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#SOTD 21: To put that in perspective...

14 March 2022

Ukraine's area is 603,548 square miles. But what does that even mean?

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I might as well have said 603,548 square km and you'd have believed me.

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You should, because that is the right number (the Russians disagree*). I just made up the square miles stat to make a point.

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Numbers - especially large, foreign numbers - are meaningless to us. As storytellers, we need to make such numbers relatable.

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Which means you need to translate that number into something that your audience deeply understands.

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Which is what Trent Telenko (ex-US DoD) did when he he made Ukraine's size relatable to his US audience while doing a deep-dive into Russia's offensive:

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Telenko uses a fascinating tool to do this - a website called True Size.​

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True Size works at a country level - and allows you to "move" a country across the world map. For e.g. you can move India to North America... and see that Canada is not as big as you think! It's a fun tool - give it a try.

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And oh, if you are explaining to an Indian: Ukraine is about the size of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh put together. Or roughly about the 5 key south Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) put together.

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Make your numbers relatable. How? Once you have communicated a new number, just add this phrase: "To put that in perspective..." and translate that number into terms that your audience can relate to.

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Oh, and also look up the definitive book on this topic: 'Making Numbers Count' by Chip Heath and Karla Starr. Here's my review of the book.

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#SOTD 21

* War is messed up. No one can condone the Russians' actions. Having said that I'm just looking at a narrow, story-learning aspect from the discussion around this topic. I don't have any knowledge or expertise whatsoever to comment on the situation itself.

#SOTD 60: Share your own stories (and be vulnerable)
14 March 2022
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