Core element context
“Hey Dad, do you know the most stupid statement of all time?” one of my sons asks me at the dinner table. Before I can express my suspicions, he blurts out: “100 is a big number.” He acknowledges my stunned expression with a triumphant grin. I reply: “If I may offer a guess, I suspect it’s not the most stupid statement in the world. However, it is one of the most common of the really stupid statements.”
"5 billion euros research budget." Although this amount sounds impressive, it doesn't convey anything.
The afternoon before this encounter, I gave feedback on his presentation to a scientist of a well-known pharmaceutical company. When we reached the inevitable “wow” slide in the company’s self-presentation, I thought, “Not again!” Why? The target audience for the presentation was graduates whose interest in the company he wanted to pique. The slide contained a series of large numbers without context, such as: “5 billion euros research budget.” Although this amount sounds impressive, it doesn’t convey anything. During the discussion, we worked out how to bring this number to life. What percentage of revenue is allocated to research, and how does this percentage compare to that of our competitors? Now this is information that even non-experts can digest.
My son, with his childlike naivety – or his intuitive instinct – realised: Numbers without context are meaningless. This is evident in all areas of life. In Germany, 100,000 birds die annually from collisions with wind turbines. That sounds like a lot, but estimates say domestic cats kill a thousand times more birds. And cats don’t contribute to the energy transition.
When applying for a position, the private sector, in particular, appreciates it when you express your value in numbers. Here, you should estimate who will read your application and, if in doubt, provide more context. Just imagine a twelve-year-old looking over your shoulder while you write your CV: If you describe how your ideas helped to speed up a project by two months, you’ll get away with it. “Sale of goods worth 10 million euros,” on the other hand, would not pass the test.
This article was first published in Nachrichten aus der Chemie (issue 06-2025). See here the German original.
If you´re interested in bringing context to your science communication, you might be interested in our talk Captivate an audience – about science communication & storytelling.