The most basic rule of data storytelling: I must tell the story that only I can see, but they can't. Chris is 28 years old and working as a data analyst for an e-commerce company. Everyday, her computer screen is filled with numbers that she analyses. When asked what exactly is her role in the business? Her response is, "I make meaning of the numbers I get from an excel spreadsheet, which I...
On 14 July 2016, I wrote a blog Data tells you what's happening. Stories tell you why it matters with the following featured image. Today, as I look back I can see how I was wrong to use an image that speaks about data being less than stories. In my storytelling work, I have always witnessed a war between stories and data, but what I now know is that there has to be a marriage between the two in...
We want to introduce a change in our organisation, we put together a powerpoint with charts, graphs, reasons and benefits. When we finished our presentation everyone in the room has all the information and knowledge. They might even agree but would they change? Perhaps not. Carmine Gallo in his Forbes article elaborates this point, Big numbers rarely spark action, but a sea turtle with a straw in...
In the past, data was only available to researchers and scientists but now we are inundated with data. This data inundation has led to many problems. One of them is instead of using data to influence decisions we are using data as an evidence alone. But the question we have to ask ourselves is when does data like 36,000 employees, 36 locations, 110 years of existence has ever convinced us that a...
Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of State - BBC Four video published in November 2010 is still one of my favourite examples of Data Storytelling. Many credit data visualisation and technology used for this amazing video but in my view the beating heart of this fantastic data storytelling video is Hans Rosling's ability to storytell. I have been fortunate to meet him...
I am conducting a Data Storytelling Workshop for finance professionals who works at a MNC. Their slides are filled with information, so much information that it feels to me like a Slideument (Slide + Document). When asked, "Why do you have so much information on a slide that you are presenting?", their response was, "It's a template that I have to follow." Clearly, this person has fallen victim...