Chapter 4: Developing and Supporting Your Ideas
Statistics
Statistics are simply the numbers that you might use to support your ideas in a presentation. Percentages, estimates, totals, and other numerical evidence can be an effective support, depending on your topic. Several studies show that statistics are the most effective form of evidence for a speech delivered to a college-educated audience, so using statistical data might be especially important if your intent is to persuade. If your purpose is to inform your audience of the rising number of pollutants in our streams, rivers, and lakes, and the risk these pollutants pose to humans and animals, most audience members would expect to hear some statistical data within your speech. Perhaps you’d inform them of the increasing number of fish, turtles, and other aquatic life found dead or dying in these water sources. Providing the numbers from years past and current totals would also be effective as a comparison -especially if you can show that the numbers are rising. Numbers quantify your information and provide your audience with concrete data that can illustrate how serious a problem or condition has become. Statistics are a strong support if you choose valid data from a reliable source and you take the time to emphasize the credibility of your sources and your overall research.
How you present the statistical data in your presentation is important as well (Allen and Preis 125-31; Baesler and Burgoon 584-92). The following tips will make your use of statistics easier for your audience to understand and remember.
Relying on statistics alone lessens your chances of reaching all of your listeners. While statistical data can validate many of your ideas, your listeners want to hear more than numbers. Including some human-interest stories and relevant testimony makes your speech more interesting and highlights the human factor that many audience members need in order to be persuaded. If you rely solely on statistical data to support your main points, you will most likely fail to reach an entire subgroup of the audience.
Incorporating your statistics into charts, graphs, and tables makes it easier for your audience to visualize the numbers that you quote. Remember the old adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words. ” Colorful, well-designed charts and graphs can give your audience an immediate understanding of the data that you include in your presentation. In essence, graphs, charts, and tables provide your audience with a snapshot of your data.
Stories/Illustrations
As mentioned above, statistics often need to be combined with other types of supporting material to reach those audience members who crave the human connection within a topic. Telling a story is a surprisingly easy way to connect to an audience; listeners love to hear a good story. Many of us can recall how much we enjoyed having stories read to us or told to us as children, so a speaker who can successfully incorporate stories and illu