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"By embedding these professional competencies within the digital fluency framework, students will acquire the digital skills necessary for a competitive global marketplace and a holistic understanding of how to ascertain complex problems from different perspectives to reach nuanced solutions. Thus, the digital fluency QEP will help ACC students gain core critical thinking competencies that will help them successfully gain essential outcomes of an education at ACC and in their later academic pursuits, while also improving their marketability and success when they enter the workforce." Digital Fluency & Innovation Quality Enhancement Plan, Austin Community College
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Winning the Room by
Revolutionize your data-driven presentations with this simple and actionable guide In Winning The Room: Creating and Delivering an Effective Data-Driven Presentation, analytics and data science expert Bill Franks delivers a practical and eye-opening exploration of how to present technical data and results to non-technical audiences in a live setting. Although framed with examples from the analytics and data science space, this book is perfect for anyone expected to present data-driven information to others. The book offers various specific tips and strategies that will make data-driven presentations much clearer, more intuitive, and easier to understand. Readers will discover: How to avoid common mistakes that undercut a presentation's credibility Instructive and eye-catching visuals that illustrate how to drive a presenter's points home and help the reader to retain the information Specific and actionable techniques to dramatically improve a presentation's clarity and impact Ideal for anyone expected to present to managers, executives, and other business leaders, Winning The Room is required reading for everyone seeking to improve the quality and efficacy of their data-driven presentations and communications.
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by
The new edition of the book readers call the bible for advertising The sixth edition of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This offers a new take on the rapidly evolving industry of creative advertising. Creativity--while critical--is no longer enough to succeed. Updating all the classic creativity training from the first five editions, this updated version now provides the necessary tools to navigate the field's changing technical and social media landscapes. From learning how to tell brand stories to creating content for Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, Whipple will help sharpen your writing chops, enhance your creativity, and raise the level of your work whether you're new to the business or a practicing professional. In this fully updated edition, you'll explore: How to employ the traditional concepting techniques today's creatives use, as well as new developments in applied creativity and inquiry-based innovation. How to use emerging technologies and the different technical structures of social media platforms to bring brand stories to life. How to go 180˚ against common sense for ideas that have the potential of becoming viral. How to create the kind of portfolio that will get you a job in the industry.
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Creativity (with Bonus Article How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity by Ed Catmull) by
Does your organization support creativity—or squash it? If you read nothing else on cultivating creativity at work, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you ignite the creative spark across your organization. This book will inspire you to: Discover the elements of creativity and learn how to influence them Harness the creative potential of a diverse team Encourage curiosity and experimentation Avoid breakdowns in creative collaboration Overcome the fear that blocks your innate creativity Bring breakthrough ideas to life This collection of articles includes "Reclaim Your Creative Confidence" by Tom Kelley and David Kelley; "How to Kill Creativity" by Teresa Amabile; "How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity" by Ed Catmull; "Putting Your Company's Whole Brain to Work" by Dorothy Leonard and Susaan Straus; "Find Innovation Where You Least Expect It" by Tony McCaffrey and Jim Pearson; "The Business Case for Curiosity" by Francesca Gino; "Bring Your Breakthrough Ideas to Life" by Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux, and Michael Wade; "Collaborating with Creative Peers" by Kimberly D. Elsbach, Brooke Brown-Saracino, and Francis J. Flynn; "Creativity Under the Gun" by Teresa Amabile, Constance Noonan Hadley, and Steven J. Kramer; "Strategy Needs Creativity" by Adam Brandenburger; and "How to Build a Culture of Originality" by Adam Grant. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever‐changing business environment.
Design Thinking for Dummies by
Innovate your business by incorporating design thinking Organizations that can innovate have an advantage over competitors who stick to old processes, models, and products. Design Thinking For Dummies walks would-be intrapreneurs through the steps of incorporating design thinking principles into their organizations. Written by a recognized expert in the field of design thinking, the book guides readers through the steps of adapting to a design thinking culture, identifying customer problems, creating and testing solutions, and making innovation an ongoing process. The book covers the crucial and central topics in design thinking, including: Adopting a design thinking mindset Building creative environments Facilitating design thinking workshops Working through the design thinking cycle Implementing your solutions And many more Design Thinking For Dummies is a great starting place for people joining design-oriented teams and organizations, as well as small businesses and start-ups seeking to take advantage of the same methods and techniques that large firms have used to grow and succeed.
97 Things about Ethics Everyone in Data Science Should Know by
Most of the high-profile cases of real or perceived unethical activity in data science arenâ??t matters of bad intent. Rather, they occur because the ethics simply arenâ??t thought through well enough. Being ethical takes constant diligence, and in many situations identifying the right choice can be difficult. In this in-depth book, contributors from top companies in technology, finance, and other industries share experiences and lessons learned from collecting, managing, and analyzing data ethically. Data science professionals, managers, and tech leaders will gain a better understanding of ethics through powerful, real-world best practices. Articles include: Ethics Is Not a Binary Conceptâ??Tim Wilson How to Approach Ethical Transparencyâ??Rado Kotorov Unbiased ≠ Fairâ??Doug Hague Rules and Rationalityâ??Christof Wolf Brenner The Truth About AI Biasâ??Cassie Kozyrkov Cautionary Ethics Talesâ??Sherrill Hayes Fairness in the Age of Algorithmsâ??Anna Jacobson The Ethical Data Storytellerâ??Brent Dykes Introducing Ethicizeâ?¢, the Fully AI-Driven Cloud-Based Ethics Solution!â??Brian Oâ??Neill Be Careful with "Decisions of the Heart"â??Hugh Watson Understanding Passive Versus Proactive Ethicsâ??Bill Schmarzo
Ethics in Information Technology by
Now current or future business managers and IT professionals can gain a strong understanding of the legal, ethical, and societal implications of information technology with ETHICS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, 4E. Readers find today's most up-to-date, thorough coverage of technology developments and their impact on business as they study file sharing, infringement of intellectual property, security risks, Internet crime, identity theft, employee surveillance, privacy, compliance, social networking, and ethics in IT corporations.This book offers an excellent foundation in ethical decision-making for current and future business managers and IT professionals with practical checklists, business vignettes, and thought-provoking questions to challenge the reader's knowledge.
Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World by
Foreword by Troy A. Swanson Metaliteracy is especially well suited as a tool for ensuring that learners can successfully navigate the proliferation of fake news, questionable content, and outright denialism of facts in today's information morass. Indeed, it is starkly evident that the competencies, knowledge, and personal attributes specific to metaliterate individuals are critical; digital literacy and traditional conceptions of information literacy are insufficient for the significant challenges we currently face. This book examines the newest version of the Metaliteracy Goals and Learning Objectives, including the four domains of metaliterate learning, as well as the relationship between metaliteracy and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Featuring contributions from a variety of information literacy instructors, educators, librarians, and faculty, the chapters in this book discuss the social, political, and ethical dimensions of information creation, distribution, and use; use case studies to demonstrate how metaliteracy guides learners to read online information with a critical eye, apply metacognitive thinking to the consumption of all information, and make purposeful and responsible contributions to the social media ecosystem as active participants; examine when images are taken out of context and paired with misleading text, a prevalent feature of the misinformation frequently shared via social media; and situates metaliteracy in such contexts such as the academic library, a science class, fiction writing, digital storytelling, and a theater arts course. Metaliteracy is a powerful model for preparing learners to be responsible participants in today's divisive information environment, and this book showcases several teaching and learning practices that have already proven effective.
Next-Generation Ethics by
Many of the significant developments of our era have resulted from advances in technology, including the design of large-scale systems; advances in medicine, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence; the role of social media in influencing behaviour and toppling governments; and the surge of online transactions that are replacing human face-to-face interactions. These advances have given rise to new kinds of ethical concerns around the uses (and misuses) of technology. This collection of essays by prominent academics and technology leaders covers important ethical questions arising in modern industry, offering guidance on how to approach these dilemmas. Chapters discuss what we can learn from the ethical lapses of #MeToo, Volkswagen, and Cambridge Analytica, and highlight the common need across all applications for sound decision-making and understanding the implications for stakeholders. Technologists and general readers with no formal ethics training and specialists exploring technological applications to the field of ethics will benefit from this overview.
Visual Ethics by
Visual Ethics addresses the need for critical thinking and ethical behavior among professionals responsible for visual messages in photography and photojournalism, film, and digital media. From the author of Photojournalism: An Ethical Approach, published more than 20 years ago, this book goes beyond photojournalism ethics. It discusses crucial contemporary concerns, including persuasion, stereotyping, global perspectives, graphic design decisions, multimedia production, social media, and more. Written for an ever-growing discipline, author Paul Martin Lester gives serious ethical consideration to the complex field of visual communication.
Don't Be Evil: The Case Against Big Tech by 
Learn Enough Developer Tools to Be Dangerous by
All You Need to Know, and Nothing You Don't, About Core Tools for Software Development Three of the core tools needed for modern software development are the Unix command line, a text editor, and version control with Git. But you don't need to learn "everything" about them, just how to use them efficiently to solve real problems. In Learn Enough Developer Tools to Be Dangerous, renowned instructor Michael Hartl teaches the specific concepts, skills, and approaches you need so you can learn to write apps, get hired, collaborate, and maybe even launch your own company. Even if you've never used (or even heard of) these tools before, Hartl helps you quickly build technical sophistication and master the lore you need to succeed. Focused exercises help you internalize what matters, without wasting time on details pros don't care about. Soon, it'll be like you were born knowing this stuff--and you'll be suddenly, seriously dangerous. Learn enough about . . . Running a terminal, entering and editing commands, and using man pages Manipulating and inspecting files: from basic copying to finding patterns Organizing files with directories Learning Minimum Viable Vim Basic and advanced editing techniques with editors like Atom and VS Code Using the human-readable Markdown language for writing quick documentation Formatting source code and writing executable scripts Getting started with Git and GitHub Using key Git workflows: commit, push, branch, merge, and more Collaborating on Git projects and resolving code conflicts Setting up dev environments: macOS, Linux, Windows, and cloud Michael Hartl's Learn Enough series includes books and video courses that focus on the most important parts of each subject, so you don't have to learn everything to get started--you just have to learn enough to be dangerous and solve technical problems yourself. Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
Learn Better by
For centuries, experts have argued that learning was about memorizing information: You're supposed to study facts, dates, and details; burn them into your memory; and then apply that knowledge at opportune times. But this approach to learning isn't nearly enough for the world that we live in today, and in Learn Better journalist and education researcher Ulrich Boser demonstrates that how we learn can matter just as much as what we learn. In this brilliantly researched book, Boser maps out the new science of learning, showing how simple techniques like comprehension check-ins and making material personally relatable can help people gain expertise in dramatically better ways. He covers six key steps to help you "learn how to learn," all illuminated with fascinating stories like how Jackson Pollock developed his unique painting style and why an ancient Japanese counting device allows kids to do math at superhuman speeds. Boser's witty, engaging writing makes this book feel like a guilty pleasure, not homework. Learn Better will revolutionize the way students and society alike approach learning and makes the case that being smart is not an innate ability--learning is a skill everyone can master. With Boser as your guide, you will be able to fully capitalize on your brain's remarkable ability to gain new skills and open up a whole new world of possibilities.
Winning the Room by
Revolutionize your data-driven presentations with this simple and actionable guide In Winning The Room: Creating and Delivering an Effective Data-Driven Presentation, analytics and data science expert Bill Franks delivers a practical and eye-opening exploration of how to present technical data and results to non-technical audiences in a live setting. Although framed with examples from the analytics and data science space, this book is perfect for anyone expected to present data-driven information to others. The book offers various specific tips and strategies that will make data-driven presentations much clearer, more intuitive, and easier to understand. Readers will discover: How to avoid common mistakes that undercut a presentation's credibility Instructive and eye-catching visuals that illustrate how to drive a presenter's points home and help the reader to retain the information Specific and actionable techniques to dramatically improve a presentation's clarity and impact Ideal for anyone expected to present to managers, executives, and other business leaders, Winning The Room is required reading for everyone seeking to improve the quality and efficacy of their data-driven presentations and communications.
Storytelling with Data by
Influence action through data! This is not a book. It is a one-of-a-kind immersive learning experience through which you can become--or teach others to be--a powerful data storyteller. Let's practice! helps you build confidence and credibility to create graphs and visualizations that make sense and weave them into action-inspiring stories. Expanding upon best seller storytelling with data's foundational lessons, Let's practice! delivers fresh content, a plethora of new examples, and over 100 hands-on exercises. Author and data storytelling maven Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic guides you along the path to hone core skills and become a well-practiced data communicator. Each chapter includes: ● Practice with Cole: exercises based on real-world examples first posed for you to consider and solve, followed by detailed step-by-step illustration and explanation ● Practice on your own: thought-provoking questions and even more exercises to be assigned or worked through individually, without prescribed solutions ● Practice at work: practical guidance and hands-on exercises for applying storytelling with data lessons on the job, including instruction on when and how to solicit useful feedback and refine for greater impact The lessons and exercises found within this comprehensive guide will empower you to master--or develop in others--data storytelling skills and transition your work from acceptable to exceptional. By investing in these skills for ourselves and our teams, we can all tell inspiring and influential data stories!
Speech Communication Made Simple 1 (with Audio CD) by
The only two-level series that prepares students for success in both presentations and academic discussions, Speech Communication Made Simple takes an interactive, accessible approach to building confidence as a speaker. Students learn how to present in a variety of genres, effectively use voice and props, and lead or participate in discussions. With its lighthearted and engaging approach, the text helps students acquire speech communication and listening skills that they can apply immediately and throughout their lives. Features: Varied speech genres that range from personal story to persuasive. Broad array of projects including interviews and group discussions. Scaffolded approach that includes directed discussion of a model presentation; skill-building exercises for selecting a topic, organizing information, and more; practicing aloud; and finally, delivering a speech. Pronunciation Practice that focuses on American English pronunciation patterns that are difficult for most non-native speakers of English. Playing with Sayings section that presents idiomatic sayings in popular use and related activities to help students understand and use them to enhance their spoken communication. Useful language boxes that illustrate effective ways to begin speeches or participate in discussion. CD-ROM with MP3 audio that includes sample speeches and all pronunciation activities Teacher's manual (available separately at http://pearsoneltusa.com/speechcom) with teaching suggestions, answer keys, and quizzes.
The Art of Public Speaking by
The timeless classic on facing an audience without fear, from the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People. Do you have trouble getting up in front of an audience? Are you struggling to get your point across? Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, especially if you're a naturally anxious person or if you're underprepared. For more than a century, The Art of Public Speaking has been the go-to guide for those who want to better their speaking abilities. Featured within this classic manual are hundreds of tips and tricks on how to become an efficient and effective public speaker. The sections included address: Tone Delivery Enthusiasm Confidence Concentration Charm Precision Gesturing Preparation And much more Stop putting your audience to sleep. With The Art of Public Speaking, you can learn to captivate listeners today!
Solution Architecture Foundations by
This authoritative and practical introduction to solution architecture is suitable for new entrants to the field but also of benefit to experienced professionals wishing to consolidate their knowledge and skills. Tools and techniques are presented in the context of a framework and life cycle, taking a problem or idea through logical steps to design a holistic, evidence-based solution. There is a focus on collaboration with the business as well as with disciplines such as enterprise architecture.
Sprint by
From inside Google Ventures, a unique five-day process for solving tough problems, proven at thousands of companies in mobile, e-commerce, healthcare, finance, and more. Entrepreneurs and leaders face big questions every day: What's the most important place to focus your effort, and how do you start? What will your idea look like in real life? How many meetings and discussions does it take before you can be sure you have the right solution? Now there's a surefire way to answer these important questions: the Design Sprint, created at Google by Jake Knapp. This method is like fast-forwarding into the future, so you can see how customers react before you invest all the time and expense of creating your new product, service, or campaign. In a Design Sprint, you take a small team, clear your schedules for a week, and rapidly progress from problem, to prototype, to tested solution using the step-by-step five-day process in this book. A practical guide to answering critical business questions, Sprint is a book for teams of any size, from small startups to Fortune 100s, from teachers to nonprofits. It can replace the old office defaults with a smarter, more respectful, and more effective way of solving problems that brings out the best contributions of everyone on the team--and helps you spend your time on work that really matters.
Thinking by
Thinking: A Guide to Systems Engineering Problem-Solving focuses upon articulating ways of thinking in today's world of systems and systems engineering. It also explores how the old masters made the advances they made, hundreds of years ago. Taken together, these considerations represent new ways of problem solving and new pathways to answers for modern times. Special areas of interest include types of intelligence, attributes of superior thinkers, systems architecting, corporate standouts, barriers to thinking, and innovative companies and universities. This book provides an overview of more than a dozen ways of thinking, to include: Inductive Thinking, Deductive Thinking, Reductionist Thinking, Out-of-the-Box Thinking, Systems Thinking, Design Thinking, Disruptive Thinking, Lateral Thinking, Critical Thinking, Fast and Slow Thinking, and Breakthrough Thinking. With these thinking skills, the reader is better able to tackle and solve new and varied types of problems. Features Proposes new approaches to problem solving for the systems engineer Compares as well as contrasts various types of Systems Thinking Articulates thinking attributes of the great masters as well as selected modern systems engineers Offers chapter by chapter thinking exercises for consideration and testing Suggests a "top dozen" for today's systems engineers
Problem-Solving by
Problem-solving and better thinking skills are among the top skills that employers are looking for. This book presents various methods of problem-solving that can be adapted to any field. It focuses on a set of a dozen new approaches with an ending result to finding better solutions to problems that you may have previously found difficult. The book discusses problem-solving based upon new thinking skills and presents the relationship between problem-solving and creativity. A connection between problem-solving and re-engineering is presented as the book explores the ability to tackle new and difficult problems in all aspects of life. It points you in the direction of how to easily find better solutions to problems that previously were found to be difficult. Target audience is general engineers, systems engineers, scientists, technologists, mathematicians, and lawyers.
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management by
Zachary Wong offers practical strategies, skills, and tools to help project managers diagnose and solve their toughest people problems. Based on decades in the trenches, the book shows how to confront and correct bad behavior, increase team performance and inclusion, turn around difficult people and poor performers, get people to do what you want them to do, boost employee motivation and attitude, reduce change resistance and risk aversion, and manage difficult bosses. Wong believes that the best team leaders are problem-solvers and facilitators, so this book provides problem-solving models and tools to diagnose people problems, and facilitative methods, processes, and techniques to correct them. It's an approach that can be personalized to fit any person or situation. Each skill is explained with a well-balanced mix of case stories, examples, strategies, processes, tools, and techniques along with illustrations, graphics, tables, and other visuals to clarify key concepts and their workplace application. To reinforce the most important learnings, Wong includes a "Memory Card" and "Skill Summary" at the end of each chapter. Nothing is harder than leading people and managing project teams. Being successful takes a combination of knowing human psychology, organizational behaviors, and human factors; having supervisory, process, and communication skills; ensuring good teamwork, high integrity, and strong leadership; and having the ability to integrate and apply these skills to a diverse work team. The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management is designed for individuals, team leaders, and managers who oversee and coordinate the daily performance of others and who are seeking solutions that they can apply immediately.
Leading Teams by
Important new insights on team leadership and motivation, along with powerful tools and techniques taken from the world of sports How do the sports world's most successful coaches instill their teams with esprit de corps, a collaborative mindset, and an unbeatable desire to win? More importantly, what can business leaders and managers learn from their example? This book answers these and a host of key questions about what it takes to be a successful leader in business or in sports. Drawing upon their unique experiences working with top sports coaches, as well as some of the world's leading corporate executives, authors Dino Ruta and Paolo Guenzi offer important new insights into team leadership and motivation, as well as new tools for optimizing teamwork and inspiring teams to reach for and achieve new heights of glory. Develops a bold new team leadership model for managers at all levels, team leaders, project managers and facilitators, as well as sport coaches Arms you with powerful tools and techniques adapted from the world of sport for optimizing teamwork, driving motivating and instilling an unstoppable desire to win An indispensable source of insight and ideas for executives and managers in companies of all sizes, and an important supplement for postgraduate management programs
Own Your Tech Career: Soft Skills for Technologists by
Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists is a guide to taking control of your professional life. It teaches you to approach your career with planning and purpose, always making active decisions towards your goals. Whatever your road to success, you''ll benefit from the toolbox of career-boosting techniques you''ll find in Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists. You''ll discover in-demand communication and teamwork skills, essential rules for professionalism, tactics of the modern job hunt, and more. In Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists, you will: Define what "success" means for your career Discover personal branding and career maintenance Prepare for and conduct a tech job hunt Spot speed bumps and barriers that can derail your progress Learn how to navigate the rules of the business world Perform market analysis to keep your tech skills fresh and relevant about the technology Success in a technology career requires more than technical ability. Achieving your career goals takes clear communication, top-notch time and productivity management, and a knack for navigating business needs. These "soft skills" are vital for a well-rounded career in tech, whether as a valuable employee or a successful freelancer. about the book Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists is a guide to getting what you want out of your career in tech. You''ll start by defining your ambitions--whether that''s a high salary, a great work/life balance, or something else entirely. Once you know where you''re going, you''ll begin your journey to success with the adaptable advice laid out in this book to help you on your way. You''ll take a deep dive into the communication, conflict resolution, and teamwork skills that employers prize in technologists, and master "nine rules of professionalism" that will keep you on track through the daily grind. Finally, you''ll pay it forward with advice on becoming an amazing mentor of your juniors, and leader of your peers. about the reader For professionals who want to take control of their career in technology. about the author Microsoft MVP Don Jones brings his years of experience as a successful IT trainer to this engaging guide. Don is a sought-after conference speaker, career mentor, and author of the international bestseller Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches. He has led dozens of career and job workshops for tech professionals.
Successful Writing at Work by
Learn how to plan, draft, revise, format and produce professional documents and graphics in today's global workplace with Kolin's SUCCESSFUL WRITING AT WORK, 12E. This inviting, easy-to-read approach provides detailed writing guidelines using numerous real examples. Revisions ensure a diverse and inclusive approach to writing, while new coverage examines the impact of COVID-19 on workplace communication and highlights social media and audience analysis. This edition begins by discussing the writing process and collaboration, whether it's in-person or remote. You then examine basic business communication, including resumes and other job search materials. You learn to conduct research and document sources using the latest MLA or APA guidelines. You also master advanced tasks, such as preparing visuals, websites, proposals and presentations. Each assignment strengthens your abilities to solve problems and select the best communication technologies to further your goals.
Business Writing for Innovators and Change-Makers by
Business Writing for Innovators and Change-Makers will empower you to build your confidence as a communicator, strengthen your brand, and increase your impact with your customers and clients. Business Writing for Innovators and Change-Makers is a writing guidebook with street-smarts. It recognizes the unique communication challenges entrepreneurs face and offers clear action steps for tackling them. As an entrepreneur with a pioneering product or service to offer the world, you can't rely on cookie-cutter communication templates to get your meaning across. You need a set of writing strategies that are quick to implement and easy to adapt to a wide variety of communication situations, from emails to pitch decks. Dawn Henwood provides a simple, flexible approach to writing that will open your eyes to the subtle ways written communication can engage and motivate your target audience. Whether you are just starting your business or scaling up to the next level of success, you'll find Dawn's straightforward teaching just the help you need to make your message heard. Business Writing for Innovators and Change-Makers will empower you to build your confidence as a communicator, strengthen your brand, and increase your impact with your customers and clients.
Technical Communication for College and Career by
This original and comprehensive guide to technical communication for college and career is organized into five major parts covering these essentials: delivering just the right document, writing elegant prose, fulfilling your communication purpose, persuading your reader, and mastering important genres. In addition, five appendices cover equally valuable topics: common composition mistakes; resumes job cover letters, and thank-you notes; formatting essentials; conference posters; and oral presentations and projection slides. With examples of letters, memoranda, white papers, and articles, along with numerous samples of graphs, tables, presentation slides, resumes, and posters, the author explains -- in a cheerful and sometimes cheeky style -- how to write technical documents and design visual elements. Review grammar and punctuation, brush up on paragraph or sentence structure, double check easily confused words, or learn how to write an important technical document from start to finish.
Making Numbers Count by
A clear, practical, first-of-its-kind guide to communicating and understanding numbers and data--from bestselling business author Chip Heath. How much bigger is a billion than a million? Well, a million seconds is twelve days. A billion seconds is...thirty-two years. Understanding numbers is essential--but humans aren't built to understand them. Until very recently, most languages had no words for numbers greater than five--anything from six to infinity was known as "lots." While the numbers in our world have gotten increasingly complex, our brains are stuck in the past. How can we translate millions and billions and milliseconds and nanometers into things we can comprehend and use? Author Chip Heath has excelled at teaching others about making ideas stick and here, in Making Numbers Count, he outlines specific principles that reveal how to translate a number into our brain's language. This book is filled with examples of extreme number makeovers, vivid before-and-after examples that take a dry number and present it in a way that people click in and say "Wow, now I get it!" You will learn principles such as: -SIMPLE PERSPECTIVE CUES: researchers at Microsoft found that adding one simple comparison sentence doubled how accurately users estimated statistics like population and area of countries. -VIVIDNESS: get perspective on the size of a nucleus by imagining a bee in a cathedral, or a pea in a racetrack, which are easier to envision than "1/100,000th of the size of an atom." -CONVERT TO A PROCESS: capitalize on our intuitive sense of time (5 gigabytes of music storage turns into "2 months of commutes, without repeating a song"). -EMOTIONAL MEASURING STICKS: frame the number in a way that people already care about ("that medical protocol would save twice as many women as curing breast cancer"). Whether you're interested in global problems like climate change, running a tech firm or a farm, or just explaining how many Cokes you'd have to drink if you burned calories like a hummingbird, this book will help math-lovers and math-haters alike translate the numbers that animate our world--allowing us to bring more data, more naturally, into decisions in our schools, our workplaces, and our society.
Storytelling with Data by
Influence action through data! This is not a book. It is a one-of-a-kind immersive learning experience through which you can become--or teach others to be--a powerful data storyteller. Let's practice! helps you build confidence and credibility to create graphs and visualizations that make sense and weave them into action-inspiring stories. Expanding upon best seller storytelling with data's foundational lessons, Let's practice! delivers fresh content, a plethora of new examples, and over 100 hands-on exercises. Author and data storytelling maven Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic guides you along the path to hone core skills and become a well-practiced data communicator. Each chapter includes: ● Practice with Cole: exercises based on real-world examples first posed for you to consider and solve, followed by detailed step-by-step illustration and explanation ● Practice on your own: thought-provoking questions and even more exercises to be assigned or worked through individually, without prescribed solutions ● Practice at work: practical guidance and hands-on exercises for applying storytelling with data lessons on the job, including instruction on when and how to solicit useful feedback and refine for greater impact The lessons and exercises found within this comprehensive guide will empower you to master--or develop in others--data storytelling skills and transition your work from acceptable to exceptional. By investing in these skills for ourselves and our teams, we can all tell inspiring and influential data stories!