Painting With Numbers : Presenting Numerical Information as a Communication Skill

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22063
• Published date: 01 July 2015
• Author: Randall Bolten
• Date: 01 July 2015

45

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI 10.1002/jcaf.22063

f

e

a

t

u

r

e

a

r

t

i

c

l

e

Painting With Numbers : Presenting

Numerical Information as a

Communication Skill

Randall Bolten

“The way you

present says a lot

about the way you

think.”

—Irwin

Federman, ven-

ture capitalist

Presenting

numerical informa-

tion is a commu-

nication skill, not

a mathematical or

computational skill. Almost

everyone who presents num-

bers for a living—accountants,

financial analysts, and engi-

neers, to give just a few exam-

ples—agrees heartily with this

assertion. But there the mat-

ter ends, and the professional

who needs to present such

information has little practical

guidance on exactly what that

assertion really means and how

to communicate those numbers.

Communicating effectively in

writing, speaking, or any other

medium requires the following:

• Knowledge of the rules of

presentation

• A sense of narrative flow

and how to tell a story

• Respect and compassion

for the audience

These requirements are

equally applicable to presenting

quantitative informa-

tion, and that is the

reason I wrote my

book, Painting With

Numbers: Presenting

Financials and Other

Numbers So People

Will Understand You.

My goal is to get the

reader to approach

the task of presenting

numbers in exactly the

same way he or she

would approach writ-

ing an important memo or posi-

tion paper, or giving an oral pre-

sentation. Presenting numbers

effectively is both a craft and an

art, much like writing coherently

and speaking eloquently. In rec-

ognition of this notion, Icoined

a word for this craft/art:

quantation (kwo˘ n-taˉ -sh n)

n. [English, c. 2008, from

QUANTitative + communic

ATION.] The act of present-

ing numbers, such as financial

results, electronically or in

written form for the purpose

of informing an audience.

We don’t have to be told how important numbers

are, but not everyone succeeds at presenting them

in a way that’s understandable. Presenting num-

bers effectively is both a craft and an art, much

like writing coherently and speaking eloquently.

It requires respect for the audience, a sense of

narrative flow, and knowledge about what makes

presentations understandable and effective. This

article shows how you can present numerical data

more effectively. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This article is principally excerpted

from Painting With Numbers: Present-

ing Financials and Other Numbers So

People Will Understand You (Wiley,

ISBN 978-1-118-17257-5). Copyright

© 2012 by Randall Bolten, published

by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken.

Published simultaneously in Canada.