Powerful Data Presentations with Success=(PD)2

Friday, April 28, 2023 | 1 to 3 p.m.

The amount of available data has exploded in the past ten years. Those holding quantitative roles in academia, government, and industry have been called upon to analyze and interpret it. We must turn data into information so that researchers can advance science and decision makers can act upon these advances. This is true whether you are assessing the performance of a new therapy, the impact of public health policy, or modeling disease transmission. It is also true for those presenting new statistical analysis methods. The point of a presentation is to synthesize facts in a meaningful, digestible way for the audience. Yet, many presentations serve to create confusion and because they lack clarity. Even worse, the lack of clarity leads to poor decisions built on erroneous interpretations.

Developing good communication skills around scientific and statistical presentations is essential for those in quantitative fields. This talk will discuss a four phased process for excelling at these types of presentations. The four phases are Prepare, Design, Practice and Deliver or (PD)2 for short. In the context of the process, emphasis will be placed on explaining complex concepts, formatting your results for clarity, designing your slides to facilitate interpretation, and engaging a non-quantitative or mixed level audience. The material will also cover incorporating story into a scientific presentation and effective principles of data visualization. You will leave the talk with an overall framework for tackling your next formal presentation as well as tips and tricks you can immediately use in informal team interactions.

Jennifer H. Van Mullekom, PhD, Virginia Tech

After a 20-year career in industry, Dr. Jennifer Van Mullekom joined Virginia Tech in Fall 2016 as the Director of the Statistical Applications and Innovations Group (SAIG) and an Associate Professor of Statistical Practice. In addition to directing SAIG, she teaches collaboration skills as well as a design of experiments course to graduate students.

Formerly, she was a Senior Consulting Statistician and Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt in DuPont's Applied Statistics Group. supporting the DuPont Protection Technologies business. At DuPont, she provided statistical leadership to the Tyvek® Medical Packaging Transition Project in the areas of product development, commercialization, and regulatory.

Jen is active in professional societies holding leadership roles in the American Statistical Association and the American Society for Quality. She holds three US Patents and has also worked at Lubrizol and Capital One. Jen is a regular participant on topics such as communication, collaboration, leadership, and ethics at the Conference on Statistical Practice. She holds an MS and PhD in Statistics from Virginia Tech and a BS in Mathematics and Mathematics Education from Concord University.