What storytelling with data is not
Recommended video Data Story - Online Dating USA.
A nice video, but so what? What's the message? What do we learn? If you are single, try online dating? Pretty obvious, right?
This data visualization is NOT a story. No message is conveyed. The too fast juxtaposition of figures and statistics makes the whole thing sterile. We're not holding back anything.
What storytelling with data is
Recommended video The Secret to Successful Storytelling with Statistics
An introduction to this course, with the main concepts.The Big Idea
According to Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, "the Big Idea is a concept that can help you to define the message you want to deliver during a meeting. The Big Idea was originally introduced by Nancy Duarte in her book "Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences" (Ed. John Wiley & Sons, 2010). The Big Idea should (1) articulate your unique point of view, (2) convey what’s at stake, and (3) be a complete sentence". Imagine you would have to announce your presentation on Twitter with only 140 characters, the Big Idea concept is the perfect tool! ;-)
The Big Idea Worksheet is the tool proposed by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, in "Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals" (Ed. John Wiley & Sons, 2015). Useful during the brainstorming step, to plan your presentation.
Types of charts
Build a three-act story
In his book, Beyond Bullet Point, Cliff Atkinson proposes a PowerPoint template to design presentations. But before editing slides, you have to write (on a paper!) the script of your story.
The three-act structure follows a problem-solution process.
- Act I - The compelling setup, or how to introduce your Big Idea in 5 slides
- The setting creates the context, should clearly define the business environment you find yourself in.
- The protagonist, naturally, should point to your audience. Why is your audience concerned?
- Establish the imbalance that your protagonist encounters in the setting. It is the initial situation, the departure point A. What problem is your audience experiencing? What incident is weighing them down? You may outline an existing dilemma that your business aims to solve.
- Establish a sense of balance. What’s the ideal situation that your audience should aspire for, the point B where they want to go? How good should the state of affairs be for them to achieve a sense of fulfillment?
- The solution. The fifth and last slide of the “introduction” should contain your proposal to the audience. What can you do to alleviate their discomfort? How can your business help in addressing their concerns?
- Act II - The solution, the 3 three main supported points
- Anchor #1, unlock the problem
- Anchor #2, introduce a second clue
- Anchor #3, introduce a third argument
- Act III - The thrilling conclusion
- The call to action. Recap the problem (repetition to shift your proposal from short memory to long term memory) and the resulting need for action.
Storyboard sketchpad and story template
To compose your 3 acts, and organize how you will communicate your Big Idea, you can use the tools proposed by Cliff Atkinson:
- First, the storyboard sketchpad.
- Second, the story template
In the version below, the problem-solution structure is slighly different, but is effective as well, and used very often by start-ups to pich their idea!
In the field of entrepreneurship and innovation, for example, the introduction should start with a hook describing the context of a situation that end-users encounter. Then, entrepreneurs show the relevance of their product/idea by defining their target users and quantifying the market. Third, they show the challenge, i.e. which situation/problem is not currently solved, and what would be the ideal situation. And finally, they announce that their product/idea is THE solution. If they have time, they can develop their value proprosition by presenting their solution in more detail. And finally, whatever time they have, it takes them 30 seconds to close and launch their call to action (usually the needed financial support in €).
Storyboard sketchpad
This will help you in organizing your Big Idea in a narrative flow, and build an effective introduction with 5 natural steps.
Story template
When the act II is coming, you need to detail your point/innovation/solution/product. Depending on the duration of your talk, the template provides a canvas to expand your supporting points: anchor version vs. 3-steps explanation vs 3*3-steps full backup arguments.
Let's recap!
Source of images: Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals. Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
