Presenting any kind of graph showing financial performance is tough these days. On any kind of charts showing figures, we’re seeing the kind of canyon-style drops that should really feature a coyote frantically backpedaling in mid-air.

If you’re a corporate treasurer, hedge fund manager, or in charge of your entire nation’s economy, here are some tips for making your next presentation a bit more palatable.

Just Plain Wrong

This chart shows your declining performance in all its brutal reality. Surely we can do better than this.

1. Change the Chart Style

Everyone can read column graphs. So reformat it as a radar graph, and only a spider could spot the problem.

2. Go 3D

3D has to be better than 2D, right? Invest in some serious graphing software and whip up one of these, guaranteed impenetrable to any un-Nobeled viewer.

3. Logarithmic Scales

Logarithms compress all variation to a nice, non-alarming ripple.

4. Inventive Comparisons

Don’t show your raw figures. Compare them to someone else with worse performance than your own - Icelandic banks or something - and graph the difference.

5. Look! Kittens!

When all else fails, pop these adorable little cuties up on the screen. While they’re distracted, run from the room, and find another job. In the short term, this may involve rock-breaking, but the market will turn eventually.

Kitten pic Takenbytina

Tags: graphs, kittens, presenting numbers, rock breaking

Posted by Ian on Monday, July 27th, 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.