Data Storytelling

06 Feb

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…

02 Sep

Data Storytelling: Is Data Evidence Enough?

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,…

23 Aug

Data Storytelling 4 Min Video By Hans Rosling

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…

22 May

Storytelling: Victim To A Template Or A Storyteller?

I am conducting a Data Storytelling Workshop for finance professionals who work 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.”…

01 May

Data Storytelling: Story Before Suggestions

Sam and his team, having worked hard to find an insight from data that they have received from their ecommerce team, finally find a meaningful insight after weeks of slicing and dicing the data. Excited, they walk in to a presentation to share the insight. Their presentation is structured like this: – We are here to make the following suggestions for an…

18 Apr

Data Storytelling: 5 short, free tutorials…

Words have always been the most natural way to tell stories. However, the rising importance of data has created a new need for us, which is to tell a story with numbers. Something that doesn’t come naturally to us. We have always presented an analysis of numbers. Hence, we are great at analysing the data but not so great at being able…

05 Dec

Data Storytelling: Insights Inform But Don’t Inspire Part 2 of 2

This blog is part 2 of the Insights Inform But Don’t Inspire blog. If you have not read part 1 of the blog, then I suggest you read it before you read this one. You can read blog 1 here. These learnings are from Brent Dykes’s article in Forbes What can we learn from Semmelweis’ experience? Semmelweis’ data met three key criteria …

05 Dec

Data Storytelling: Insights Informs but don’t Inspire Part 1 of 2

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22 Nov

Data Storytelling: Why Do We Present Data Like A Maze?

As I am doing more and more work on Data Storytelling, I am coming across examples that are demonstrative of the fact that our ability to data storytell is still at its embryonic stages. There are simple things that we agree with in theory but fail to apply. Here are some slides I have worked with that demonstrate my point. Now, as…

16 Nov

Storytelling: Stories Hidden in The Data From Feedback Forms

I have written about my views on the obsession attached with collecting data on Feedback Forms for workshops, seminars and trainings in the past. But as I am reading and understanding more about Feedback I am developing some insights. The trend has been to centralise and standardise systems, collecting data on metrics on feedback for workshops, trainings, seminars etc. This can be…