Much of what I teach is about getting the analysis done, and others here are more expert than I am about how to then convert this into a presentation. But we all know good presentations when we see them, and we all recognize “death by PowerPoint” when those kinds of presentations start.
Here’s a short video with some good rules about effective presentations.
Decision analysis considers “framing” to be something important that can be easily overlooked (and lead to awful results). For example, a couple could consider the decision to be which house to purchase, framing the decision as an investment one. And miss the option of renting and investing the money in something besides real estate.
It is also true that people can find “meaning” in data that is nothing but random noise; or overlook important results that do not conform to the conventional wisdom. Treatment for ulcers falls into the latter category – the conventional wisdom about the cause of ulcers turned out to be false for many people.
Here is an interesting example of how we frame data. After you watch the video, make sure you go back and listen when the lyrics are not on the screen. They really are there! Or are they?