Every organisation is now expected to communicate with evidence. Donors want results shown clearly, executives want a one-page answer, and the public is quick to doubt claims that are not backed by numbers. At the same time, poor charts, cluttered slides and dense reports waste good analysis and can mislead audiences.

The Data and Analytics for Communication, Presentation & Business Writing Training Course unites two skill sets that are usually taught apart: working with data and communicating with it. Participants practise cleaning and summarising data, choosing visuals that match the message, and writing narrative text around figures. They then apply these skills to presentations, executive briefings, proposals and annual or programme reports. A further module introduces communication analytics, showing how to read engagement data from email, websites, events and social channels and use it to improve future messages.

The delivery format is workshop based, with participants working on their own data sets wherever possible. They finish the programme with a polished data-driven presentation, a short report section and a simple communication measurement plan.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Clean, summarise and check data in Excel before using it in any communication product.
• Select charts and tables that match the message and avoid misleading design choices.
• Structure a data story with a clear key message, supporting evidence and call to action.
• Design clear slides and deliver data-based presentations with confidence.
• Write executive summaries, reports and proposals that present figures accurately and readably.
• Explain basic statistical ideas in plain language to non-technical audiences.
• Track communication performance using engagement metrics and feedback data.

The programme is useful for anyone who must explain information to others, including:

• Communications, public relations and corporate affairs officers
• Report writers and proposal writers in NGOs and consultancies
• Monitoring, evaluation and research staff who present findings
• Marketing and digital content professionals
• Programme managers and policy analysts
• Executive assistants and administrators who prepare board papers
• Government information officers and spokespersons
• Managers who present performance results to boards and donors

Participants leave the course with:

• A reusable guide for choosing the right chart for a given message.
• A completed data story built from their own figures.
• A redesigned slide deck that follows clear visual rules.
• A report section and executive summary written to a model structure.
• A simple dashboard of communication metrics for regular review.
• A checklist for checking numbers before anything is published.

The course is a practical studio rather than a lecture series. Participants will find:

• Excel labs working on supplied and personal data sets
• Before-and-after critiques of real charts, slides and report pages
• Short presentation rounds with peer and facilitator feedback
• Writing clinics focused on summaries, proposals and results sections
• Templates for slides, one-page briefs and metric dashboards

Participants who attend the workshops and submit their practical exercises are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.