So you have played around with your data, made some key discoveries that are going to revolutionize your company and now need to persuade others to join your enlightened brigade. The key is turning your analysis into an effective and persuasive presentation.

Here are some tips for showing your data visualizations to the world:

Planing

• Decide whether you are going to start with a conclusion and then explain (deductive approach) or build the story through to the conclusion (inductive approach). Think about your visualizations only once you know you want to present them
• Write out the point of each visualization slide before designing it
• For each conclusion from your analysis, try several different visualizations before deciding on the best one to display your data
• If your conclusion is particularly contentious draw it from multiple visualizations building the story as you go, rather than attempting one super slide to explain everything

Visualizing

• Make sure your choice is highlighting not exaggerating the trend you are showing
• Love simplicity. We offer loads of advanced visualizations, useful for all sorts of occasions, but the originals done well often work best
• Make sure all of the data visualizations presented are key to getting your point across
• Be consistent with your coloring/labeling all the way through
• Always show comparisons, not absolutes
• Correlation and causality are not the same (this one slips through too often)!

General principles

• It is better to be content rich than design rich
• Don’t make your audience work hard to learn your system – stick to systems they know or link it to something they have seen before
• Get someone else who has never seen the data before to interpret each graph in 10 seconds
• Know the weakness of your data and of each graph type and be ready to defend your choices, assumptions and conclusions
• Be able to show why omitted data is not in the presentation
• Make sure it’s worth telling people about – without an interesting story, no amount of data is going to turn heads

Remember, if you are presenting directly from Bime you can navigate between full-screen visualizations in a dashboard using the arrows on the top right of the screen. You can also filter and manipulate the data on the fly, edit the colors or settings or even change visualization type to make a point during your presentation.

A high level manager contacted me in a panic. He was upset that his supervisor had asked him to give an important presentation in three days. He needed help – fast.

Occasional speech-givers make many errors. Three that are very common are poor speech-writing, inadequate knowledge of the topic, and undeveloped presentation skills.

When writing a speech, think of it from the listener’s point of view. Try to get the listener to be involved immediately, whether by telling an appropriate joke or story, reciting a statistic, or asking a theoretical question.

Explain why the information is of value to the listener. Will it help them improve their bottom line, play a better game of golf, understand foreign policy so they can explain it to their neighbors, or make the community safer? Why should they listen to you?

Organize the material with just a few main points. Is it clearly organized and within the time frames permitted? Are there stories, charts, or other attention-grabbing methods used? Is it interesting?

End the speech with a brief review of the topic, and one of many closing techniques. One is a clear call to action, whether the desired action is sending an e-mail, going to a community event or something else.

Know your topic well, especially if you are presenting to others who also know your topic. Prepare with additional resources you can include if needed. Think about probable questions you may be asked, and know the answers. If absolutely necessary, tell the audience you do not know the answer, but will get back to the person if he leaves you contact information. (Very few people will provide this.) Sometimes you can refer him to a more knowledgeable source, as well.

Presentation skills are enhanced with considerable practice. To overcome “stage fright”, or at least reduce it, think of yourself as a teacher, not a “speaker”. You know something the audience does not, which is why you are up there giving this presentation.

Practice using a tape recorder or other device. Listen to yourself. Do you sound knowledgeable, enthusiastic and clear? Is your pronunciation easily understandable? Is your contact information on your hand-outs (if you have any)?

the audience will be watching you as well as listening. If you are using visual presentation materials, are they easy to read and understandable? Do you look enthusiastic or at least comfortable?

There is much more to giving presentations well. The tips above, however, will make your next presentation more polished and professional. You only have one chance to make a great first impression. Be ready!

People negotiate everyday. The art of negotiating is part of life. People start negotiating since they are small. Every decision taken as long as some else is involved is a negotiation. People negotiate because they need something, so it is important to learn how to negotiate properly and how not to get the other person upset. In the business world the difference between winning and losing has to do with the way business people negotiate.

Negotiating is placing a request not a demand. When business people demand something they might get it at that moment, but it will certainly come back with an unreasonable demand from the other party. Learn to request and you will notice how your negotiating skills improve.

Negotiating is learning to listen. Businessmen have to attempt to understand the other party and find out what they need and what their expectations are. When negotiating listen and do not interrupt, and most important understand what is being said. Telling people what to do will eventually have a payback: people will do what ever they want and not listen to you as well.

Before negotiating it is very important that you understand what you need. If you do not understand your needs you cannot request others to do something. When you understand what you need and not what you want, you will certainly have an advantage for you in the negotiating process.

Do start negotiating if you are angry. When you are angry you loose. When you are angry you might not even know what you need, so it is very unlikely that your needs will be met. Anger reduces your ability to think clearly and your reasoning skills.

As mentioned before it is important to listen. When you listen properly you will understand the needs of the other party. When you understand your needs and the needs of the other party then you have a huge advantage in the negotiating process.

During the negotiation it is important to be calm, show interest and show empathy. Be prepare to ask question, when you do you will in turn receive answers and will better understand the issues involved.

Place yourself in the chair of the other person. When you do so you will better understand what is going on, you will ask the right questions and most important you will get their cooperation.

Be interested in the person and in their concerns. When you are really interested it is easier to listen, you will understand them better and in turn will come out with an effective negotiation.

It is very easy and simple to negotiate, as long as you make a conscious effort and follow the points mentioned above you will be able to fulfill your needs and come ahead in the process.