New Author Shows How To Present Numbers By The Book

NEW YORK, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Presenting numbers is nothing more than a communication skill, much like writing or speaking.  All too often this concept is lost, and frequently with unfortunate consequences, because of presenters who focus only on whether their information is correct and not on whether it's comprehensible or meaningful to an audience.  The lack of understanding between presenter and audience is compounded by audiences who don't speak up because they presume their lack of comprehension is because they "just don't get numbers."  A new book,  Painting with Numbers: Presenting Financials and Other Numbers So People Will Understand You (John Wiley & Sons, Cloth, $39.95, 4-color; 304 pages; ISBN:  978-48-17257-5),  introduces the artful practice of presenting numbers.

This book is the first one to treat quantation – the word coined by the author to define the act of presenting numbers – as a communication skill that anyone can learn.  For people whose jobs depend on how clearly and effectively they present numbers – accountants, financial analysts, lawyers, fundraisers, salespeople, engineers, marketers, and public policy advocates, to name just a few – mastering the art of quantation can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the information they're presenting, on their professional reputation, and on their relationship with their audience. 

Author Randall Bolten asserts presenting numbers is not so different from – and just as important as – mastering the rules of grammar, spelling, diction, sentence structure, and paragraph organization we spend years learning in school. 

Painting with Numbers teaches readers to communicate financial information and other numbers clearly, understandably, concisely, and effectively.  Bolten hopes his book will be seen as part Strunk & White's The Elements of Style, part Eats, Shoots & Leaves, but for numbers instead of words.  His book comes from 32 years of experience in corporate financial management, including 18 years as a CFO in Silicon Valley.

"You can't be an effective presenter of numbers if you don't know how to present them so that people can understand them quickly and get the maximum meaning from them," advocates Bolten.  "Numbers are just words presented with a different set of characters."

Bolten is represented to the media by MEDIA CONNECT (www.Media-connect.com). Brian Feinblum, their SVP, concludes: "Anyone who implements even a quarter of Bolten's tips and strategies is sure to see an immediate increase in the clarity and effectiveness of the information presented, even the most complex."

SOURCE MEDIA CONNECT