The communication of numbers and data is generally considered a rather dry matter. However, this does not have to be the case. There are several ways you can integrate numbers, for example, into your marketing presentation in an interesting way. We would like to give you some suggestions on how to prepare your presentation in such a way that even seemingly sober topics will catch the audience’s attention.
Figures, data, facts; hardly any presentation can do without these elements. It is also relatively easy to write business figures, statistics or project data on a slide. But that’s where the problems begin. What data should be presented and in what way? What is still reasonable for the audience and what is already too much input? The most important thing is how you prepare the figures, data and facts. Only for people with a very high affinity for numbers is the design secondary. The vast majority of your audience will usually be grateful if you present the relevant information in such a way that the brain can quickly grasp and retain the data.
Use facts, figures and data to get started with your marketing presentation.
You can get an easy start to your presentation and topics by including initial information right at the beginning of your presentation. For example, if you want to talk about “social media” or “mobile devices,” you might start like this:
- Did you know that there are 65 million smartphone users in Germany?
- How many Germans do you think use “Whatsapp” today?
- I just read that 71 percent of all workers daily….
In this way you will reach the attention of your audience and at the same time you will be able to pass on initial information to your listeners.
Make numbers vivid and understandable.
Make it easy for your audience to understand your facts, figures and data. When preparing your marketing presentation, consider where you should add additional, explanatory information to your figures. The statement, “we increased sales by 4% last year,” may be clear to you because you have more background information. But your audience may ask whether 4% is a lot or a little. Here you need to rank the number for the audience. Or you might explain that your company has used XY sheets of paper in the last three years. You might not imagine too much about that. If you explain that all the sheets of paper strung together make up a route from Karlsruhe to Warsaw, then the dimension of paper consumption becomes comprehensible.
Use infographics for your marketing presentation
Facts and figures are easier to grasp when they are integrated into a professional graphic. Here you should be very accurate and professional. Poor graphics not only drag down the overall impression of your marketing presentation. Your audience will not benefit from an unstructured, poor presentation. Presentation agencies have the necessary expertise in how to present figures and data in a graphic in a way that is effective for the audience.
Possible examples of use:
- Current business figures
- Current developments, e.g. of the sales figures
- Interesting public statistics
- Results from the Big Data area
The high art of communicating numbers, data and facts is to generate your own representations from known figures that can be quickly grasped by the eyes. Therefore, infographics are used for this purpose. With infographics, the focus is on visual perception. They help your audience grasp and categorize information. Everyone has seen representations such as fever curves, pie charts, or bars. You can also make numbers comprehensible with the help of pictures. Especially the presentation of trends can be shown more impressively by a small animation or a picture than by a table or a diagram. Our brain can process and store an image better and faster than mere facts. If you succeed in presenting a figure that is important for your marketing presentation in a pictorial way, ideally combined with a little story, then there is a high probability that your audience will listen attentively and also remember the information.
When presenting statistics, for example, never overwhelm the audience. Only the essential key figures should be included in your presentation. These are the numbers you should focus on. This will give you a chance that the most important information will be stored by the audience. You can work with additional visualization aids in the process. You can mark certain numbers in a diagram that are particularly important. For example, you can choose a special color, circle the number, enlarge it, or mark it with an arrow. This way you show the audience where to focus their attention. If you want to successfully include important figures or statistics in your next marketing presentation, your presentation agency can provide you with the necessary professional help in the targeted selection and appropriate presentation.
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Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Informatiker Matthias Garten as the expert for multimedia presentations and professional PowerPoint presentations knows about the art of professional slide design. He is an entrepreneur, speaker (TOP 100 Speaker), trainer (TOP 100 Excellence Trainer), multiple book author, presentation coach (presentation training), member of the GSA and Club 55, organizer of the Presentation Conference, Presentation Bootcamp and Presentation Rocket Day. In addition to PowerPoint and presentation training, he inspires and advises companies to present themselves even more effectively and thus stand out from competitors. He is the business owner of the presentation and PowerPoint agency smavicon Best Business Presentations and with his team has created over 10,000 professional PowerPoint presentations for over 150 industries since 1993.
