When you’re giving a presentation, the data you share is one of the most crucial tools for supporting your dialogue. If your data isn’t presented effectively, it can be difficult for your audience to understand and remember your points. In this article, we’ll discuss the best ways to show data in a presentation and why presentation style matters. 

Why Presenting Data Effectively is Important 

• As a presenter, you should strive to understand how people process information 
• When we see written language, we can generally read between 200-250 words per minute on average 
• If you want your audience to remember and understand your presentation, using data visualization is one of the best ways to achieve that goal 

Make Sure Your Data Can Be Clearly Interpreted 

• When your audience can’t understand the data, it doesn’t support the purpose and can actually negatively affect the presentation. 
• So make sure you’re using elements that convey the data simply and clearly 

Focus On What Your Data Shows 

• Focus on the big picture 

Highlight Compelling Areas 

• Try to draw attention to the most notable parts of the data using colour, labels, or other design elements. 

Present to Your Audience, Not to Your Data 

• Present to an audience of people, not to your data 

How a Presentation Designer Can Help You 

• A professional presentation designer has the skills and experience necessary to create visuals that are both clear and visually appealing. 
• They can help you focus your presentation on the most important points, and make sure it flows smoothly from beginning to end. 

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When used correctly, data can add weight, authority and leverage to your message. It should support and emphasise your ideas, giving real representation to a concept. Knowing what methods you can use is important. But even more important is knowing how to use those methods in their most visual and effective ways. 

Consider your options 

• Different types of data require different methods of presentation 
• Here are some basic options and some more out-there suggestions to get you started 

• For more advice on how to visualize data, check out this useful article from Sinsense 
• Displaying data is vital 
• People won’t engage with the content if they cannot understand it 

Line Chart 

• Simple, but effective 

• Shows a trend over time and is concise and consistent 
• Use a harmonious colour scheme 
• Personalize data to reflect attitude and message 
• Give the user plenty of creative freedom 
• Keep it simple, but not mundane 

Column charts 

• Simple and easily recognisable, they make comparisons easy and can be creative 
• They can be made original and fun, and they are flexible enough to be used in a number of different situations 
• Easier than charts, but not as flexible as charts 

Venn diagram 

• A simple way to show the relationship between groups 
• Show crossovers, similarities and differences 
• Outlined in overlapping circles, you can quickly and easily see common features between separate ideas 
• Items in the outer parts of each circle show what isn’t a common trait 

Indicator 

• A sharp and visual method of data presentation 

Pie Chart 

• Shows different percentages of a whole 

Pictograms 

• Use pictures in place of numbers or icons to add a playful visualization 

• They draw in the audience and emphasize pictures are more important than facts and figures 
• Examples: heart shapes for dating data, icons for population statistics, and globes for travel statistics 

Bubble Chart 

• Playfully present data in a very visual way 
• Different values through varying circle size 

• Bigger bubbles catch your attention 
• Smaller bubbles show how the data is split between many small values 
• Instant analysis can be very useful when looking at spending distribution 

Area map 

• This method of visualizing data depends upon geography and location. It helps to put data in a real-world context. 

• Take a blank map and use colour for the important areas. Value is then represented by blocks, circles, or shading. 

Go beyond PowerPoint 

• If you want to present data in visual and effective ways, you should go beyond the basic formats used in standard PowerPoint presentations 
• 24Slides are powerful templates that step you out of the confines of PowerPoint and into a serious standard of design that spreads your message in a way consistent with your style 

Mix it up 

• Mixing and matching different styles is engaging, so why not shake up the fonts, colours and text size too? 
• Increase the text size of numbers and percentages – the data that you want to pop for the audience 
• The text is secondary and should only reaffirm what you are saying. 

Keep it simple 

• Stick to a consistent colour scheme and design style 

• Don’t overload your audience with information 
• Keep it as simple as possible 
• Avoid charts altogether 
• Numbers can speak volumes 
• Use them to your advantage 

• They jump out from a slide and give solid, simple information 

Be original 

• Originality 
• Think of a whole new concept and play around with it 
• Make it link to the style or theme of your message or company 

• Create charts and graphs 
• Experiment with different shapes 
• Include images or visuals 
• What makes your data different from others 

Use images 

• Pictures jump from a slide and grab the attention of your audience 
• Place data over a picture to make it appear as one thing 
• Don’t distract by images – use them to support your message 
• Watch out for colour clashes and make sure the data is still highlighted information 

Highlight the important stuff 

• Make your slides entertaining and gripping as well as informative 
• Don’t shy away from explaining your data 
• Highlight numbers in a different colour to text 
• Caption your charts with descriptions of the meaning of the data and make it as easy for your audience as possible 

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How to Present Data Effectively 

The importance of structuring data in a presentation and providing tips on how to do it well. These tips are practical and applicable for all sorts of presentations-from marketing plans and medical breakthroughs to project proposals and portfolios. Organize numbers well and they tell a story. 

What is data presentation? 

• Data presentation is storytelling with graphs and charts 
• What makes sense to you may not make sense to your audience 

• To portray figures and statistics in a way that’s comprehensible to your viewers, step back, put yourself in their shoes, and consider the following: How much do they know about the topic, how much information will they need, and what data will impress them 

3 essential tips on data presentation 

• Google Slides or PowerPoint both come equipped with a range of design tools that help you help your viewers make sense of your qualitative data 
• The key here is to know how to use them both 
• Learn from the examples below and use them well 

Use the right chart 

• Conventional graphs and charts aren’t applicable to all types of data. 
• If you’re comparing numerous variables and factors, a bar chart would do no good 
• A table, on the other hand, offers a cleaner look 
• Create your own shapes and sizes to reflect the proportion 

Keep it simple 

• Limit the number of elements on the slide as much as possible and provide only the bare essentials 
• Use boxes to highlight supporting figures while giving enough attention to the main chart to separate them visually and help the audience focus 
• With the slide already pretty full, use a plain background 

Use text wisely and sparingly 

• Text plays a vital role in data presentation and should be used strategically 
• To highlight a particular statistic, do not hesitate to go all out and have that be the focal point of your slide for emphasis 
• Keep text to a minimum and as a supporting element 
• Make sure your numbers are formatted clearly 

5 Clever Ways to Present Data Effectively in PowerPoint  

Match.com has made us fall in love with their data presentation skills based on their recent ppt survey report, Singles in America, which presents insightful data about singles, dating, and more. Here are 5 smart tips on how to present data effectively in your next PowerPoint presentation. 

PowerPoint Data Visualization Tip #1 

• Mix and Match 
• Charts can be helpful when you are trying to talk while your audience is looking at the slide. 
• Use them as a visual aid to complement what you are talking about, instead of the text on the slide competing with the words coming out of your mouth. 

Avoid the PPT Default Trap 

• For all the effort you put into creating amazing slides, you do not want to just slap your results into a basic, default chart (with the same tired default colour scheme) and be done with it. 

• Go beyond the standard PowerPoint chart defaults and look for CREATIVE ways to display your information. 

Tip #3 

• Sometimes the Best Chart is No Chart 
• Sometimes all you need is the data highlights and a nice way of presenting them on the slide. 
• For example, in a survey results presentation, there is no chart showing the proportions or anything – just a few stacked boxes with some text and numbers. 

Tip #4 

• Think Outside the Box 
• Think outside the box and have fun presenting your data. 
• Data visualization in PowerPoint doesn’t have to mean graphs. Use icons or charts to represent data and make it more interesting and unique 
• Do not avoid charts, but think about how you can present your data well 

Overlay Data Onto Images 

• Find images that match the topic of your data and overlay your data onto the image. This will immediately cue the audience into what you are talking about, and help them remember it. 
• It’s really one of the best ways to present data in PowerPoint. 

Conclusion 

• There are a lot of things to keep in mind when you are putting data into your slide, but it is all in the spirit of creating a great presentation: make it beautiful, clear, and interesting. 

• Data is a part of that, and it is always worth it to put some time into making sure it fits those criteria. 

5 Top Tips For Presenting Data More Effectively 

Presenting data effectively 

• No matter how many petabytes of data you’ve streamed in real-time and how sophisticated your analytics stack is, if it doesn’t give the right people the right information at the right time, you’re wasting your time. 
• Data-driven storytelling is just like regular storytelling in a lot of ways but there is one crucial difference… in a data store, no one needs a surprise ending! 
• It’s usually more effective to give your audience the facts they’ve paid you to find out, upfront. 

Start at the end 

• Bloating reports with anything that isn’t “cutting to the chase” is a good way to get your findings ignored and leave your insights unexploited 
• Evergreen advises flipping the script when it comes to the order we present data in 

Become a ‘numbers artist’ 

• Think about more than logic and numbers when considering how to present your data 

• People are persuaded to take action or change their minds when you speak to both their heads and their hearts 
• Anything besides a table of raw numbers makes assessing the true, real-world implications of data an easier task