Scribd
Upload
486 views

Making Numbers Count

1. The document discusses four principles for effectively communicating numbers: translating numbers into human terms, grounding numbers in familiar scales, using emotional numbers astutely, and using numbers to build scale models. 2. Some techniques outlined are translating raw numbers into comparisons that are easier for humans to understand, using scales that are already familiar to the audience, connecting numbers to emotions, and establishing landmarks to help orient people to unfamiliar statistics. 3. The goal is to make obscure numbers and data clear and understandable to nonexperts by putting them in relatable human terms and contexts.

Uploaded by

Bianca Mihaela Constantin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
486 views

Making Numbers Count

1. The document discusses four principles for effectively communicating numbers: translating numbers into human terms, grounding numbers in familiar scales, using emotional numbers astutely, and using numbers to build scale models. 2. Some techniques outlined are translating raw numbers into comparisons that are easier for humans to understand, using scales that are already familiar to the audience, connecting numbers to emotions, and establishing landmarks to help orient people to unfamiliar statistics. 3. The goal is to make obscure numbers and data clear and understandable to nonexperts by putting them in relatable human terms and contexts.

Uploaded by

Bianca Mihaela Constantin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Making Numbers Count – Page 1

MAKING NUMBERS COUNT


The Art & Science of Communicating Numbers
CHIP HEATH and KARLA STARR

CHIP HEATH is a professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He has also taught at Duke University, and
is the co-author (with his brother Dan) of several business bestsellers including Made to Stick, The Power of Moments, Switch,
and Decisive. Dr. Heath is a graduate of Texas A&M University and Stanford University.
KARLA STARR is an accomplished science journalist and behavioral scientist. She is the author of Can You Learn to Be
Lucky? Karla Starr is also a columnist at Medium, a blogger with Psychology Today, and an experienced book editor. She is a
graduate of New York University.
The website for this book is at: www.heathbrothers.com.

ISBN 978-1-77687-081-3

SUMMARIES.COM helps the little guy (entrepreneurs, business owners, and self-employed professionals) get the same learning advantages as the big guys who
spend $200,000 and two years to get MBAs. We turn business books into just-in-time learning tools for businesspeople. Read less, do more. www.summaries.com
Making Numbers Count – Page 1

MAIN IDEA
1 Translate #s to Human terms
How do you make the numbers you use in your
business and in presentations really zing? The MAKING NUMBERS 2 Ground #s in Familiar scales
reality is nobody really understands numbers all
that well. Most people have terminology for the # COUNT 3 Emotional #s Use astutely
numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and then everything else
just blurs into "lots". 4 Use #s to build Scale models

MAKING NUMBERS
# COUNT 1. Translate numbers to human terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 2 - 3
Numbers don't come naturally to a lot of people. Therefore, to make your numbers
To really make numbers come alive, there are four standout, translate them into terms that are familiar to humans. Comparisons are
general principles to follow: particularly effective. Which do you remember easiest? "Pakistan has an area of 340,000
square miles" or "Pakistan is about the size of 2 Californias." Translate numbers into
terms humans will relate to.
MAKING NUMBERS
# COUNT 2. Ground numbers in familiar scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 3 - 4
One of the best ways to get people to understand your numbers is to use a scale your
audience already knows very well. Give people a scale which is familiar, concrete, and
1 Translate #s to Human terms human-friendly.

2 Ground #s in Familiar scales


3. Use emotional numbers astutely. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 5 - 7
3 Emotional #s Use astutely A great way to breathe life into statistics is to combine objective analysis with appeals to
emotions. Connect the numbers you want to highlight to preexisting pools of emotion in
4 Use #s to build Scale models your target audience, and you transform dry statistics into motivators of action. This is
what history's greatest achievers have frequently done, and you should do the same.

4. Use numbers to build scale models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 7 - 8


"These practices, because they work with our Another good way to orient people to an unfamiliar statistic is to give them a well-known
natural instinct, can help experts cursed with their frame of reference first. Establish some landmarks that will help them understand the
knowledge translate their expertise into a blessing. context without being an expert. A good way to do that is to build a scale model first, and
Math can reveal truths about the world the human then use that to enhance understanding and attention.
mind was never built to intuitively grasp. If you can
use math, you have a valuable skill. If you can use it
and make it clear, bringing what is obscure and
distant into the range where others can see it and
feel it – well, then you have a superpower.
Superman could see through walls; you can make
MAKING NUMBERS
the walls invisible so everyone else can see through
them."
– Chip Heath and Karla Starr
# COUNT

You might also like