The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Explaining an exhibit live: The “Vanna White technique” for describing tables, charts or other diagrams Jane E. Miller, PhD

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Overview Common pitfalls in oral presentation of charts and tables Systematic approach to presenting a table or chart Purpose Layout Contents

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Common pitfalls in presenting tables or charts “live” Tables, charts, maps, and other diagrams offer real advantages for presenting numeric patterns. Unfortunately, many speakers devote far too little time to describing such slides. They put up the slide, state “as you can see...” and then describe the pattern in a few seconds before moving on to the next slide.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Common pitfalls in presenting charts, cont. The slide is visible so briefly that listeners: – are still trying to locate the numbers or pattern to which the speaker referred, – have not had time to digest the meaning of the statistics. The audience has to take the speaker’s word for what the slide showed because they didn’t have time to see it for themselves.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Reasons to orient listeners to your tables or charts Although it may appear to save time, failing to orient your listeners to your charts or diagrams reduces the effectiveness of your talk. You designed the chart and wrote the talk, so you can home in quickly on the exact number or table cell or trend line you wish to discuss. Give your audience the same advantage. Before you report and interpret patterns, show them: – Where to find the numbers to which you refer. – What questions those numbers are intended to address. Useful in written papers if chart or table is complex.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Explaining a chart so your audience can follow Before you describe data from chart or table, give audience time to become familiar with it. 1) Display the chart or table. 2) State the purpose. 3) Describe the layout. Then report and interpret the numbers or patterns you want to highlight. Repeat simple “take home” point(s) of chart.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. State the purpose of the table or chart Where does it fit in the logical sequence of your story? – What questions is it intended to answer? Can restate purpose as rhetorical question or hypothesis. Pause briefly to give audience a chance to digest it.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition.

Speaker’s notes: Purpose “This chart shows how drug use varies by type of substance and age in the United States based on a 2003 survey.”

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Explain the layout of the chart What is where? Point out location of each variable. – On a chart: What is on each axis? What is in the legend? – In a table: What is in the rows? What is in the columns? State the units of measurement or coding for each variable. Explain colors and symbols on axes and legend. Literally point to each element as you mention it. On the slides that follow, gestures are shown in orange.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Speaker’s notes: Layout “There is one cluster for each type of substance. Moving from left to right [point to each in turn]: binge alcohol, heavy alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine.” “There is a different bar color for each of the three age groups: [point to legend]: blue for persons 18–25 years old, green for 26–34, and yellow for 35 or older.”

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Explain the contents of the chart Be systematic about the order in which you describe the table or chart: – Left to right. – Top to bottom. If you find yourself jumping to disparate places in table or chart, restructure your chart to coordinate with sequence of your sentences: – Which variable in legend vs. on x-axis. – Order of categories on x-axis or in table rows. – See podcast on organizing data in tables and charts.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Speaker’s notes: Pattern “As you can see, for every type of substance studied, abuse declined with increasing age.” [Point to the step-down pattern within one substance, then wave at the others.] “ For the older two age groups, binge alcohol use was most common, followed by heavy alcohol use, marijuana, and cocaine. [Point to each of the yellow bars left to right.] In the youngest age group, the pattern was similar, but marijuana use slightly exceeding heavy alcohol use.” [Wave between the blue bars in those two clusters.]

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Following these steps is worth the time it takes This process seems like it takes a long time. With practice, it adds 20–30 seconds to the presentation of the slide. – Remember: Plan that slides with charts, tables, or other diagrams will take longer than simple text slides. Important thing is that this approach will improve effectiveness of the slide by telling audience: – What question is addressed by the numbers. – Where to find each variable to which you refer. – Will help make numeric values easier to recall.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Summary Before you describe a pattern on a chart slide, take the time to orient your audience to the purpose and layout of that chart (or table). – What is the substantive question that exhibit is intended to address? The “word problem” behind the chart. – Which elements are where? Variables, categories, units. – What do the different colors, reference lines, and symbols mean?

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Suggested resources Chapter 12 in Miller, J. E The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Miller, J. E “Organizing Data in Tables and Charts: Different Criteria for Different Tasks.” Teaching Statistics 29 (3): 98–101.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Suggested online resources Podcasts on – Creating effective tables and charts – Organizing data in tables and charts – Summarizing a pattern with many numbers (“GEE”) – Designing slides for a speech – Preparing speaker’s notes and delivering a talk

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Suggested practice exercises Study guide to The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. – Questions #5 and 6 in the problem set for chapter 12 – Suggested course extensions for chapter 12 “Reviewing” exercise #1g “Writing” exercise #3 “Revising” exercise #3

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition. Contact information Jane E. Miller, PhD Online materials available at