Explaining an exhibit live:
The “Vanna White technique” for
describing tables, charts or other diagrams
Jane E. Miller, PhD
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd Edition.
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd Edition.
Suggested resources
• Chapter 12 in Miller, J. E. 2015. The Chicago
Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd 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, 2nd 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, 2nd Edition.
Suggested practice exercises
• Study guide to The Chicago Guide to Writing
about Numbers, 2nd Edition.
– Questions #5 and 6 in the problem set for chapter 12
– Suggested course extensions for chapter 12
• “Reviewing” exercise #1g
• “Writing” exercise #3
• “Revising” exercise #3
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition.
Contact information
Jane E. Miller, PhD
jmiller@ifh.rutgers.edu
Online materials available at
http://press.uchicago.edu/books/miller/numbers/index.html
The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, 2nd Edition.