Not sure if you knew, but I help out at a local charity where we cook food on a weekly basis and serve it to vulnerable folk who need it. There was a company that got in touch, and said – if we could provide some information, about what we do, they’d like to donate some money. So one of the volunteers wrote a few paragraphs.
When asked to review it, I wanted to ensure we tell the right story but with numbers.
You see, numbers can add alot of context to a story.
Once upon a time, there was a king.
This is how most stories start… and you may notice, there was ‘a’ in there to clearly identify, one…. king. Not several kings. Not some kings. Just one king.
Once upon a time, there was a king. His kingdom had alot of people.
‘Alot of people’… Doesn’t really say much. You can’t put it into context. Was it a big place. Was it a small place. How can we compare it to other regions and kingdoms?
Once upon a time, there was a king. His kingdom encopassed over 10,000 residents and was one of the largest kingdoms in the land.
Now we’re talking! We got a number… 10,000…. and then we got some context, because we found out it’s one of the largest in the land!
Numbers can do so much. Yet, when telling a story or update, we tend to omit them for feelings. Why can’t we do both? use numbers and have feelings? Build the story to the context.
Now the whole ‘once upon a time’ was an example. But think of something you’ve done recently that you’d talked about – how many numbers did you include?
I look at advertisements, I look at talks, I listen to podcasts… there are so many people out there vying for our attention… how can they get our attention?
Oh, you’re probably wondering more about the charity I volunteer at? Well, we cook over 60 hot portions of food every Monday and Thursday which is then served to the homeless and vulnerable – no questions asked.
Recently, a brilliant advert was shared with me to highlight how awesome it was in telling a story with numbers. And I wanted to share it with you…