Writing with statistics

How tiny is tiny? How huge is huge?

How small is small? One-third the size of a ladybug? The size of a sprinkle on an ice cream cone?… Read the full article

How can you help people see 6,000?

When 6,000 power poles went down in Arkansas during a series of ice storms, Entergy Senior Communications Specialist David Lewis needed a way to make that number tangible in an executive speech.… Read the full article

Turn populations into people

Help readers see a classroom of children

Compare the impact of this statement …’

“Each day, we lose 30 children to gun violence.”

… to the impact of this one:

“Each day, we lose a classroom of children to gun violence.”

“Information is absorbed in direct proportion to its vividness,” says Diane West, president and co-founder of 2Connect, a presentation-skills training company.… Read the full article

Turn numbers into people

When writing about humans, use whole numbers, not percentages

Which is more dangerous? A disease that kills 1,286 out of every 10,000 people it strikes? Or one that kills 12.86% of its victims?… Read the full article

Turn numbers into things

Clarify data by giving it context

When the late, great Kansas City Star columnist C.W. Gusewelle wanted to help readers understand the fragility of monarch butterflies as they migrate south for the winter, he wrote:

Consulting the literature, I find that the average weight of an adult monarch may be expressed as 0.0176 of an ounce, about the same as a good-sized snowflake.

… Read the full article