Getting to Know Data Storytelling

Data storytelling aims to communicate information to specific audiences with an engaging narration. Why do we need data storytelling instead of a standard presentation in general? Because as a whole, we as humans have been programmed to share stories as a means of sharing information effectively. Experts argue that stories are the main foundation for transmitting knowledge among large social groups, and ultimately building culture as we know it today. Today, with so much data available, data storytelling allows us to discover human perspectives in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing digital era.

Data storytelling discusses three main areas of expertise, namely Data Science, Data Visualization, and Narration.

• Data Science: This interesting field has made significant changes to our daily lives in the last decades. The technology that we are taking for granted today is supported by this area of expertise, but there is one thing that is rarely found in data experts: Storytelling. Scientific data is agreed upon in the collection and transmission of data, but does not require data being conveyed and the true opportunities sometimes hidden in the data being presented.
• Visualization: The emergence of technological solutions such as visualization dashboards has become a go-to solution in helping us understand our large amounts of data collected. Turning data into graphs, pie and line charts means we can see our data like never before. However, data visualization alone has limitations, because they only provide a snapshot of data at a glance, which is needed to explain the facts.
• Narration: This part is the most important part of a data storytelling process. The narrative uses language in a format that suits our particular needs, adding to our need for new information. Narration is the main medium for conveying insights, with visualization and data becoming important points.

What makes storytelling data effective?

Good data storytelling utilizes four main components: Data, Narration, Audience, and Visual.

• Data simplicity. We must have accurate data to achieve true insights. The visual component that is easy to find trends and patterns in a dataset, which is not easily seen in rows and columns of a spreadsheet.
• Visual storytelling is about communicating our insights effectively, giving our data a voice.
• The narrative component relates to the simple language used to review data that can be seen as giving voice to the data. Each data point is a character in a story - the protagonist - with his own story.
• The audience is the data hero that the tells us what we have to do. Who our audience determines how we structure our presentation and analysis. The audience also determines our choices for the type of data visualization, as well as the language level of presentation and direction of our storytelling.

Combined together, narrative, data, audience and visuals can create story data that drives effective change in business.

I hope this brief sharing can broaden our horizons of data storytelling, and makes you compelled to learn further. When you use data storytelling techniques in your data presentation, not only will your presentation be easier to understand, but your audiences and business stakeholders will be helped to gain valuable insights significantly and leads to more effective business decision-makings.