I’ve used Aristotle’s three rules or means of persuasion to help entrepreneurs pitch, politicians inspire, and scientists explain.

The three are:

Logos – Persuasion through reason backed by logic, data and statistics
Ethos – Credibility through achievements, experience and expertise
Pathos – Appealing to the emotions

Aristotle believed that to truly persuade someone you connect through their head as well as their heart.

But a common challenge I’ve noticed is that people find it hard to use statistics well.

Remember they should be used as a key weapon to persuade someone to take the action you want but instead often create unnecessary barriers to understanding.

This is a shame and means you will become over-reliant on the heart and fail to persuade people through their heads as well. Remember you should be aiming to use a blend of logos, ethos and pathos.

I frequently see facts and figures being dropped into a presentation or a speech without any introduction.

Or they are part of a wider set of numbers that on their own may help illustrate a point you are making but used together confuse your point and your audience.

Too many numbers numb an audience no matter how numerate they are.

My view is that data and statistics should be the foundation of a true STAR Moment for you.

A STAR Moment is something they (your audience, the people that matter) will always remember.

This could be about you. It could be about your business, product or service. It could be the key point of your entire speech, pitch or presentation.

To help you improve your persuasion skills, and build a STAR Moment here are three ways to use data and statistics better:

1. Put them into context that connects with your audience

There is no point using a fact or statistic if your audience don’t understand it and why it matters. “Last year we achieved turnover of £9.5million” may be a big number that tweaks someone’s interest but “last year we doubled our turnover to £9.5million” gives it meaning.

2. Seek to shock

Shocking doesn’t have to be a negative emotion. What you are after is something to make your audiences’ jaw’s drop.

In a Ted Talk on psychopaths that has nearly 30 million views, writer Jon Ronson observed, “One in a hundred regular people is a psychopath. So there’s 1,500 people in this room. Fifteen of you are psychopaths.” Cue laughter amongst the uneasy sideward glances at their neighbours.

3. A story at the heart of the statistic

A common error is to rely on statistics to inform people about really big things such as scientific discoveries or significant moments in history. Sometimes these events are large and have such a broad impact that they cannot be comprehended.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use a statistic but instead tell a story to bring it to life, to make it real and relevant, to communicate it on a human scale.

You can copy the device used by filmmakers who will give the viewer the context of the story by starting a feature film with a broad view, perhaps of a city skyline, which would be your statistic, before zooming into one neighbourhood, then one street and then a home before finally introducing the viewers to one of the film’s characters.

The key thing when using statistics is not to leave them hanging out on their own.

Wrap them up.

Give them a context so people can place them in their own lives.

And give them a heart so people can see why they matter.