Weighing up evidence is a crucial part of informed decision-making and consent, whether we’re making policy-level decisions or individual ones about our own lives.

So how can healthcare researchers and professionals communicate such evidence when talking to patients, policy-makers or publishing research? How can they help translate raw and meaningless numbers into useful information, whilst leaving the audience free to make up their own mind on the basis of the evidence? Is it possible to be clear and informative without ending up with a ’take home message’.