Description
An integrated introduction to data visualization, strategic communication, and delivery best practices.
Persuading with Data provides an integrated instructional guide to data visualization, strategic communication, and delivery best practices. Most books on data visualization focus on creating good graphs. This is the first book that combines both explanatory visualization and communication strategy, showing how to use visuals to create effective communications that convince an audience to accept and act on the data. In four parts that proceed from micro to macro, the book explains how our brains make sense of graphs; how to design effective graphs and slides that support your ideas; how to organize those ideas into a compelling presentation; and how to deliver and defend data to an audience.
Persuading with Data is for anyone who has to explain analytical results to others. It synthesizes a wide range of skills needed by modern data professionals, providing a complete toolkit for creating effective business communications. Readers will learn how to simplify in order to amplify, how to communicate data analysis, how to prepare for audience resistance, and much more. The book integrates practitioner and academic perspectives with real-world examples from a variety of industries, organizations, and disciplines. It is accessible to a wide range of readers—from undergraduates to mid-career and executive-level professionals—and has been tested in settings that include academic classes and workplace training sessions.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part I Understanding Perception
Chapter 1 Know Your Own Mind (in order to change others') 8
Chapter 2 See How Graphs Work (inside your brain) 20
Part II Designing Your Data
Chapter 3 Choose the Right Graph (for your data) 46
Chapter 4 Simplify to Amplify (your message) 78
Chapter 5 Build Effective Slides (with the point in mind) 100
Part III Organizing Your Data
Chapter 6 Structure Your Data (so others can follow it) 126
Chapter 7 Frame the Data to Persuade (so the audience acts) 168
Part IV Delivering and Defending Your Data
Chapter 8 Present Your Data (with less preparation) 195
Chapter 9 Prepare for Resistance (because resistance shows they care) 216
Acknowledgments 242
Bibliography 247
Index 249
