Present your statistics in context for more impact

Written by Helen Wilkie


“I didn’t have 3000 pairs of shoes. I had only 1600 pairs.”—Imelda Marcos

Everything’s relative. A million dollars sounds like a lot of money to someone who makes an average salary, but it’s a drop inrepparttar bucket to a Warren Buffett or a Bill Gates. Running a hundred metres in a few seconds seems like a miracle to ordinary mortals, but a track and field athlete will work hard to shave even more off that time.

Yet presenters often quote statistics without benchmarks, sorepparttar 119451 audience doesn’t know how to evaluate them. Is $10,000 a lot of money? Well it is for a bicycle. It’s not much for a house, unless that house is in a small village in a third world country, where it might be exorbitant. If you quote numbers this way, you will loserepparttar 119452 audience while they try to decide whether $125,000 is good, bad or indifferent in this context. Your statistics lose their power.

In a presentation skills workshop for a group of lawyers, one participant was practicing his delivery of an address torepparttar 119453 jury in an upcoming trial. He was asking for damages inrepparttar 119454 amount of $750,000, and hopedrepparttar 119455 jury would consider it reasonable. It’s quite a large sum, and most ordinary folks think of that kind of cash as a lottery win. He needed to put it in context for them.

He might, for example, askrepparttar 119456 jury to suppose they were thirty-five years old and earning a salary of $40,000 a year. Byrepparttar 119457 time they reachedrepparttar 119458 age of sixty-five, allowing for reasonable increases, they could expect to have earned a certain amount. (He would dorepparttar 119459 arithmetic and insertrepparttar 119460 actual sum.) That amount would be what is called their “expected lifetime income”. However, if they were involved in an accident and suddenly unable to work any more, that amount now represents their “forfeited lifetime income”. That is what happened to this claimant, andrepparttar 119461 amount he would have lost was $750,000. So in fact, counsel was asking no more thanrepparttar 119462 amountrepparttar 119463 man would have earned, had he not met with this unfortunate accident.

How to Command the Respect of Your Team

Written by Mike Bosse


When I was a child my father would take me ice fishing with him and his buddies. I remember very clearlyrepparttar first time he took me out onrepparttar 119450 ice. I was so excited to be included in his fishing trip that I couldn’t sleeprepparttar 119451 entire night prior.

So at 4:00am when my father came intorepparttar 119452 room to wake me, he was a little surprised to find me wide eyed and full of energy. When we got out ontorepparttar 119453 frozen lake I remember hearingrepparttar 119454 ice creak beneathrepparttar 119455 wheels ofrepparttar 119456 truck as we slowly approachedrepparttar 119457 small wooden shack that would house us fromrepparttar 119458 elements forrepparttar 119459 remainder ofrepparttar 119460 day.

I remember being concerned asrepparttar 119461 first ‘POP!’ resounded fromrepparttar 119462 crystal floor below. But then, I took one look at my father and all of my fears where dispelled. I knew that with my father at my side I was safe from harm.

Once insiderepparttar 119463 ice cabin we litrepparttar 119464 small heater inrepparttar 119465 corner and my father went over some ofrepparttar 119466 safety rules with me. Afterrepparttar 119467 initial talk on safety,repparttar 119468 wooden plank which coveredrepparttar 119469 4 foot long by 2 foot wide hole inrepparttar 119470 ice was removed. One look intorepparttar 119471 murky darkness below and I becamerepparttar 119472 poster boy for ice fishing safety.

My father went overrepparttar 119473 basics with me and then showed me how to properly droprepparttar 119474 line and how to watch it for a bite fromrepparttar 119475 fish.

As he instructed me, I absorbed every bit of information he shared, and followed his lessons torepparttar 119476 tee. I never questioned him, or desired anything else but to make him proud of me, and have fun. Overrepparttar 119477 course of that day I caught half a gallon of trout, and hadrepparttar 119478 time of my life.

I often think back on this story when I am in a position to lead men. My father commanded not only my loyalty, but my respect, my devotion, and I surrendered to his command on blind faith.

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