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Presenting financial data can be challenging, especially if finance is not the main part of your role. Presenting such information in a concise way which is understood by everyone listening requires strong presentation skills and a keen understanding of the content being discussed. These top tips will help you convey financial information in a clear fashion.
Understand the Information
When you are presenting financial information, it is essential that you fully understand all the areas which you will be discussing and how they relate to each other. If you are unsure on any aspect – for example, forecasting or costing – then it is important to find out more about that particular area. If your organization has a finance department, speak to a colleague who may be able to help you. If not, more information on finance is available elsewhere in this toolkit.
Anticipate Questions
With any presentation, it is likely that you will be asked questions afterwards. By anticipating which areas your audience will focus on, you can re-assess the presentation beforehand to see if it covers all the areas you believe it should. You can also prepare additional material, such as hand-outs, if you feel that your audience may require extra information on a particular topic.
Be Precise and Accurate
It is absolutely vital when dealing with financial figures that they are as precise and accurate as possible. Try to avoid rounding numbers up or down as this can lead to inaccuracies. Do as much as you can to ensure that all the information given is accurate – if one figure is incorrect it can often mean that all subsequent information is also wrong. It can also undermine the credibility of the rest of your presentation. If possible, ask a colleague to read through your presentation beforehand to check for any errors you may have missed.
Be Clear When Using Financial Terms
When using financial terms remember that not everyone who is attending the presentation may be aware of their meaning. Try to avoid using financial jargon or terminology unnecessarily. Making the presentation as straightforward as possible will help ensure your audience understands the information easily.
Use Only Relevant Information
When presenting a lot of statistical information, it is important to make sure that you are using relevant data. If you include data which is superfluous, you run the risk of confusing the main issues due to overloading your audience with information. By questioning and justifying to yourself why each set of data is included, you will help ensure that the presentation remains as relevant as possible.
Keep Visuals Straightforward
If a chart, graph or table requires a great deal of explanation it runs a high risk of being misunderstood or misinterpreted. Ensuring that the diagram can be easily understood on its own helps eliminate the risk of the information it contains being taken out of context.
Similarly, diagrams should always be simple to understand visually. Try to avoid having too much information on a chart, as this can make it difficult to understand. Choose a simple color scheme which does not deflect attention away from the information contained in the diagram. If the visual is easy to understand immediately, this can help get your point across quickly to your audience.
Make Sure Data Matches
If you are using more than one chart or visual, make sure the data matches across each one. Any variance at all can lead to the entire presentation being tainted as inaccurate. Checking across all materials used in the presentation for uniformity can help prevent this. A fresh read by a colleague can help prevent such mistakes.
Use a Summary
Financial presentations can often present a lot of complex information in a short time. By giving a summary at the end, you can help your audience to digest the salient information more easily.
Provide Follow-up Information
Consider making your presentation available online or email it to attendees after the event. You may also wish to produce more detailed notes to back up or further explain your presentation.
