Explaining an exhibit live The Vanna White technique

Explaining an exhibit live: The “Vanna White technique” for describing tables, charts or other diagrams Jane E. Miller, Ph. D The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Overview • Common pitfalls in oral presentation of charts and tables • Systematic approach to presenting a table or chart • Purpose • Layout • Contents The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Common pitfalls in presenting tables or charts “live” • Tables, charts, maps, and other diagrams offer real advantages for presenting numeric patterns. • Unfortunately, many speakers devote far too little time to describing such slides. • They put up the slide, state “as you can see. . . ” and then describe the pattern in a few seconds before moving on to the next slide. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Common pitfalls in presenting charts, cont. • The slide is visible so briefly that listeners: – are still trying to locate the numbers or pattern to which the speaker referred, – have not had time to digest the meaning of the statistics. • The audience has to take the speaker’s word for what the slide showed because they didn’t have time to see it for themselves. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Reasons to orient listeners to your tables or charts • Although it may appear to save time, failing to orient your listeners to your charts or diagrams reduces the effectiveness of your talk. • You designed the chart and wrote the talk, so you can home in quickly on the exact number or table cell or trend line you wish to discuss. • Give your audience the same advantage. Before you report and interpret patterns, show them: – Where to find the numbers to which you refer. – What questions those numbers are intended to address. • Useful in written papers if chart or table is complex. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Explaining a chart so your audience can follow • Before you describe data from chart or table, give audience time to become familiar with it. 1) Display the chart or table. 2) State the purpose. 3) Describe the layout. • Then report and interpret the numbers or patterns you want to highlight. • Repeat simple “take home” point(s) of chart. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

State the purpose of the table or chart • Where does it fit in the logical sequence of your story? – What questions is it intended to answer? • Can restate purpose as rhetorical question or hypothesis. • Pause briefly to give audience a chance to digest it. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Speaker’s notes: Purpose • “This chart shows how drug use varies by type of substance and age in the United States based on a 2003 survey. ” The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Explain the layout of the chart • What is where? Point out location of each variable. – On a chart: Literally point to each • What is on each axis? • What is in the legend? – In a table: • What is in the rows? • What is in the columns? element as you mention it. On the slides that follow, gestures are shown in orange. • State the units of measurement or coding for each variable. • Explain colors and symbols on axes and legend. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Speaker’s notes: Layout • “There is one cluster for each type of substance. Moving from left to right [point to each in turn]: binge alcohol, heavy alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. ” • “There is a different bar color for each of the three age groups: [point to legend]: blue for persons 18– 25 years old, green for 26– 34, and yellow for 35 or older. ” The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Explain the contents of the chart • Be systematic about the order in which you describe the table or chart: – Left to right. – Top to bottom. • If you find yourself jumping to disparate places in table or chart, restructure your chart to coordinate with sequence of your sentences: – Which variable in legend vs. on x-axis. – Order of categories on x-axis or in table rows. – See podcast on organizing data in tables and charts. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Speaker’s notes: Pattern • “As you can see, for every type of substance studied, abuse declined with increasing age. ” [Point to the step-down pattern within one substance, then wave at the others. ] • “For the older two age groups, binge alcohol use was most common, followed by heavy alcohol use, marijuana, and cocaine. [Point to each of the yellow bars left to right. ] In the youngest age group, the pattern was similar, but marijuana use slightly exceeding heavy alcohol use. ” [Wave between the blue bars in those two clusters. ] The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Following these steps is worth the time it takes • This process seems like it takes a long time. With practice, it adds 20– 30 seconds to the presentation of the slide. – Remember: Plan that slides with charts, tables, or other diagrams will take longer than simple text slides. • Important thing is that this approach will improve effectiveness of the slide by telling audience: – What question is addressed by the numbers. – Where to find each variable to which you refer. – Will help make numeric values easier to recall. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Summary • Before you describe a pattern on a chart slide, take the time to orient your audience to the purpose and layout of that chart (or table). – What is the substantive question that exhibit is intended to address? • The “word problem” behind the chart. – Which elements are where? • Variables, categories, units. – What do the different colors, reference lines, and symbols mean? The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Suggested resources • Chapter 12 in Miller, J. E. 2015. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition. • Miller, J. E. 2007. “Organizing Data in Tables and Charts: Different Criteria for Different Tasks. ” Teaching Statistics 29 (3): 98– 101. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Suggested online resources • Podcasts on – Creating effective tables and charts – Organizing data in tables and charts – Summarizing a pattern with many numbers (“GEE”) – Designing slides for a speech – Preparing speaker’s notes and delivering a talk The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Suggested practice exercises • Study guide to The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition. – Questions #5 and 6 in the problem set for chapter 12 – Suggested course extensions for chapter 12 • “Reviewing” exercise #1 g • “Writing” exercise #3 • “Revising” exercise #3 The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.

Contact information Jane E. Miller, Ph. D jmiller@ifh. rutgers. edu Online materials available at http: //press. uchicago. edu/books/miller/numbers/index. html The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2 nd Edition.