Additional menu

FreshSpectrum

Dissemination that Actually Works

Step 1. Nerd it Out.
Step 2. Break it Down.

Writing long technical reports is not only okay, it's essential. Just don't forget to break it down when it counts.

Stick around and I'll teach you how.

Virtual Workshops Free Resources

Hi, I'm Chris Lysy, welcome to my website.
Just a few of my past clients

Main Content

Beyond the Reporting Revolution

In 2022 I wrote a book called The Reporting Revolution. It was all about how we needed to stop reporting like it was 1999 and move away from our PDF tradition.

But our biggest problem isn't actually how we share our technical work. It's okay to keep the nerd report nerdy. In fact, it might even be the ideal step 1.

Just don't forget to move to step 2. The part where you break it down into accessible visual formats for decision makers, practitioners, community members, and all the other people who are unlikely to read your nerd report.

As an information designer & dissemination strategist, that's what I do for a living, it's what I teach in my workshops, and what I write about on this blog.

Creative Workshops for Data People

You don't need to be a professional designer or pay a lot of money for professional tools to do professional work. You just need some extra skills you were never taught in grad school.

I think every researcher and evaluator should learn how to do these four creative things.

  1. Design simple visual reports.
  2. Illustrate your findings.
  3. Tell good data stories.
  4. Effectively share your work online.

So that's what I teach through private trainings and my public workshops.

Click Here for Private Virtual Training

1. Design simple visual reports.

Learn how to design and structure short, high-impact visual reports—including one-pagers, infographics, blog posts, and slidedocs. Taught using Canva (and/or PowerPoint).

Next Public Session: TBD
Join the Waitlist

2. Ilustrate your findings.

Move beyond word clouds with my practical illustration framework. Learn simple but effective techniques that make text-heavy qualitative findings accessible.

Next Public Session: TBD
Join the Waitlist

3. Tell good data stories.

Discover narrative frameworks that weave data into memorable stories, helping your insights resonate with decision-makers.

Next Public Session: TBD
Join the Waitlist

4. Effectively share your work online.

Stop treating dissemination as an afterthought. Build a measurable digital strategy using my practical Theory of Use framework.

Next Public Session: TBD
Join the Waitlist

Free Resources

Don't have the budget to take one of my workshops or bring me in for a training?

I have lots of great (and free) resources from ebooks to guides to cartoons. Here are some of my favorites.

Free-to-Read Books: The Reporting Revolution & Compelling Qualitative Data Visualization

Guides & Templates: Theory of Use, UX Evaluation, Two Step Canva Templates, Resource Transformations (Before & Afters)

Cartoons: My biggest post: 128 Evaluation Cartoons. You'll also find thousands more scattered across the blog.

Blog: I've posted hundreds of articles from over 16+ years of blogging.

Weekly Newsletter: I share practical stuff weekly.

Latest Blog Posts

Click here for more blog posts.