Burke Institute Seminars
The Burke Institute presents

Writing & Presenting Actionable Research Reports: Insights, Storytelling, Data Visualization On-Site Training

In this interactive seminar, you will learn how to write and present marketing research and insights reports that are responsive to managements needs and stimulate business impact.

Course Description/Agenda

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

What decision makers want from a marketing research study and how to bridge the communication gap between researchers and decision makers.
How to analyze your audience and to organize your report or presentation to meet the varying needs of senior management, middle management and technical staff.
Tools and practices that increase your ability to identify insights from data.
How to enhance the look and feel of your presentation with graphics and visuals.
How to avoid/correct numerous specific flaws commonly found in reports and presentations.
How to present your findings succinctly to decision makers so they will listen, engage and act upon your recommendations.

WORKSHOP AGENDA

SESSION 1: REPORT WRITING AND PRESENTATION STRATEGIES

What makes for a killer report or presentation
Why the traditional report is falling out of favor
Different types of report options
Evaluation criteria for reports
How to write a persuasive report

SESSION 2: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR A SUCCESSFUL REPORT/PRESENTATION

Report writing framework for creating actionable reports
How the audience can impact your presentation or report
How to ascertain the background, key questions to be answered, and stakeholder actions that support the business issues and decisions
Impediments to obtaining this information & how to overcome them
Workshop activity -- apply the framework to your own reports

SESSION 3: DEVELOPING INSIGHTS FOR BUSINESS IMPACT

How insights should be the focal point of your report
Definition of insight
Insight examples moving from a finding to an insight
Exercise to enhance insight productivity using your reports

SESSION 4: STORYTELLING

The role of the storytelling report
What are the components of a good story
The background behind storytelling and how do we apply this to our day-to-day work
Various storytelling frameworks
The use of storyboards to tell your story

SESSION 5: PREPARING THE RESEARCH REPORT/ PRESENTATION SKILLS

Preparing and structuring the report/presentation
Titles/headlines/opening slides
Critical success factors, do’s and don’ts
Presentation tips and tricks
How to manage anxiety and stress
Building credibility, showing confidence, connecting with your audience
Short workshop to practice presentation skills

SESSION 6: PRACTICAL VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES

Basic graphic design and data visualization principles
Leading resources for enhancing the look, feel and flow of your report
Common graphical errors
Workshop on chart types and how to select the best chart
Checklist of items that need to be decided upon as you create your report
Workshop: Choosing the best way to present the information moving from lots of data to what does the data mean
Creating infographics that inform
Before and after slides

SESSION 7: CONSTRUCTING AN ACTIONABLE PRESENTATION (WORKSHOP)

Review workshop information
Develop and lay out the business story using a storyboard
Apply storytelling principles to construct your team presentation
Use PowerPoint to create a team presentation based on skills and tips covered in the course
Present storytelling deck
Assessment of team presentations and feedback from the seminar leader

More Seminar Information