Why did nobody answer?
Mia presents the canteen sales to the school council. She talks for ten minutes and asks, "Any questions?" Nobody speaks.
Was the data bad? No. The way she talked left no room for the council. This lesson gives seven techniques that fix that.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Technical language | Words only people in a field know. | Variance, outlier |
| Non-technical language | Everyday words that anyone knows. | The middle value |
| Active listening | Giving the speaker your full attention and showing you heard. | Nodding and repeating the key point |
| Open question | A question that needs more than yes or no. | What worries you about this? |
| Reflection | Thinking back on how a message went. | Asking what you would change |
| Storyboard | A row of sketches or boxes that plan a message in order. | Five boxes for five slides |
| Framework | A set pattern that gives a conversation its steps. | Headline, evidence, meaning, next step |
| Tailoring | Changing a message to suit one audience. | Fewer terms for the cook |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can use seven techniques to get a data message across and say when each one helps.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
The seven techniques
| Technique | What you do | When it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Technical or non-technical language | Pick words the reader knows | Every message |
| Active listening | Listen, then repeat the main point back | Questions and meetings |
| Tailoring to audience | Change length, words and examples | A new reader |
| Open questioning | Ask what, how and why | Finding what the reader needs |
| Reflection and review | Ask what worked and what to change | After every message |
| Storyboarding | Plan the order in boxes | Before you build a talk or report |
| Framework for conversation | Follow set steps | Briefings and hard talks |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Choose the level of your words
Say the same fact at two levels. Technical: "The median is 12 and one outlier raises the mean." Non-technical: "A typical day sells 12. One very big day pulls the average up."
Tailoring means more than words. Change the length, the examples and the order too.
Try it: swap hard words for plain ones
text = "the median is low and one outlier raised the mean"
hard = ["median", "outlier", "mean"]
plain = ["middle value", "odd one out", "average"]
out = []
for word in text.split():
swapped = word
for i in range(len(hard)):
if word == hard[i]:
swapped = plain[i]
out.append(swapped)
print(" ".join(out))
# Try it: add the word "variance" to both lists.
Listen first, then ask
Active listening means giving the speaker your full attention. Do not plan your answer while they talk. Then say back the main point: "So you need the answer by Friday?"
An open question starts with what, how or why. "What would help you decide?" gets more than "Is this clear?"
Check: listening and asking
Have a go
Check: listening and asking
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.