Presentation for the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy
January 2014
Washington, DC
Memos and metrics, emails and texts, newsletters and reports: Is your organization suffering from information overload? We consume 34 gigabytes, or 100,500 words, of information every day. Our brains are overwhelmed and struggling to keep up.
Data visualization–or dataviz–is one of the strongest weapons against information overload. Colorful diagrams, well-designed charts, and engaging infographics are easy to digest and fun to share. Dataviz can get your colleagues to pay attention to your organization’s most important data. Dataviz can captivate and catalyze your supporters. And dataviz can improve your communication power with pretty much every audience you’re hoping to inform or sway. So get started!
On January 30, 2014, Innovation Network’s Ann Emery led a presentation for the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy titled “Dataviz for Philanthropists: How to Communicate Better with Charts.” She started by setting the stage: What is dataviz? Why do our brains crave images over text? We also discussed how you can use charts to communicate information better during your Board meetings; in your annual reports, newsletters, and mailings; and through your group’s social media channels. Next, Ann shared simple strategies for improving any chart–like reducing clutter, adding a Twitter-like headline, and using colors to emphasize your most important points.
Diana
Feb 6, 2014 -
I cannot thank you enough for sending your presentation. Seriously. I think you have saved my life
I’m sort of a data geek, and I’ve been struggling with how to present some incredibly complex data to my colleagues and supervisors, who don’t have as in-depth knowledge of the data and aren’t interested in details. Through your presentation, I think I realized that one of the things I’ve been struggling with most is which story to tell…
This is incredible. I really really really wish I’d been able to hear your presentation in person!!!!