When:
Aug 23, 2014 Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Where:
The Office of Silicon Valley, 955 Benecia Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Communicating effectively is a critical success skill for project management professionals – that’s obvious. What’s less obvious is that presenting numerical information – an important task for PM professionals – is a communication skill. And like all other communication skills, presenting numbers clearly and effectively requires a knowledge of and a sense for:
- The grammar – yes, there are rules!
- Narrative flow – you must remember that you are telling a story.
- The messages we sending while we’re communicating – about our intelligence, our professionalism, our grasp of the subject matter, and our respect for our audience.
This one-day workshop offers a new, practical, straightforward, and sometimes entertaining perspective on the craft, and the art, of presenting numbers effectively. Topics include:
- How the numbers should look – making your information readable and understandable is critical to communicating effectively. Effective communication involves dozens of tiny little decisions, and they all matter:
- The Arabic numeral system – a wonderful invention!
- The visual impression – how the numbers lay-out on the page or the screen is critical
- The words – making them work effectively with your numbers
- Key indicators – using ratios to add meaning and context to the raw numbers, and make your critical points more effectively
- Graphs – everyone loves graphs, but are you really using them to best advantage? We discuss:
- Why use them? When are graphs effective, and when are they a waste of space?
- Looks – making your graphs readable, and instantly comprehensible
- Ethics – much more than with tables, how you present graphs can cause people to question your intentions. How can you avoid those perceptions?
- PowerPoint – providing numbers in a PowerPoint presentation is a special challenge. What are the critical things to watch out for when making that all-important presentation?
- Excel mastery – being a faster user of Excel is more important than being a power user; we discuss tips & tricks to achieve that objective
- Respecting your audience – we look at all those messages we send while we’re communicating with people. Sending the right messages and avoiding the wrong ones has a huge impact on the credibility of the information we’re presenting, and on our own image as professionals.
About the Instructor(s):
Randall Bolten is the author of Painting with Numbers: Presenting Financials and Other Numbers So People Will Understand You, published in 2012 to glowing reviews. His 30-year career as a Silicon Valley financial executive includes nearly 20 years as CFO for both public companies (BroadVision and Phoenix Technologies) and startups, and senior financial management positions before that at Oracle and Tandem Computers. He currently operates Lucidity, a consulting practice focused on tasks such as business models, reporting packages, and incentive compensation plans. Bolten holds a BA from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford University.
Since the publication of “Painting with Numbers,” Bolten has given dozens of interviews and speeches on the subject of presenting quantitative information clearly, concisely, and elegantly. He has taught a course, “Presenting Quantitative Data Effectively,” at the U.C. Berkeley Business Management Program. He has also written numerous articles, and posts blogs regularly on his website, www.painting-with-numbers.com, on the subject of how numbers are presented and understood in the areas of business, public policy, and daily life. Follow him on Twitter at @RandallBolten.
Project Management Education Hours:
Earn 7 PDUs of educational training hours for renewal of PMP/CAPM certification
Meeting Leader: Judy Nakamato Email: Contact Event Meeting Leader
Program Agenda:
Please note door will be locked at 8:25, so please arrive early.
08:00 AM - Sign In and Networking
08:30 AM - Workshop Begins
12:00 PM - Lunch Break
01:00 PM - Workshop Resumes
05:00 PM – Adjourn
Food:
Do not forget to indicate if you are vegetarian during online registration.
Continental Breakfast, Coffee, and Lunch will be provided.
Plan Ahead Registration:
Early Bird: PMISV member: $180 Non-PMISV member: $230
Regular: PMISV member: $230 Non-PMISV member: $280
At-the-Door Registration: No walk-ins allowed. Please register for the course online in advance
Cancellation Policy:
This event is a professional society meeting, held for the benefit of its members.
Cancellation before Early Bird Registration Date: Full refund
Cancellation between Early Bird Registration Date and Regular Registration Date: $30 cancellation fee; remaining amount refunded
Cancellation after Regular Registration Date and Day before workshop (by 5.00 PM Pacific): 50% refund
The PMI - Silicon Valley Chapter reserves the right to make last minute changes to program content and speakers, as circumstances dictate.