A friend sent me the following, which is a great example of how to take large abstract numbers and make them real for your viewers, clients, or readers.
If you could fit the entire population of the world into a village consisting of 100 people, maintaining the proportions of all the people living on Earth, that village would consist of
- 57 Asians
- 21 Europeans
- 14 Americans (North, Central and South)
- 8 Africans
- 6 people would possess 59% of the wealth and they would all come from the USA
- 80 would live in poverty
- 70 would be illiterate
- 50 would suffer from hunger and malnutrition
- 1 would be dying
- 1 would be being born
- 1 would own a computer
- 1 (yes, only one) would have a university degree
100 people are easy to envision. Billions and millions are not.
Your Turn
What large numbers do you tend to use that would resonate more quickly if reduced to something more easily seen? For example
- $X per year or just $Y dollars per day?
- Hundreds of acres or the equivalent of 5 football size fields?
- X% growth or enough to send a child to college for four years?
In my friend’s example, readers are meant to feel how lucky they are and to realize how much more needs to be done to make the world a more equitable place in which to live. In my examples, a listener is meant to see the reasonableness of a price, or to appreciate the size of a piece of land, or to understand the value of a return.
To make your numbers work for you, make comparison choices based on the feeling you want your listener/client to have.
Anne Miller
Words Matter – Make What You Say Pay!
For Fast, Personal, & Creative Presentation Consulting Online
Call today: amiller@annemiller.com 212 876 1875 or email amiller@annemiller.com
“Anne is a great resource and talented coach. Working with Anne remotely made the session extremely easy and convenient. Anne set up video chatting for our session and accommodated our different time zones. After my first session I was able to apply the practical techniques Anne provided and see immediate results. Anne is passionate about sharing her expertise and is genuinely interested in helping her clients succeed.” Director, Strategic Partnerships, American Cancer Society
Latest Podcast with Ken Newhouse, social media guru: “Words That Sell“
If you enjoy these posts, feel free to share with friends, clients, and colleagues. Thank you!