How To Tell A Story With Data
Last updated 8/2022
MP4 | Video: h264, 1280×720 | Audio: AAC, 44.1 KHz

Learn how to pique and keep your audience’s attention so they will understand and remember your data presentation.

What you’ll learn
Give better spoken and written presentations about data!
Have an arsenal of strategies for creating memorable data stories.
Know and apply the "5-stage arc" for memorable data storytelling.
Requirements
An interest in improving data presentations.
Description
If you want to present data in a way that people will understand and remember, then you need to tell a story with the data. And if you want to learn how to tell a story with data, then this course is for you.
In this course, you’ll learn tips, tricks, and strategies for engaging your audience (both live audiences and reading audiences) to help them remember the key points of your data graphs. There are many examples and exercises, so you’ll learn how to do it in a way that’s both informative and engaging.
Why learn data storytelling
We live in a world ly dominated by data. Data are used to make important decisions, to shape business and political policy, and to understand the fundamental workings of nature. But data can be complicated, mysterious, and difficult to understand.
It is more important than ever to be able to communicate data in a way that is comprehensible and memorable. That’s called data storytelling. Data storytelling is a skill, and the goal of this course is to help you improve this skill.
What you will get from this course
Very simple: An easy-to-apply framework for building audience excitement about your data.Also: Lots of tips for making and presenting data graphics.

Overview

Section 1: What does it mean to tell a story with data?

Lecture 1 Storytelling: communication across the ages

Lecture 2 Demonstration: data in or out of a story

Section 2: The storytelling arc

Lecture 3 The "5-stage" structure of storytelling

Lecture 4 Example of 5-stage storytelling with data

Lecture 5 Conflict and resolution

Lecture 6 Examples of conflict and resolution

Section 3: Know and prepare for your audience

Lecture 7 Is your audience in-field or out-of-field?

Lecture 8 Is your audience horizontal or vertical?

Lecture 10 Using humor in data storytelling

Section 4: Making visual graphics

Lecture 11 Information before aesthetics

Lecture 13 Legends and labels

Lecture 14 Colors

Lecture 15 Use color to highlight importance

Lecture 16 One graphic = one message

Lecture 17 Software for making data graphics

Section 5: Data storytelling tips

Lecture 18 Guide the audience through the plots

Lecture 19 Big picture first, details as appropriate

Lecture 20 Impress with simplicity and clarity

Lecture 21 Write for your grandmother

Section 6: Insights from storytelling

Lecture 22 Make the audience care about the data

Lecture 23 Keep the audience engaged

Lecture 24 Create from the end; present from the beginning

Lecture 26 Build suspense, not surprise

Section 7: Ethics of using data in storytelling

Lecture 27 Don’t falsify or manipulate data

Lecture 28 Don’t lie, mislead, or abuse

Lecture 29 How to be an ethical data storyteller

Section 8: Download the slides from this course as a pdf file

Lecture 30 All course slides

Section 9: Bonus section

Lecture 31 Bonus lecture

Anyone from student to professional who wants to improve their data-storytelling skills.