How can you communicate complex statistical concepts effectively to non-statisticians?

1 Know your purpose

Before you start explaining any statistical concept, you need to ask yourself: what is the purpose of your communication? Do you want to inform, persuade, or educate your audience? Depending on your goal, you may need to adjust your level of detail, tone, and focus. For example, if you want to inform your audience about the results of a statistical analysis, you may need to highlight the main findings, implications, and limitations, without going into the technical details of the methods and assumptions. If you want to persuade your audience to adopt a certain course of action based on statistical evidence, you may need to emphasize the benefits, risks, and alternatives, and use emotional appeals and storytelling techniques. If you want to educate your audience about a statistical concept, you may need to provide more background information, examples, and analogies, and check for their understanding and feedback.

4 Use analogies and examples

Another useful technique to communicate complex statistical concepts is to use analogies and examples. Analogies and examples can help you relate your concepts to something that your audience already knows or experiences, and make them more concrete and engaging. For example, you can use analogies from everyday life, such as sports, games, cooking, or weather, to explain concepts such as probability, distribution, correlation, or regression. You can also use examples from your own or your audience's field, context, or situation, to show how your concepts apply to real-world problems or scenarios. However, you need to be careful when using analogies and examples, and avoid oversimplifying, exaggerating, or misleading your audience. You also need to acknowledge the limitations and differences of your analogies and examples, and clarify the key similarities and differences between them and your concepts.

5 Use plain language

Finally, one of the most important tips to communicate complex statistical concepts effectively is to use plain language. Plain language is a style of writing and speaking that is clear, concise, and easy to understand by your intended audience. Using plain language can help you avoid confusion, misunderstanding, and frustration, and increase your credibility, trust, and rapport with your audience. To use plain language, you need to follow some basic guidelines, such as: use short and simple sentences and paragraphs, use active and direct voice, use common and familiar words, avoid or define technical terms and jargon, use positive and specific statements, use transitions and signposts, and use punctuation and formatting to enhance readability.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?