Numbers add credibility to a speech, especially in a persuasive speech that uses logic to impress upon the audience. Say you are a salesman selling anti-cancer pills (are they even such medicine around??), one of the most used tactic is to state the current percentage of Singaporeans that are prone to cancer. Or if you are presenting to the board of directors, you will embellish your slides with revenue figures, return on investment percentages and company turnover numbers, especially if your company is doing well. Even speakers use numbers to reinforce their points. I remember a couple of days ago, Joni dished out a statistical figure that was appalling but underscored her point: Couples in Singapore are NOT having enough sex. In fact, based on her numbers, couples of having sex ONLY twice a week. Now, that is something!

In this entry, I would like to highlight two points about using numbers (or statistics) in your speech or presentation.

1. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too many numbers

True, numbers add credibility to your speech. It gives your audience the impression that you have did a significant amount of research to warrant their trust. But when every line in your speech is tagged with a number, it becomes an overkill. So just how much is too much? Hard to say. But here’s the thing. Audience usually only remember one or two statistics. So it doesn’t make sense to overwhelm with five or six.

In your next speech, select one or two numbers that will create the largest influence on your audience. Say you are persuading them to exercise, a statistics on the probablity of getting a heart attack by people who don’t exercise would be extremely useful in startling your audience. Or if you are presenting to a group of investors, tell them how much money they have made. They would be much more interested than knowing how many more clients your company have acquired.

2. Make your statistics memorable

One of the problems with using numbers is that they are easily forgetable. Though they create credibility, they lack memorability. For example, you have your lecturer telling you that 32% of your class will drop out of school. Though it registers logically, it does not move you emotionally. Hence the number is easily forgetable. But what if we do this instead.

Have the lecturer come into the class and say this: Will each of you turn to look at the student to your right? Once they are done, say this: Now will each of you turn to look at the student to your left? After they have all looked, say this: One of the students you have just looked at will not be returning to the school next year.”