Presenting the Results - Guidelines to Successful Presentations
Presenting the Results - Guidelines to Successful Presentations
The objective of this chapter is to help readers avoid making presentaticr^ that are ineffective because they are dull, confusing, or irrelevant. Have ■: _ been exposed lately to any that hit the jackpot, that are all three? Presentations can be written, oral, or both. Later in the chapter, some tips on making oral presentations will be offered. First, however, several guidelines wtl be presented and discussed that apply to both types of presentations In general, a presenter should:
1. Communicate to a specific audience
2. Structure the presentation
3. Create audience interest
4. Be specific and visual
5. Address validity and reliability issues
Each of these guidelines will be discussed in turn.
Communicate to a Specific Audience
The first step is to know the audience and its background and objectives Most effective presentations seem like a conversation or a memo to a particular person, as opposed to an amorphous group. The key to obtaining that feeling is to identify the audience members as precisely as possible.
Audience identification will affect presentation decisions such as selecting the material to be included and the level of presentation. Excessive detail or material presented at too low a level can be boring or patronizing. However, the audience can be irritated or lost when material perceived as relevant is excluded or the material is presented at too high a level. In an oral presentation, the audience members can be asked whether they already know some of the material.
Frequently, there will be two or more different audiences to which a presentation must be addressed. There are several ways to deal with such a problem. In a written presentation, an executive summary at the outset can provide an overview of the conclusions for the benefit of the audience that is not interested in details. The presentation should respect the time constraints of the audience members. An appendix also can be used to reach some people selectively without distracting the others. Sometimes in the introduction to a chapter or a section the reader can be told the nature of the contents and that it may be bypassed by certain audiences. In an oral presentation, the existence of multiple audiences should be recognized with a statement such as, "I need to provide some information on instrumentation next. You engineers in the audience could help by making sure that I don't miss anything." With such an acknowledgement, the engineers probably will be flattered and helpful rather than bored and restless.
Structure the Presentation
Each piece of the presentation should fit into the whole, just as individual pieces fit into a jigsaw puzzle. The audience should not be muttering, "What on earth is this person talking about?" or "How does this material fit in?" or "I'm lost." The solution is to provide a well-defined structure. As Figure 16-1 illustrates, the structure should include an introduction, a body, and a summary. Further, each of the major sections themselves should be structured in a similar manner. The precept is to tell the audience what you are going to say, say it, and then tell them what you said. Sometimes you want to withhold the conclusion to create interest. In that case the audience could then be told—"The objective here will be to come to a recommendation as to whether this new product should go into test market and, if so, with what type of pricing strategy."
Introduction The introduction should play several roles. First, it should provide audience interest, a task that will be discussed in detail in the next
section. A second function is to identify the central idea or objective of the presentation. A third role is to provide a road map to the rest of the presentation so that the audience can picture the organization and flow. Sometimes the only way to develop such a road map is to say something like. "This presentation has four parts. The research purpose and objectives will be discussed first. In the second section the research design will be described. ..." However, with a little effort and luck it is sometimes possible to develop and use a flowchart that will provide the structure in a more interesting way. For example, in this book such a structural role was played by Figures 1-1, 2-2, 3-1, and 4-1 (the reader should attempt to identify other figures so used). When such a device is used, the audience should be clear when each section is to be addressed. The label for the section should use identical wording throughout, and the start of the section should be made clear: "Having finished the second section, we now move to the third section."
Body Usually it is best to divide the body of the presentation (or the major section) into two to five parts. The audience will be able to absorb only so much information. If that information can be aggregated into chunks, it will be easier to assimilate. Sometimes the points to be made are not combined easily or naturally. In that case, it is sometimes necessary to use a longer list: "There are 12 problems with this new product concept." However, the presentation should never drift through the body with no structure at all.
One way to structure a presentation is by the research questions: "This research was conducted to address four research questions. Each of these will be considered in turn." Another method that is often useful when presenting the research proposal is to base it on the research process, as was illustrated in Chapter 4.
The most useful presentations will include a statement of implications and recommendations relevant to the research purpose. However, when the researcher lacks information about the total situation because the research study only addresses a limited aspect of it, then the ability to generate recommendations may be limited.
Summary The purpose of the presentation summary is to identify and underline the important points of the presentation and to provide some repetition of their content. The summary should support the presentation communication objectives by helping the audience to retain the key parts of the presentation content. The audience usually will perk up when they realize the end is near and an overview of the presentation is coming, so the summary section should be signaled clearly. A section summary has the additional task of providing a transition to the next section. The audience should feel that there is a natural flow from one section to the next.
Create Audience Interest
The audience should be provided with a motivation to read or listen to the presentation's major parts and to the individual elements of each section. The audience should know why the presentation is relevant to them and why each section was included. A section that cannot hold interest probably should be excluded or relegated to appendix status.
The research purpose and objectives are a good vehicle to provide motivation. The research purpose should specify decisions to be made and should relate to the research questions. A presentation that focuses on those research questions and their associated hypotheses will naturally be tied to relevant decisions and hold audience interest. In contrast, a presentation that attempts to report on all questions that were included in the survey and in the cross-tabulations often will be long, uninteresting, and of little value.
The researcher should point out those aspects of the results that are important and interesting. Suppose a chart is used that contains 10 descriptors of customers in 13 different markets. The presenter should circle three or so of those 130 numbers and be prepared to observe: "Look at this number. We had hypothesized it to be higher than the others and it .5 actually lower. Let's look at the possible reasons and implications." The presenter should not have a compulsion to wade through every detail of the questionnaire and the analysis.
As the analysis is proceeding and as the presentation is being prepared, the researcher should be on the lookout for results that are exceptionally persuasive, relevant, interesting, and unusual. Sometimes the deviant respondent with the strange answers can provide the most insight ■ he or she is pursued and not discarded. For example, in Figure 13-1, more respondents answered the age question than the income question. Of the 48 respondents who did not answer the income question, almost all of then: were "moderately interested" in the new health plan. Why? Are there any implications? Sometimes a few or even one deviant respondent can provide useful ideas and insights.
The best way to provide interest is to make the content so relevant that the audience will be interested: however, you will not always be blessed with absorbing content. Especially in those cases, it is very useful to make the presentation a lively and interesting experience. One way is to interject humor. The best humor is that tied to the subject matter or to the presentation, as opposed to memorized jokes that really do not fit. It is good t: reward the audience periodically, however, and humor often works. Another tactic is to use a change of pace in the presentation. Break up the text with graphs, pictures, or even cartoons. In an oral presentation, try a variety of visual aids and some audience-involvement techniques. For example, the audience can be asked a question periodically and given a chance to talk and become involved.
Be Specific and Visual
Avoid talking or writing in the abstract. If different members of the audience have different or vague understandings of important concepts, there is a potential problem. Terms that are ambiguous or not well known should be defined and illustrated or else omitted. Thus, in a segmentation study an "active saver" might be unambiguously defined as one who added at least $500 to savings each of the last two years.
The most interesting presentations usually use specific stories, anecdotes, studies, or incidents to make points. They will be much more interesting and graphic than a generalization, however accurate and scientific. Instead of "studies have shown that . . . ," it is more effective to say. "in the Topeka test market the 69 cent price had far less trial than the 89 cent price for product X when the bright blue package was used." A utility
company conducted a focus-group study to learn homeowners' motivations to conserve energy and their attitudes toward adding insulation. The marketing research director, in presenting the results to top management, played a 20-minute edited videotape recording of the focus groups, in which the key segments were illustrated graphically. The impact on the audience was greater than otherwise would have been possible. They actually heard specific customers, representative of the emerged segments, forcefully put forth their views.
The adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words," applies to both written and oral presentations. A mass of data often can be communicated clearly with graphs. A wide variety is available, such as bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts (see Figure 16-2). Color can be employed to add interest, to highlight findings, and to help deal with complexity.
Address Issues of Validity and Reliability
The presentation should help the audience avoid misinterpreting the results. Throughout Part II of this book countless potential research design issues have been raised that can affect the validity and interpretation of the results. The wording of the questions, the ordering of the questions, and the sampling design are among the design dimensions that can lead to biased results and misinterpretations. The presentation should not include an exhaustive description of all the design considerations. Nobody is interested in a text discussion of the advantages of telephone over mail surveys or how you located homes in an area sampling design. However, when the wording of a question or some other design issue can affect an interpretation and ultimately a research conclusion, then that issue should be raised and its possible effect upon the interpretation discussed. For example, in a product concept test, the method of exposing respondents to the concept may be crucial. Some discussion of why the method used was selected and its affect on the interpretation may be very useful. Try to identfj those design issues that will affect interpretation and raise them in the context of the interpretation.
The presentation should include some feel for the reliability of the results. At a minimum, it always should be clear what sample size n involved. The key results should be supported by more precise informaticr. in the form of interval estimates (discussed in Chapter 12) or by a hypothesis test. The hypothesis test basically indicates, given the sample size, what probability exists that the results were merely an accident of sampling If the probability (or significance level) is not low, then the results probably would not be repeated. Do not imply more precision than is warranted. If 1 f out of 52 respondents answered positively, do not give the percentage as 28.846. Rather, use 29 percent or "nearly 30 percent." Consider the following exchange:
Speaker: 27.273 percent favored version B of the product
Audience Member: What was the sample size?
Speaker: Around 11.
Audience Member: Really? As large as that!
The objective of this chapter is to help readers avoid making presentaticr^ that are ineffective because they are dull, confusing, or irrelevant. Have ■: _ been exposed lately to any that hit the jackpot, that are all three? Presentations can be written, oral, or both. Later in the chapter, some tips on making oral presentations will be offered. First, however, several guidelines wtl be presented and discussed that apply to both types of presentations In general, a presenter should:
1. Communicate to a specific audience
2. Structure the presentation
3. Create audience interest
4. Be specific and visual
5. Address validity and reliability issues
Each of these guidelines will be discussed in turn.
Communicate to a Specific Audience
The first step is to know the audience and its background and objectives Most effective presentations seem like a conversation or a memo to a particular person, as opposed to an amorphous group. The key to obtaining that feeling is to identify the audience members as precisely as possible.
Audience identification will affect presentation decisions such as selecting the material to be included and the level of presentation. Excessive detail or material presented at too low a level can be boring or patronizing. However, the audience can be irritated or lost when material perceived as relevant is excluded or the material is presented at too high a level. In an oral presentation, the audience members can be asked whether they already know some of the material.
Frequently, there will be two or more different audiences to which a presentation must be addressed. There are several ways to deal with such a problem. In a written presentation, an executive summary at the outset can provide an overview of the conclusions for the benefit of the audience that is not interested in details. The presentation should respect the time constraints of the audience members. An appendix also can be used to reach some people selectively without distracting the others. Sometimes in the introduction to a chapter or a section the reader can be told the nature of the contents and that it may be bypassed by certain audiences. In an oral presentation, the existence of multiple audiences should be recognized with a statement such as, "I need to provide some information on instrumentation next. You engineers in the audience could help by making sure that I don't miss anything." With such an acknowledgement, the engineers probably will be flattered and helpful rather than bored and restless.
Structure the Presentation
Each piece of the presentation should fit into the whole, just as individual pieces fit into a jigsaw puzzle. The audience should not be muttering, "What on earth is this person talking about?" or "How does this material fit in?" or "I'm lost." The solution is to provide a well-defined structure. As Figure 16-1 illustrates, the structure should include an introduction, a body, and a summary. Further, each of the major sections themselves should be structured in a similar manner. The precept is to tell the audience what you are going to say, say it, and then tell them what you said. Sometimes you want to withhold the conclusion to create interest. In that case the audience could then be told—"The objective here will be to come to a recommendation as to whether this new product should go into test market and, if so, with what type of pricing strategy."
Introduction The introduction should play several roles. First, it should provide audience interest, a task that will be discussed in detail in the next
section. A second function is to identify the central idea or objective of the presentation. A third role is to provide a road map to the rest of the presentation so that the audience can picture the organization and flow. Sometimes the only way to develop such a road map is to say something like. "This presentation has four parts. The research purpose and objectives will be discussed first. In the second section the research design will be described. ..." However, with a little effort and luck it is sometimes possible to develop and use a flowchart that will provide the structure in a more interesting way. For example, in this book such a structural role was played by Figures 1-1, 2-2, 3-1, and 4-1 (the reader should attempt to identify other figures so used). When such a device is used, the audience should be clear when each section is to be addressed. The label for the section should use identical wording throughout, and the start of the section should be made clear: "Having finished the second section, we now move to the third section."
Body Usually it is best to divide the body of the presentation (or the major section) into two to five parts. The audience will be able to absorb only so much information. If that information can be aggregated into chunks, it will be easier to assimilate. Sometimes the points to be made are not combined easily or naturally. In that case, it is sometimes necessary to use a longer list: "There are 12 problems with this new product concept." However, the presentation should never drift through the body with no structure at all.
One way to structure a presentation is by the research questions: "This research was conducted to address four research questions. Each of these will be considered in turn." Another method that is often useful when presenting the research proposal is to base it on the research process, as was illustrated in Chapter 4.
The most useful presentations will include a statement of implications and recommendations relevant to the research purpose. However, when the researcher lacks information about the total situation because the research study only addresses a limited aspect of it, then the ability to generate recommendations may be limited.
Summary The purpose of the presentation summary is to identify and underline the important points of the presentation and to provide some repetition of their content. The summary should support the presentation communication objectives by helping the audience to retain the key parts of the presentation content. The audience usually will perk up when they realize the end is near and an overview of the presentation is coming, so the summary section should be signaled clearly. A section summary has the additional task of providing a transition to the next section. The audience should feel that there is a natural flow from one section to the next.
Create Audience Interest
The audience should be provided with a motivation to read or listen to the presentation's major parts and to the individual elements of each section. The audience should know why the presentation is relevant to them and why each section was included. A section that cannot hold interest probably should be excluded or relegated to appendix status.
The research purpose and objectives are a good vehicle to provide motivation. The research purpose should specify decisions to be made and should relate to the research questions. A presentation that focuses on those research questions and their associated hypotheses will naturally be tied to relevant decisions and hold audience interest. In contrast, a presentation that attempts to report on all questions that were included in the survey and in the cross-tabulations often will be long, uninteresting, and of little value.
The researcher should point out those aspects of the results that are important and interesting. Suppose a chart is used that contains 10 descriptors of customers in 13 different markets. The presenter should circle three or so of those 130 numbers and be prepared to observe: "Look at this number. We had hypothesized it to be higher than the others and it .5 actually lower. Let's look at the possible reasons and implications." The presenter should not have a compulsion to wade through every detail of the questionnaire and the analysis.
As the analysis is proceeding and as the presentation is being prepared, the researcher should be on the lookout for results that are exceptionally persuasive, relevant, interesting, and unusual. Sometimes the deviant respondent with the strange answers can provide the most insight ■ he or she is pursued and not discarded. For example, in Figure 13-1, more respondents answered the age question than the income question. Of the 48 respondents who did not answer the income question, almost all of then: were "moderately interested" in the new health plan. Why? Are there any implications? Sometimes a few or even one deviant respondent can provide useful ideas and insights.
The best way to provide interest is to make the content so relevant that the audience will be interested: however, you will not always be blessed with absorbing content. Especially in those cases, it is very useful to make the presentation a lively and interesting experience. One way is to interject humor. The best humor is that tied to the subject matter or to the presentation, as opposed to memorized jokes that really do not fit. It is good t: reward the audience periodically, however, and humor often works. Another tactic is to use a change of pace in the presentation. Break up the text with graphs, pictures, or even cartoons. In an oral presentation, try a variety of visual aids and some audience-involvement techniques. For example, the audience can be asked a question periodically and given a chance to talk and become involved.
Be Specific and Visual
Avoid talking or writing in the abstract. If different members of the audience have different or vague understandings of important concepts, there is a potential problem. Terms that are ambiguous or not well known should be defined and illustrated or else omitted. Thus, in a segmentation study an "active saver" might be unambiguously defined as one who added at least $500 to savings each of the last two years.
The most interesting presentations usually use specific stories, anecdotes, studies, or incidents to make points. They will be much more interesting and graphic than a generalization, however accurate and scientific. Instead of "studies have shown that . . . ," it is more effective to say. "in the Topeka test market the 69 cent price had far less trial than the 89 cent price for product X when the bright blue package was used." A utility
company conducted a focus-group study to learn homeowners' motivations to conserve energy and their attitudes toward adding insulation. The marketing research director, in presenting the results to top management, played a 20-minute edited videotape recording of the focus groups, in which the key segments were illustrated graphically. The impact on the audience was greater than otherwise would have been possible. They actually heard specific customers, representative of the emerged segments, forcefully put forth their views.
The adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words," applies to both written and oral presentations. A mass of data often can be communicated clearly with graphs. A wide variety is available, such as bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts (see Figure 16-2). Color can be employed to add interest, to highlight findings, and to help deal with complexity.
Address Issues of Validity and Reliability
The presentation should help the audience avoid misinterpreting the results. Throughout Part II of this book countless potential research design issues have been raised that can affect the validity and interpretation of the results. The wording of the questions, the ordering of the questions, and the sampling design are among the design dimensions that can lead to biased results and misinterpretations. The presentation should not include an exhaustive description of all the design considerations. Nobody is interested in a text discussion of the advantages of telephone over mail surveys or how you located homes in an area sampling design. However, when the wording of a question or some other design issue can affect an interpretation and ultimately a research conclusion, then that issue should be raised and its possible effect upon the interpretation discussed. For example, in a product concept test, the method of exposing respondents to the concept may be crucial. Some discussion of why the method used was selected and its affect on the interpretation may be very useful. Try to identfj those design issues that will affect interpretation and raise them in the context of the interpretation.
The presentation should include some feel for the reliability of the results. At a minimum, it always should be clear what sample size n involved. The key results should be supported by more precise informaticr. in the form of interval estimates (discussed in Chapter 12) or by a hypothesis test. The hypothesis test basically indicates, given the sample size, what probability exists that the results were merely an accident of sampling If the probability (or significance level) is not low, then the results probably would not be repeated. Do not imply more precision than is warranted. If 1 f out of 52 respondents answered positively, do not give the percentage as 28.846. Rather, use 29 percent or "nearly 30 percent." Consider the following exchange:
Speaker: 27.273 percent favored version B of the product
Audience Member: What was the sample size?
Speaker: Around 11.
Audience Member: Really? As large as that!
Comments
Post a Comment