How Data Can Inspire

Written by Dr. Sally Perkins , Authenticx

Just because data-backed stories contain numbers, doesn’t mean they are uninspiring.? In fact, data -points can be inspiring when told through a story structure and when four key elements of a story are present: setting, characters, object of desire, and obstacles.

The best data-backed stories contain characters who may be imaginable as individuals OR as large groups of people. In either case, characters are conveyed as real humans whom audiences are made to care about because:?

• They want something with which we can identify??
• They face challenges in getting what they want, with which we sympathize

Through those characters and their challenges, numbers become inspiring.?

Read the three Data-Backed Storytelling Tips below to learn more about how to talk about important statistical data points using story elements and story structure.?

1. Four simple elements to ensure a compelling story.?

Question: How do you know that you’re in “storytelling” mode as opposed to general “presentation of information” mode?

Answer: When these four simple elements are present, you know you’re in storytelling mode.

1. Setting - Stories, both macro and micro, ground the audience in a setting of time and place.
2. Characters – Stories, both macro and micro, contain characters.
3. Object of Desire – Stories must have an element that drives passion and motive from which to draw inspiration, progress, and measurement.
4. Obstacles – Stories are compelling if the characters face some sort of challenge in their effort to obtain what they desire.

Data-backed presentations without these elements are just presentations of data, not stories that move people to action.

Read the rest of the tip to learn more about each element and get questions to spark action in your storytelling — click here!

2. You need characters in your story to resonate and motivate.

Dorothy…The Scarecrow…The Lion…The Tin Man…R2D2…Black Panther… E.T. …Gandalf…Hermione…Forrest Gump…Creed…Shrek...Mulan...

What is the common element of each of these characters? You can probably recount the stories about most of them, in part because these characters themselves are so vivid.

“But it’s data,” you say, “there are no characters.”

Maybe true, maybe not true.

What we know is that people rarely connect emotionally with data (unless it’s data about living beings). And people rarely remember that to which they have no emotional connection. So, if you want your data to be memorable and motivating, you need to bring characters — humans — into the story.

This might mean making the people whom the data represent more vivid to your audience. If your data are based on conversations or surveys of people, then those people need to be visible in your story.

• What is their demographic profile?
• What is their geographic profile?
• What is the range of human experience they represent?
• What do they have in common?
• What do they have in common with your audience?

Read the entire tip to understand how to connect the character to the data in a human way — and have readers care about what you're trying to tell — click here!

3. Structure is key to a data-backed story.

A chronology of events isn’t a story. An organized list of data points isn’t a story.

Data-backed stories only exist if they’re told with a story structure that forms a strategic beginning, middle, and end. Authenticx uses a simple four-part storytelling structure: Normal, “Uh Oh,” Intervention, and New Normal.

1. The Normal
2. The “Uh Oh”
3. The Intervention
4. The New Normal

A story is only a story if it has a true narrative structure. ?Without a structure like this, we simply have a data presentation or data visualization — but not necessarily a data-backed story.

Read the whole tip to define each part of the storytelling structure and how it impacts your audience — click here!

Sally Perkins serves as Sr. Manager of?Storytellers at Authenticx. She analyzes quantitative and qualitative conversational data from which she crafts impactful data-backed stories that offer insights into how professionals across industries, such as healthcare, can improve the customer experience and their business outcomes.?

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