Data Storytelling
It is very difficult to follow and keep up with the rapidly developing dynamics of the digital world. In order for you to be aware of these developments and not fall behind, in this article, we will talk about data storytelling, which offers a very productive and new area for us to perceive information more easily and experience it in a more fun way.
The technique of data storytelling involves effectively conveying insights from a dataset through stories and visualizations.
How to tell a story with data?
Data stories assist you in effectively communicating crucial insights, igniting transformation, and encouraging company action. You don’t need an analytical mind to tell a good story. Use the tips and steps below if you don’t know what to do to create compelling data stories that inspire, persuade, and motivate your teams and organization.
Good data stories have three main elements to put your data in context and bring important information into focus:
- Data
- Visuals
- Narrative
First of all, you should identify your story. To summarize the story, you can ask a question or form a theory. After that, you can research and gather related information to discover the answers.
You should examine the connections between data points and use interesting or surprising correlations in your story. While doing this, you should not forget to follow the trends and keep up with these trends. Beware of any data that contradicts logic or surprises you. Remember, some of the most compelling stories are the unexpected.
Of course, these are only steps that come after you know your audience well and understand their problems well. When creating your story, your audience’s age, demographics, job, and topic expertise are essential as they affect how they understand and respond to your stories. Therefore, you should research them well and take steps accordingly.
If you have completed the steps so far, you can now start developing a narrative by considering the data you have and your target audience. Your story should have a context, a problem, and a solution.
Finally, visuals are what you need to create a good data story. Visuals are the most important way to engage your audience. You can also accelerate understanding by visualizing your data story.
For data visualization, you can use flowcharts, infographs, pie charts, etc.
Data stories vs. data visualizations
In its most basic form, a data story can be defined as a method of disseminating information in an easy-to-understand form. Data visualizations, on the other hand, are a tactic for data storytelling; whereas data storytelling is a strategy.
Decision-makers should use both data storytelling and data visualization to determine the best course of action for a business. For audiences to understand why they should pay attention to your numbers and what they can do about the situation, you utilize data visualizations to bring data storytelling to life.
In other words, data tales engage the audience by relating the data to them. Data visualizations complement and improve data storytelling, enabling you to present your conclusions in an elegant and compelling way.
