FAQ: How can you improve your presentation skills for analytics & data science?
Mastering the technical skills for a role in analytics and data science might seem like the most challenging part, but a lot of folks working in this field, especially newcomers, struggle to master the “soft skills” - especially communication and presentations. We’re often working with very complex ideas and topics and it can be a struggle to communicate them clearly to various audiences.
What can you do to improve?
“So what?”
Whenever I’m preparing for a presentation, the most pressing question I ask myself is “so what?” Why does the audience care about what I have to say? What matters to them? What’s important to them? What metrics do they care about? What level of technical detail do they care about or would even understand? What business problem(s) am I solving? How can they use this information to make a decision?
Don’t share data just for the sake of sharing data. Share what is going to help your audience. Share what is going to make a difference. Make sure everything you include or say supports one of the above questions, and if it doesn’t, consider leaving it out.
Tell a Story
When presenting your work, don’t just jump right into the data. You want to tell a story. You want to bring your audience along on a journey.
Start with the goal - what was the purpose of this project?
Then share the business problem or use cases - how can they use this?
Next, summarize the methodology, although keep your audience in mind when it comes to how much detail you include. You might leave this out for a shorter presentation or executive summary.
Then share some of your key insights - what was interesting or surprising? What answers your initial questions?
Finally, wrap up with your recommendations - what should they do with this information? As well as next steps - is there a next phase of the project?
Another approach to format is to start with your key insights first to grab their attention, and then tell the story of how you got there.
Practice Makes Perfect
Like anything, you can only get better with practice.
Look for more opportunities to present your work. Are there meetings where you can present about a project you’re working on?
Do you have trusted coworkers (or even friends or family) who will be your test audience and give you feedback?
You can also use the “Rehearse with Coach” feature in PowerPoint, which will give you feedback on pacing, word choice, and more.
Other options are to seek out other opportunities to get in front of a group. Join an affinity or industry group and take on a leadership role. Find a local Toastmasters chapter in your city. Take Improv or theater classes.
Put Yourself in Your Audience’s Shoes
Record yourself giving the presentation (or in the age of Zoom meetings, rewatch meetings where you presented), and watch it. What do you think? Are you able to follow yourself? Does what you’re saying make sense? Are you able to follow your own train of thought and story?
How can you make the presentation better?
Pay Attention
Whenever you’re watching someone else give a presentation, pay attention to their style, format, pacing, word choice, how they present their ideas, how they “tell the story”, etc. Rewatch the recording of meetings where other people have given presentations if necessary. Start to observe what works well and what doesn’t, and use that to craft your own best practices.
Mentorship
Most folks think about finding a mentor for technical skills or business skills, but mentors can be helpful for soft skills as well. Once you find a mentor, ask if you can practice your presentations with them. Whenever you’re giving a presentation, ask them to attend and pay attention to your delivery in order to provide feedback.
Hope that helps! You can read my answers to past FAQs.
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