Page 161 - The Voice of Authority

misinterpreted—purposefully or accidentally. According
to Mark Twain writing in his autobiography, “There are
three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
Even if a fact happens to be correct, it doesn’t always
double as a reason. For example, a salesperson may tell me
that I can buy a caseload of off-brand PDAs for a special
price of $99 each to give to key clients as a gift at the end
of the year to express ap-
preciation for their busi-
Statistics are like wit- ness. The salesperson may
nesses—they will testify interpret that fact as a rea-
for either side. son to make the purchase: a
—Anonymous low price, a nice gift for
clients. I may interpret that
same fact as a reason not to
make the purchase. No matter the special price, giving an
off-brand to key clients may not create a good impression
and instead may make my company look cheap.
Facts are just facts, until you interpret them as reasons
“for” or “against” something.

Make Your Facts Tell a Story

The only thing worse than filling up your speech, slides,
e-mails, or reports with fact after fact after fact . . . is not
shaping them to tell your story. What story do your facts
tell? What trail do the facts leave?
Tell how your division exploded with the introduction of
the new widget, and your headcount climbed from 3 to 68
engineers in the first two years you were in business. Then
tell how you grew lax in your quality control. Tell about your
reject rates. Show how the customer satisfaction numbers
plummeted. Show how orders started dropping off as fast as
they were logged onto the computer. Then circle back to the

Does Your Communication Make You Look Competent? 149