

When you first create your presentation, you are looking for content. Don’t evaluate as you build your narrative. If you do, you will get bogged down. However, there will come a time when you must “trim the fat” off your presentation. To a large extent, this “fat” is the data that adds little or nothing to your presentation message. You wouldn’t dream of eating fat on a steak. Don’t feed “fat” to your audience.

So the first thing to do is to discover your audience’s wants and needs. How do you determine this? Below are three methods to gain a better understanding of your audience:

• Ask the event planner about the wants and needs of the audience. They can give you much information that would take a long time to collate even if you could find it.

• Ask the event planner what the audience is currently reading (e.g., industry journals, company newsletters, books on the industry, etc.) and then skim that reading material

• Mix with your audience an hour before your presentation. Remember, there will be audience members who come early. You will discover important information about the audience member wants and needs which will allow you to change your presentation “on the fly” to make it more relevant to your audience

The second thing to do is take everything off your slides that doesn’t appreciably support your message. Go by the philosophy, “When in doubt, take it out.” Data that does not support your message is wasted space on your slides and wasted time in your presentation. Also, it does something else to the audience you don’t want. It distracts your audience. Distracted audiences won’t internalize your message and will certainly not implement it.

So the answer to your question, “How much data should be on my slides?” is “Put only data on your slides which supports your message.” That may sound unsatisfying, but if you are ruthless following this, your slides will support you in satisfying your audience’s needs and wants and significantly raise your probability of presentation success.

Think of a sinking ship. The captain has directed everyone to throw everything unnecessary for survival overboard, which means everything not bolted to the deck. In this case, success is the survival of the passengers and staff. As a speaker, success means your audience follows your message and implements what you say after they have left.

So, you have to be ruthless with deleting slide detail by removing everything unnecessary that does not support your message.

A wholly different subject is how you should display the data you have.

How Do I Display Data?

Let’s assume you have a presentation subject with a fair amount of numbers. This type of subject comes up more often than you think.

You can produce several data charts to make your message more apparent to your audience. We will explore three of them.

• Pie chart – The pie chart is a great way to show the percentages of something (e.g., income by age group, cable TV station share of the audience, number of burglaries by precinct). Not only does the number say how big the pieces of the pie are, but the parts are also proportional to the number, using visualization as another key for your audience.

  
  

• Line Chart – The line chart is a great way to show how a variable goes up and down over time (e.g., stock market, number of students in a school, student grade point average).

  
  

• Bar Chart – The bar chart is a great way to show how two or more measures compare at the same time (e.g., comparison of the percent of the population of different age groups for various years, comparison of the percent of total sales for different cars in different months, comparison of the percent of total sales for fast food restaurants on different days of a month).

  

  There are more data charts and graphs you can use. Refer to the following website: How to Use Charts and Graphs Effectively for more details on charts and graphs.

  But what if you cannot express your data in charts and graphs? You could use tables. Tables are used to organize data that is too detailed or complicated to be described adequately in the text, allowing the reader to see the results quickly. They can highlight trends or patterns in the data and make a manuscript more readable by removing numeric data from the text.

  Data visualization expert and author Stephen Few explains in his book, Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten – Second Edition, the times when a table makes the most sense:

  • “The display will be used to look up individual values.”

  • “It will be used to compare individual values but not entire series of values to one another.”

  • “Precise values are required.”

  • “The quantitative information to be communicated involves more than one unit of measure.”

  • “Both summary and detail values are included.”

  So there are different ways to portray data. The key is using the correct chart, graph, or table to get your point across to your audience. The advantage of charts, graphs, and tables is they get across your point much more quickly than you can say it.

  So, you have to be ruthless with deleting slide detail by removing everything unnecessary to support your message. Additionally, you can save much time in your presentation by letting a chart, graph, or table make your point with a little explanation from you.

  But how do you use your charts, graphs, or tables to engage your audience?

  How to Engage Your Audience With Your Data

  From the website 5 Actionable Ways to Create Engaging and Impactful Data Visualization, here are five ways you can engage your audience with your data:

  • “Choose the right data. When selecting data points to visualize, businesses need to be selective and only choose the most important and relevant data. Trying to include too much data will only serve to clutter the visualization and make it more challenging for the audience to follow. In the end, you might have a lot of nodding heads that have yet to pick up anything worthwhile from your presentation.”

  • “Execute a design that fits the data. When it comes to data visualization, the design should always take a backseat to the data. It cannot be emphasized enough, but the visuals should be clear, concise, and easy to understand – all without disregarding its relevance to the data.”

  • “Consider your audience. When crafting data visualizations, businesses (and speakers) or designers need to take their audience into account. The data points you select and the way you execute the design should be based on who will be viewing the presentation.”

  • “Determine your purpose. Before you begin designing your presentation, you need to determine its purpose. What is the goal of the presentation? Are you trying to inform, persuade, or entertain your audience? Once you’ve determined the purpose, you can then begin to select the data points that will help you achieve that goal.”

  • “Retell real stories with numbers. Storytelling with data is a powerful tool that can be used to communicate data in a way that it flows naturally for your audience. It enables you to weave a narrative with your data and make complex information, like sets of random figures, more relatable in the real world to real people.”

  So, let’s recap: (1) you have to be ruthless with deleting slide detail by taking out everything not essential to support your message, (2) you can save much time in your presentation by letting a chart, graph, or table make your point with a little explanation from you, and (3) there are distinct ways to engage your audience with your data.

  Albert Einstein said, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

  Simplify your use of data in your presentations. Ensure the data you use in your presentations is laser-focused on your message.

  Remember, less is more!

  Call to Action

  • Take a figurative “carving knife” to you’re the detail in your presentation slides and narrative. Just because something sounds good or looks good on a slide in your practice sessions, it doesn’t mean it should stay in your presentation.

  • Use charts, graphs, and tables that are laser-focused on your presentation message. Use each for which they are best used.

  • Use data visualization to engage your audience with your data according to the five ways in the previous section.

  
  

  “The Effectiveness of data visualization can be gauged by its simplicity relevancy, and its ability to hold the user’s hand during their data discovery journey.”

  – Jagat Saikia, Director at Trust Security and Manpower Consultant _____________________________

  Frank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.

  Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals by improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Reach Frank at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.

  
  _____________________________

  Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!

  “Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”

  

  Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com

  “If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will.” – Harvey Diamond, nutritional specialist
  _____________________________

  Frank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.

  Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals by improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Reach Frank at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.

  
  _____________________________

  Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!

  “Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”

  

  Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com