Have you ever emailed a report to a client and wondered whether they even read about the results? Have you tried sharing results during in-person meetings only to watch their eyes glaze over? If so, this half-day workshop is for you. As data becomes easier and cheaper to collect, the sheer volume of information available to us (and to our clients) can become overwhelming. Visualizing data through charts, graphs, and diagrams is one strategy for delivering bite-sized information that stakeholders can understand at a glance and retain for the long run.

Ann Emery and Stephanie Evergreen will discuss how to select appropriate chart types; emphasize key findings with color; and take the guesswork out of your graphs through titles, subtitles, and annotations. We’ll focus on researcher-specific considerations: designing with stakeholders’ information needs front and center, using readily available software like Microsoft Excel, and thinking through a dozen chart types—dot plots, small multiples, heat maps, and more—that can be applied to the social sciences. We’ll conclude with strategies for sharing visualizations through videos, handouts, slidedocs, social media, and dashboards. You’ll leave with the critical thinking skills and technical prowess needed to create visualizations faster and easier than you ever thought was possible.

Objectives

After our workshop, you’ll be able to:

• Describe recent trends in data visualization;
• Explore preliminary patterns by sketching charts by hand and via sparklines and conditional formatting in Excel;
• Weigh the pros and cons of presenting data through various chart types (e.g., clustered bar charts versus dot plots);
• Reduce chart clutter by adjusting borders, grid lines, and tick marks;
• Emphasize key findings with color;
• Write titles, subtitles, and annotations that summarize desired takeaway messages;
• Review drafts of visualizations that were created by you or one of your colleagues; and
• Identify which communications mode(s) are best for sharing charts (e.g., reports, handouts, presentations, etc.).

Target Audience

Anyone with an interest in presenting information more effectively through charts, graphs, tables, and diagrams. No computer programming experience or graphic design skills needed.

Venue

This workshop will be held at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement in the Farragut Square neighborhood in Washington, DC, convenient to both the Red and Orange metro lines. Location details will be shared with participants once you complete the registration process.

Class Size

Class size is limited to 25 participants, so register early. Small classes allow us to hold discussions, teach hands-on computer skills, and respond to all of your specific questions.

Laptops

This is a hands-on workshop. Bring your laptops, power cords, and enthusiasm.

About the Instructors

Stephanie Evergreen is a sought-after speaker, designer, and evaluator who brings a research-based approach to helping clients shine their work.
Stephanie Evergreen’s research-based approach to evaluation and design make her a sought-after speaker and consultant for organizations ranging from small nonprofits, community foundations and university departments to those national and international in scope like Verizon, United Nations, and Head Start.

She holds a PhD in interdisciplinary research, which included a dissertation on the extent of graphic design use in research communications. This interdisciplinary focus gives Stephanie the unique ability to specialize in data from a wide range of fields, from education to health care to policy to market research and beyond.

Stephanie is a frequent international keynote speaker and leads more than 50 workshops every year, from 1 hour to 2 days in length. She is the co-host of Rad Presenters Podcast, and regularly blogs on data presentation. She is a guest blogger for the likes of Presentation Magazine, Beth Kanter, NTEN and aea365.

Her book, Presenting Data Effectively: Communicating Your Findings for Maximum Impact, was published by Sage in Fall 2013. She is co-editor and co-author of two issues of New Directions for Evaluation on data visualization, Part 1 and Part 2.

Within the American Evaluation Association, Stephanie founded a topical interest group on data visualization and reporting. She also led the first known initiative to change the culture of presentation within a professional association, the Potent Presentations Initiative.

stephanieevergreen.com | @evergreendata

Ann K. Emery is an independent consultant who specializes in data visualization and data analysis. She partners with evaluation firms, university research centers, and nonprofits seeking to build their data skills. She’s based in DC but spends a good deal of time onsite with organizations, leading trainings and solving spreadsheet woes together. Her goal: To equip you to collect, analyze, and visualize your own data.

Prior to launching her own consulting firm, Ann evaluated advocacy and public policy projects at Innovation Network; managed an internal performance management system at the Latin American Youth Center; evaluated educational programs for local, state, and national education agencies at ICF International; helped to build a coalition of youth-serving nonprofits at the Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission on Children and Families; and contributed to research-to-policy projects at the University of Virginia.

Ann K. Emery is the Secretary of the Washington Evaluators, Co-Chair of the Data Visualization and Reporting Topical Interest Group within AEA, Advisory Board Member of AEA’s Potent Presentations Initiative, member of the Nonprofit Technology Network’s Research Committee, and past conference planner for the Eastern Evaluation Research Society.

annkemery.com | @annkemery

Registration

Register online through EventBrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/practical-data-visualization-workshop-with-ann-emery-stephanie-evergreen-tickets-4534123686

Questions?

Contact me.