If your audience can’t picture a number, they won’t remember it. The coverage of Artemis II shows a better way to communicate data and explain big numbers.
You’ve given a presentation filled with impressive data, numbers, and statistics you thought would land with the audience. Instead, they tuned out. Why?
You failed to bring the numbers down to Earth.
To fix the problem, take a page from NASA’s coverage of the Artemis II mission. Most of the details you hear about the historic lunar flyby come from NASA because reporters rely on the space agency to interpret the highly technical science behind the mission.
NASA has decades of experience making big numbers easy to understand. The key is not to present the data, but to translate it.
Here are three ways NASA translates numbers to capture attention and make ideas stick.
Turn numbers into something people can see
If people can’t picture a number, it’s easy to ignore. Since humans aren’t good at visualizing large numbers, they need help.
For example, you might have heard that the four-person crew lived and worked in a space the size of “two minivans.” Few people know the actual number: 330 cubic feet of space. That’s deliberate.
The minivan comparison came directly from NASA and was picked up and repeated by news outlets around the world. It’s a simple visual that explains just how tight the quarters are.
One Sky News reporter who saw a mock-up of the Orion cabin said, “It’s tiny.” Yes, it was. But tiny still lacks clarity. The minivan comparison did the heavy lifting.
Don’t assume your audience will figure out big numbers on their own. The human brain doesn’t ‘see’ cubic feet. It thinks in pictures, not digits.
Anchor big numbers to familiar objects
The Orion capsule sat atop a rocket that was 322 feet (98 meters) tall. Some reports called it “towering.” But what does “towering” actually mean?
NASA made it easy by anchoring the data to something familiar.
According to NASA, the SLS moon rocket “stands at 322 feet, taller than the Statue of Liberty.”
That’s a perfectly fine comparison, but if you want to be a true hit with your audience, localize details as the BBC did in one of its reports. Instead of using the Statue of Liberty comparison, they did one better for their U.K. audience: “Artemis II is almost exactly the same height as Big Ben.”
By using landmarks your audience knows, you can make almost any number instantly memorable.
Translate speed and distance into human experience
The astronauts traveled at mind-blowing speeds. “Mind-blowing” is a good word for something that’s impressive, which is why many news reports used the term. But it still doesn’t provide memorable details.
NASA translated speed and distance into relatable human experiences.
For example, according to NASA, the total journey will have carried the crew over 620,000 miles: “That’s the equivalent to driving coast to coast across the U.S. more than 200 times.”
They experienced speeds of up to 25,000 miles per hour. As NASA explained, “At that speed, you could fly from New York to Los Angeles in under six minutes.”
Numbers alone don’t persuade. The key for leaders and communicators is to make numbers instantly relatable to your audience. Translate big numbers into simple concepts your audience can’t forget, and they won’t forget you.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com