The 7 Steps
Chapter 7. Data into charts
Sound Of Flushing
At Investor Conferences
One of the most common things I’ve done since I started in investor relations is to present at investor conferences. These are days long events which are organized by investment banks. At the conference a group of companies presents their stories to the investment bank’s clients, investors who could invest in your company shares.
Fund Manager Audience
The investors are normally fund managers working for companies who manage large pools of money for insurance, mutual & pension funds. Their companies have a large number of managers who specialize in different investments like equities or bonds, different sectors like consumer or mining & different markets like China or Indonesia.
Five Star Hotels
As you can imagine, this is quite a serious bunch of people. The venues are pretty serious too. Sometimes the investment bank which is organizing is big enough to have their own conference facilities, but mostly the events take place in sumptuous 5 star hotels. As a result, I’ve been lucky enough to stay & work at some of the most glamorous hotels in the world.
Bedroom to Meeting-room
The meetings with the investors take place in the hotel bedroom which have been ‘broken’ which means the main furniture like the bed is removed & replaced with a meeting table & chairs to convert it into a meeting room. The investors who come to the meeting will number 1 up to 10 & there’s usually 1 or 2 other people from the presenting company.
En Suite Bathroom
The meetings themselves are mostly very serious too. They are also often quiet with only me as speaker, occasionally with questions from the audience. Being hotels there is an ensuite bathroom & occasionally someone decides to go to the toilet. Imagine the serious quiet of an investor presentation shattered by the sound of a flushing toilet (or worse) & you having to carry on presenting without laughing,
First, Collect Data
I Love Data
I love data. I love collecting it, playing with it & showing it to others. For some reason I’ve always loved numbers & making calculations. I can remember when I was young, looking at magazine adverts for digital watches, especially the ones with calculators on, which I wanted. I would make pocket money calculations to see how long it would take to buy one.
Data Is Everywhere
There is data everywhere. I collect it & you can too. It just means tracking things. I track social media likes, website views, my heart rate, bank balance & that’s just for myself. You can also look everywhere inside your company for data. Employee numbers, assets, sales, volumes, prices. You never know when something will be useful later.
First Collect it
You can collect data from the internet where there are lots of sources, just google your topic & see what comes up. This can be part of brainstorming when you are looking for your theme & presentation title. You can go through published company financial reports, government statistics. You can go to the different departments in your company to ask what data they have. There’s lots.
Then Simplify It
The thing about lots & lots of data is it’s great to have but useless to present. I blame Excel. Their spreadsheets are endless, so more data goes into them & you try to present too much of it. That’s why I use Apple Numbers which means instead of one giant spreadsheet with lots of data you get lots of simpler, smaller spreadsheets .
Close with it
Data is especially important for closing. You can present an idea to your audience using emotion, telling the story & giving the reasons & arguments why they should follow your suggestion. But in the end, your audience wants to see the idea in terms of numbers because the facts make it feel real & actionable.
How to Simplify
A Common Problem
One of the most common problems with presentations involves the use of data. You probably know exactly what I mean. Too many numbers on the slide, charts that don’t have a clear point, or charts that look completely flat & uninteresting or worse falling. I’ve met a lot of people who know what’s wrong, but they don’t know how to fix it.
You Didn’t Decide
As mentioned above, one problem is the ubiquitous use of excel. Excel is a bottomless pit of data because spreadsheets are endless. People fill them up with lots & lots of data & then feel they have to put it all into their presentation. The reason for this is because you have not decided the point or theme of your presentation at the beginning.
My Solution, Numbers
My solution is related to the way I make presentations. If like me you use Apple iPads & iPhones you will end up using Apple’s spreadsheet app called simply Numbers. When you open a spreadsheet in Numbers it is only small & instead of filling the screen there’s space to add more sheets. You end up with smaller simpler spreadsheets, each one is its own idea.
Already in Brainstorm
You want the data to match with your theme & to help make the point you are trying to make. The best way to do this is to have already incorporated looking at your data in your earlier brainstorming. If you do this then you know what to use because it’s how you came up with your theme or point in the first place. That way it’s also already written into your script.
Already In Script
Because the data was already part of your brainstorming it will also already be part of your script. When you wrote out your script the data & Idea it showed was already part of your sub points or tweets. With a rough idea of how it will look already in your mind, you can now go back through the script & add a note of the data use for each of your sub points.
Data Into Charts
Keep It Simple
I love charts. Maybe because I spent years at the beginning of my career doing only charts. I always have to remember to keep them under control & not have too many. The key with your charts is to make them so simple that a 4 year old could understand them. When your audience looks at your chart they should immediately see the point it makes
Remember The Labels
Something which you must remember to add the labels to the data in your chart. What data it is & what is the measurements you are using. In my excitement & because I already know the answer myself, I often forget this. But if you miss out these details then your audience might be wondering if it is real. They may lose trust in you even if they know you.
Three To Five
Try to use as little data as possible so that your point comes across more clearly, is easily seen & your audience gets it quickly. You should use only 3 to 5 data points in each of your charts. But... like all the best things, this is a rule that you can break. You could use more data, for example to show a longer time period, as long as the chart itself is telling a great story.
Always Go Up
Always get your charts to be as cheerful as possible which means going up, exponentially if possible. If your chart is flat or going down don’t use it. I would say even if the going down is making a positive point, I wouldn’t use it. The reason for this is your audience is not paying enough attention. If they see something declining they’ll assume it’s a negative.
A Catchy Title
Now it’s time to release your inner tabloid journalist. Complete your chart with a catchy title just like a newspaper headline from the UK’s famous Sun newspaper or the New York Post. There have been many classic headlines. They are eye catching, amusing & often use just 3 words like; ‘Axis of Weasel’ & ‘See EU Later’. Sometimes they have just 1 word like, ‘Gotcha!’.
At Investor Conferences
One of the most common things I’ve done since I started in investor relations is to present at investor conferences. These are days long events which are organized by investment banks. At the conference a group of companies presents their stories to the investment bank’s clients, investors who could invest in your company shares.
Fund Manager Audience
The investors are normally fund managers working for companies who manage large pools of money for insurance, mutual & pension funds. Their companies have a large number of managers who specialize in different investments like equities or bonds, different sectors like consumer or mining & different markets like China or Indonesia.
Five Star Hotels
As you can imagine, this is quite a serious bunch of people. The venues are pretty serious too. Sometimes the investment bank which is organizing is big enough to have their own conference facilities, but mostly the events take place in sumptuous 5 star hotels. As a result, I’ve been lucky enough to stay & work at some of the most glamorous hotels in the world.
Bedroom to Meeting-room
The meetings with the investors take place in the hotel bedroom which have been ‘broken’ which means the main furniture like the bed is removed & replaced with a meeting table & chairs to convert it into a meeting room. The investors who come to the meeting will number 1 up to 10 & there’s usually 1 or 2 other people from the presenting company.
En Suite Bathroom
The meetings themselves are mostly very serious too. They are also often quiet with only me as speaker, occasionally with questions from the audience. Being hotels there is an ensuite bathroom & occasionally someone decides to go to the toilet. Imagine the serious quiet of an investor presentation shattered by the sound of a flushing toilet (or worse) & you having to carry on presenting without laughing,
First, Collect Data
I Love Data
I love data. I love collecting it, playing with it & showing it to others. For some reason I’ve always loved numbers & making calculations. I can remember when I was young, looking at magazine adverts for digital watches, especially the ones with calculators on, which I wanted. I would make pocket money calculations to see how long it would take to buy one.
Data Is Everywhere
There is data everywhere. I collect it & you can too. It just means tracking things. I track social media likes, website views, my heart rate, bank balance & that’s just for myself. You can also look everywhere inside your company for data. Employee numbers, assets, sales, volumes, prices. You never know when something will be useful later.
First Collect it
You can collect data from the internet where there are lots of sources, just google your topic & see what comes up. This can be part of brainstorming when you are looking for your theme & presentation title. You can go through published company financial reports, government statistics. You can go to the different departments in your company to ask what data they have. There’s lots.
Then Simplify It
The thing about lots & lots of data is it’s great to have but useless to present. I blame Excel. Their spreadsheets are endless, so more data goes into them & you try to present too much of it. That’s why I use Apple Numbers which means instead of one giant spreadsheet with lots of data you get lots of simpler, smaller spreadsheets .
Close with it
Data is especially important for closing. You can present an idea to your audience using emotion, telling the story & giving the reasons & arguments why they should follow your suggestion. But in the end, your audience wants to see the idea in terms of numbers because the facts make it feel real & actionable.
How to Simplify
A Common Problem
One of the most common problems with presentations involves the use of data. You probably know exactly what I mean. Too many numbers on the slide, charts that don’t have a clear point, or charts that look completely flat & uninteresting or worse falling. I’ve met a lot of people who know what’s wrong, but they don’t know how to fix it.
You Didn’t Decide
As mentioned above, one problem is the ubiquitous use of excel. Excel is a bottomless pit of data because spreadsheets are endless. People fill them up with lots & lots of data & then feel they have to put it all into their presentation. The reason for this is because you have not decided the point or theme of your presentation at the beginning.
My Solution, Numbers
My solution is related to the way I make presentations. If like me you use Apple iPads & iPhones you will end up using Apple’s spreadsheet app called simply Numbers. When you open a spreadsheet in Numbers it is only small & instead of filling the screen there’s space to add more sheets. You end up with smaller simpler spreadsheets, each one is its own idea.
Already in Brainstorm
You want the data to match with your theme & to help make the point you are trying to make. The best way to do this is to have already incorporated looking at your data in your earlier brainstorming. If you do this then you know what to use because it’s how you came up with your theme or point in the first place. That way it’s also already written into your script.
Already In Script
Because the data was already part of your brainstorming it will also already be part of your script. When you wrote out your script the data & Idea it showed was already part of your sub points or tweets. With a rough idea of how it will look already in your mind, you can now go back through the script & add a note of the data use for each of your sub points.
Data Into Charts
Keep It Simple
I love charts. Maybe because I spent years at the beginning of my career doing only charts. I always have to remember to keep them under control & not have too many. The key with your charts is to make them so simple that a 4 year old could understand them. When your audience looks at your chart they should immediately see the point it makes
Remember The Labels
Something which you must remember to add the labels to the data in your chart. What data it is & what is the measurements you are using. In my excitement & because I already know the answer myself, I often forget this. But if you miss out these details then your audience might be wondering if it is real. They may lose trust in you even if they know you.
Three To Five
Try to use as little data as possible so that your point comes across more clearly, is easily seen & your audience gets it quickly. You should use only 3 to 5 data points in each of your charts. But... like all the best things, this is a rule that you can break. You could use more data, for example to show a longer time period, as long as the chart itself is telling a great story.
Always Go Up
Always get your charts to be as cheerful as possible which means going up, exponentially if possible. If your chart is flat or going down don’t use it. I would say even if the going down is making a positive point, I wouldn’t use it. The reason for this is your audience is not paying enough attention. If they see something declining they’ll assume it’s a negative.
A Catchy Title
Now it’s time to release your inner tabloid journalist. Complete your chart with a catchy title just like a newspaper headline from the UK’s famous Sun newspaper or the New York Post. There have been many classic headlines. They are eye catching, amusing & often use just 3 words like; ‘Axis of Weasel’ & ‘See EU Later’. Sometimes they have just 1 word like, ‘Gotcha!’.