Hans Rosling: Don't just show the notes, play the music!

Data and information are not boring. The key is to select the appropriate (and accurate) data to support your message.  But it also matters how you bring the data alive, giving it context and meaning. One of the masters of displaying data in live talks is Swedish doctor and researcher, Hans Rosling. (You may remember Hans Rosling's 2006 TED talk which I posted here last year with some others.)

Hans wows the 2007 TED crowd
In this video below from TED 2007, the Zen master of statistics makes a simple point in a very visual and memorable way: "The seemingly impossible is possible. We can have a good world." Hans showed with stats what is possible in the world, then he closes with a big, unexpected, and memorable finish (I actually had a hard time watching the ending, but it was effective).

A visual approach

(Above) Besides his charts and graphs, Hans' slides were very visual and his delivery was engaging. Slides above are a couple of examples.

Hans pokes fun at the "typical PowerPoint" slide


(Above) Near the end he pauses and says: "But I have to get serious. And how do you get serious? You make a PowerPoint — you make bullets!" (audience laughs) The summary slide (which worked because he built it as he talked) was his "Homage to the Office package" he said.

The shape of things to come
This presentation below is amazing and is a look into the future of how we will be making and watching presentations online. Actually, it is not in the future, it is now. It is pretty easy to do this with current tools. In the very near future it will become even easier to use a "blue screen" effect like this. I do not want to see just slides, and I do not want to see just a talking head. I want the online video to be almost as good as being there. This gets close (and you can do this without expensive equipment or a production team like Steve Jobs or the TED producers use).

Here's another one below by Hans uploaded today.

 

Hans developed the software behind his visualizations through his nonprofit Gapminder, founded with his son and daughter-in-law. The free software — which can be loaded with any data — was purchased by Google in March 2007.

Hans Rosling's important message (required viewing for all)
Below Hans Roslings speaks at the OECD World Forum in Istanbul earlier this summer. This video has fantastic content. Absolutely is brilliant. Stick with it and listen to Hans' message (video is not great, but the content is). Note: The video died on the Gapminder site 5 minutes after I linked to it; hopefully it returns soon.

Here are a few quotes I found compelling from this talk:

    "...few people will appreciate the music if I just show them the notes. Most of us need to listen to the music to understand how beautiful it is. But often that's how we present statistics; we just show the notes we don't play the music."    

"It's an enormous force when we animate our statistics and we put it free on the net."  

"The database hugging in public institutions is hampering innovation."

Comments

[John Windsor]

GREAT video from Ted, and what a finish! Meanwhile, is it just me, or is there more to the design of that "PowerPoint" slide than meets the eye on first glance . . . :>

[Michael Sporer]

VERY compelling! I've watched many TED talks, but surprisingy, never watched Hans. I'm hooked!

[Josh Hemsath]

I give lectures and workshops for a student group of which I'm a member, and we're planning on posting videos of these presentations online.

We're not terribly rich, so we don't have anything beyond the iSight camera on my laptop, the YouTube feature on Keynote, and iMovie for video editing. The content is good, but what makes it better is the delivery.

Hans Rosling's "weatherman" approach to recording his presentations is within our reach, but, none of have a clue as to how to do that with our tools.

Any suggestions or ideas as to how to do the blue/green screen thing with this?

[Jedd]

that car commercial inserted at the end of video kinda spoils an otherwise strong message though. here you are awashed with ideas of poverty, world change, culture, possibility.. then something comes in to remind you: luxury, money, personal need.

[Martin]

First sentence: Data ARE not boring? Shurely shome mistake!

[Mark]

I'm hoping Martin is jesting, given his spelling. Yes, the word "data" is plural. Even if you were confused, "data and information" would take the plural "are."

BTW, great comment, Jedd: I totally agree that the jarring car commercial at the end was like hearing someone hit the tone arm on a record.

[Tim Russell]

Great article. I tried out some of Garr's ideas on slide design this morning & went down a storm! More here:

http://leveragethis.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/free-yourself-from-bulletpoint-tyranny/

[Eric Findlay]

Thankyou Garr for a great blog. I came across PresentationZen a month or so ago and have been slowly reading through the posts from beginning to end and following up the many useful and interesting links.

One thing I find most thought provoking is the value of online presentations using video, slidecasts and similar media as a means to communicate ideas and research, academic or otherwise. I think we will all be shocked by the impact of this media. Of course live presentations are best but these can only be held in one place, which is where most people aren't.

TED is an important example. The best presentations on TED demonstrate the possibility of packing 20 minutes with an incredible richness of content. In terms of academic content, the second best option is to access journal articles from databases (usually restricted). Admittedly, the content is different, but when compared with online presentations, downloading and reading journal articles doesn't come close in terms of impact and stickiness. And maybe one 20 minute online presentation = 2 or 3 hours of reading?

It is interesting, though, to compare the two presentation methods used by Hans Rosling that Garr presents in this post. All the presentations are superb, but the Gapcasts lack a certain punch. When watching the TED presentations I felt as if I was part of the audience, while with the Gapcasts I felt much more like I was an isolated viewer watching news on television. Any ideas?

I'm waiting eagerly for the book. Garr-san ganbattene, minnasan matteiru kara.

[Jesse Robbins]

Hans really is an amazing man, thanks for posting this video.

-Jesse Robbins

[Niko Neugebauer]

Brilliant !