Practical Eloquence Blog

Numbers can be very persuasive–if used properly

It’s pretty hard to give a business presentation without numbers. But if you think words can be tricky, numbers present their own special challenges. It would seem that there could not be anything more definite than a number—after all, 100 is 100 no matter what language you use. Just like words, they mean different things to different people.

When you decide to use a number in your presentation, there are two important principles to keep in mind. The first principle is that numbers carry meaning beyond simply quantifying something. The mere use of numerical data in a presentation sends important signals to the audience. It tells them that you are competent—you have solid information to back up your sales pitch. It tells them you are prepared, because you have taken the time to gather the data.

A surprising statistic can make an impression on someone’s mind during your presentation. If they have to rely on memory a few days later to make the decision, they are far more likely to remember the impression than the number itself. In fact, researchers have shown that they may actually rely on the memory of the impression and then reconstruct a number in memory that matches what they felt when they heard the number!

The second principle is that numbers are meaningless except in relation to something else.

It’s hard to talk for long with one of these on your head.

We like to think that our fast-paced world poses unique challenges to presenters because of the audience’s impatience, but actually the need for brevity has been respected for thousands of years. One of the earliest stories about public speaking is found in Herodotus, roughly 2,500 years ago.

If you think senior level audiences can be tough, imagine being an official from the city of Samia having to ask the Spartan authorities for aid after being driven from their city by the Persians. The Spartans, besides being fearsome warriors, were also renowned for their love of brevity.

When the delegation first spoke, they spoke so long that the Spartans said they had forgotten what they said at the beginning and didn’t understand the rest.

The Samians tried again, this time bringing an empty sack and simply saying: “this sack needs barley meal.” The Spartans applauded their brevity and approved the request, although they did say the word “sack” could have been left out.