Book Review/Essay - 12/1996
Subject: Notes from Presenting Data and
Information - a workshop by Edward Tufte
Here are some notes from this workshop that I attended 8/21/96
in Boston.
Edward Tufte is a Yale professor and author of two books on information
design, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
(1983) and Envisioning Information (1990).
The central issues of the day were:
(1) Presenting high dimension information on the flatland of paper
and computer screens;
and
(2) how to deal with the varying densities of information that
can be presented in these media, i.e., the resolution of the presentation.
There are four fundamental design principles at play in
information presentation:
(1) presentations and graphics should answer the question “compared
to what”
(2) they should also show causal dynamics, why some phenomena
happened
(
3) integrate data, words, images into one space to tell the
story, use all the tools you have
(4) the world is multivariate, therefore the display should
be.
Underlying these design principles are the intellectual, analytical
and cognitive principles used in the creation of the content,
the argument, the research.
The key to good information design is the quality and relevance
of the content.
The typical computer and overhead presentation display is information
stacked in space. There is very little information density
and the human mind looses track of what came before very quickly.
Suggestions for Successful Presentations
1) Show up early - good things happen. Prevent technical
disasters, meet people, etc.
2) Early in the meeting tell people:
3) Use the PGP (Particular - General - Particular) principle.
Give a concrete example of a particular phenomenon. Then
generalize. Follow up with another particular to reinforce.
4) No matter what, give everyone in the room at least one piece
of paper, the handouts.
5) Cut back on overheads, they are extremely low density.
They trap the presenter into the fate of reading the four words
on the screen. Never insult the audience with the revelation
practice on overheads (I.e. The gradual uncovering of an
overhead)
6) Audiences are precious. Treat them like colleagues and
act that way...don’t engage in loose water cooler talk.
7) Be very careful about humor. Keep it targeted on the
content of the presentation. Almost invariably other humor
will insult someone in the audience. They aren’t there
to listen to jokes.
8) Don’t fall into the “he” syndrome. Use
the plural, “we”, “users”, “managers”,
etc. Instead. This avoids needlessly alienating.
You want to get your content across not have political/social
dialogue.
9) Answer questions very carefully. For many people the
manner and thoroughness of your reply is their evaluation of the
session. Always repeat questions (for clarity and
so the audience hears the question). If you have a
shy audience, ask for questions, count to ten. Have some
planted questions to get things going.
10) If you believe in the content, let the audience know
it....don’t hide this.
11) Finish early. Good things will happen
12) Practice, practice, practice. Use a colleague.
Video. Audio. Check for physical quirks. Check
for vocal quirks.
(
13) Drink lots of water.
From my own experience I can add a few more: (if you have other
good ones you should add them via email)
a) Before you create a presentation ask yourself:
b) After you answer (a), don’t allow extraneous topics,
jokes, asides, etc. distract from your content. You
want the controversy and discussion to be about your content not
some peripheral issue.
c) When starting the actual presentation find someone in the back
row and speak loudly to them. This will force you to breathe,
slow you down, and wake up everyone in between.
d) If you use overheads mark the boundary of the overhead on masking
tape on the surface of the machine. This will allow you
to put down the overheads without adjusting, jiggling and looking
foolish because everyone is crooked on the screen. (I learned
this from Don Guild)
e) Don’t mark, erase or point to things on the overhead,
go to the screen and point there. The overhead machine magnifies
the natural tremors in our hands. This always looks dreadful.
e) Move around. Walk back and forth. Walk towards
and away from the audience. If possible walk around them.
This keeps you and them awake.
f) Take keys, pocket knife and change out of your pockets so they
can’t jingle-jangle.
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