A Practical Guide to the Art of Data Storytelling

A PRACTICAL GUIDE
TO THE ART OF DATA
STORYTELLING
Zach Gemignani
CEO, Juice Analytics
© Juice Inc. 2019. All rights reserved.

1. FOUNDED IN 2005 BY BROTHERS ZACH
AND CHRIS, WHEN DATA VISUALIZATION
WAS IN ITS INFANCY (WE WERE NOT).
2. ON A MISSION TO BRIDGE THE ‘LAST
MILE’ OF DATA
3. WE HAVE A ONE-OF-A-KIND PLATFORM
FOR CREATING DATA STORYTELLING
APPLICATIONS.
3 FACTS
ABOUT JUICE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
+
TIDAL WAVE OF DATA

MEANWHILE, HUMANS AREN’T FARING QUITE SO
WELL WITH DATA…
Only 18% of companies believe
they can gather and use data
insights eﬀectively.
-McKinsey study
We already have too much data.
We need to get smarter about
how we use it and consume it
-Bruce Broussard, CEO,
Humana
“

THE EVOLUTION OF DATA-POWERED INTELLIGENCE
HUMANS
ROBOTS
TIME
DATA-POWERED
INTELLIGENCE
Where the
trouble starts

DATA
TRANSLATORS
DATA
STORIES
TELLING

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A DATA TRANSLATOR?
(1) Understand the data
and the business context
(2) Present data to decision-makers
and move them to action

✓ WHY WE NEED TO TELL DATA STORIES?
WHAT IS A DATA STORY — AND WHEN SHOULD YOU USE IT?
HOW TO STRUCTURE DATA STORIES?
HOW TO BUILD THE ELEMENTS OF AN IMPACTFUL DATA STORY?

WHAT IS A DATA STORY?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU HEAR “DATA STORY”?
Data journalism articles
Data visualizations with explanatory descriptions
Interactive tools to explore data
A new catch-phrase in the overheated data industry

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM TRADITIONAL STORYTELLING?
HOW ARE DATA STORIES DIFFERENT?

DATA STORIES HAVE MUCH IN COMMON WITH TRADITIONAL NARRATIVES
Data Stories
Traditional
Stories
FLOW
CONTEXT
STRUCTURE
MEANING
SPECIFIC
CONCISE

A GOOD STORY HAS FLOW
(dashboards don’t do drama)
What’s going to happen next?

A GOOD STORY HAS FLOW
https://gramener.com/playground/datacomics/wbl

A GOOD STORY SETS THE CONTEXT
For more information: https://www.juiceanalytics.com/writing/use-context-to-make-your-audience-care; https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html
Why should
this matter to me?

A GOOD STORY HAS STRUCTURE
A beginning, a middle, and an ending.
https://blog.reedsy.com/three-act-structure/

“
Why must you tell THIS story? What’s
the belief burning within you that your
story feeds oﬀ of? That’s the heart of it.
-Pixar’s Rules for Storytelling
A GOOD STORY HAS MEANING

A GOOD STORY IS SPECIFIC

A GOOD STORY IS SPECIFIC
https://guns.periscopic.com/?year=2013

“
Data isn’t like your kids. You don’t have to
pretend to love them equally.
Amanda Cox, New York Times
A GOOD STORY IS CONCISE

…BUT THEY ARE ALSO DIFFERENT
Data Stories
Traditional
Stories

STORYTELLING VS. “STORY-FINDING”
VS.
More audience control
More audience telling

“STORY-FINDING”

DATA STORIES CAN EVOLVE
https://dems2020.juiceboxdata.com/dems2020

YOUR AUDIENCE IS THE HERO

DATA STORIES — A GUIDED SAFARI THROUGH THE WILDERNESS OF DATA
“Data stories use the techniques of
traditional storytelling — narrative flow,
context, structure — to guide audiences
through data and offer flexibility to find
insights relevant to them.”

HOW DO YOU DISCOVER THE RIGHT
DATA STORIES?

AS EASY AS 1-2-3
Is this a data story?
Who is your
audience? Why is it
important to them?
What information can
they act on?

(1) IS THIS A DATA STORY?
Data stories are useful when you
know where you are headed and are
expressing data that is well-understood
Exploratory analysis helps develop an
understanding of new processes, erratic
and shifting behaviors
www.ﬂickr.com/photos/archeon/268660409/ www.ﬂickr.com/photos/srcosmo/169329862/
Are your herding cows or cats?

(1) IS THIS A DATA STORY?
Are your herding cows or cats??
Data stories are useful when you
know where you are headed and are
expressing data that is well-understood
Exploratory analysis helps develop an
understanding of new processes, erratic
and shifting behaviors
www.ﬂickr.com/photos/archeon/268660409/ www.ﬂickr.com/photos/srcosmo/169329862/

(2) WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?
Metrics Gut
Decision making approach
(How do you inﬂuence them?)
TacticalStrategic Types of decisions
(What type of detail is most useful?)
NoviceFluent Experience with data
(How is the data best presented?)
Decision-maker Inﬂuencer
Role in the organization
(What actions can they take?)
DATA AUDIENCE PERSONALITY PROFILE

(2) WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO THEM?
Key metric that they are being
held accountable for
Greater eﬃciency or time savings
Check-oﬀ an urgent priority
Make them a hero at work

(3) WHAT INFORMATION CAN THEY ACT ON?
Actionable insights means the audience is in a position in
their job to do something useful with the insight.
Not
“I’m curious about…”
“It would be interesting to know…”

“STORIES” — MORE LIKE A CHAPTER; LESS LIKE A NOVEL
Story: {Title}
For {audience}, it is important to know {key question} and
{another key question}. To understand {topic}, {audience}
will want to know {key metrics} and how it varies by
{dimension}. With those insights, {audience} will be able to
understand {key drivers/outliers/results}. Best of all,
{audience} will be able to {take action} which will help their
organization achieve {organization goal} and, equally
important, let them achieve {personal goal}.

HOW DO YOU CRAFT STORIES THAT
LEAD TO ACTION?

DESIGN THE FRAME
BUILD THE CONTENT
DELIVER TO MAKE THE CHANGE

PART 1:
FRAMING

DATA STORY STRUCTURE
CONTEXT
HEART
ACTION
Data Story
ACT 1: SETUP
ACT 2: CONFLICT
ACT 3: RESOLUTION
Three Act Play

EXAMPLE: NEW YORK TIMES
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/09/opinion/minimum-wage.html

EXAMPLE: GLOBAL WARMING IMPACTS
https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/global-warming-impacts/extreme-heat-interactive-tool

EXAMPLE: WHY DO CATS & DOGS?
https://whydocatsanddogs.com/

1. SETTING THE CONTEXT
What can I achieve
here?
Why is this a
credible source?
Why should I care?
What can I do to
know more?

2. FINDING THE HEART
At the heart, you ﬁnd the problem,
the conﬂict, the outliers, the drivers…
the ‘aha’ moment.
The heart can be a single visualization
or a combination of visualizations that
together unveil the most important
insights.

COMMON HEART PATTERNS
Performance Overview
Peer-to-Peer
Comparison
Opportunity Calculator
Benchmark Comparison Trend Comparison Trend vs. Target
Individual Detail
Proﬁle
Cost vs. Performance Progress to Completion
Identify Hot Spots in a
Hierarchy
Performance by
Geography
Change in Distribution

THE MOST COMMON HEART (IN OUR EXPERIENCE)
What’s driving the problem/
opportunity?
How is this trending
for the problem/
opportunity area?
How are we doing on
our key metrics?

ANOTHER HEART
“Leaderboard” — compare a bunch of things across key metrics
Who are my top performers? Bottom performers?
How does their story change by metric?

3. LEADING TO ACTION
“…therefore we need to…”
— Nancy Duarte
“Wudya gunna do ‘bout it?”
— Zach G.

ACTIONS COME IN MANY FLAVORS
…FACILITATE
…MEETINGS
…REQUIRED WORKFLOWS
…AUTOMATED PROCESSES
…BUILD LISTS
…OF PEOPLE OR THINGS
…OF ACTION PLANS
…START CONVERSATIONS
…ABOUT DATA
…ABOUT INSIGHTS
ACTIONS THAT…

ACTIONS: TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
1. Capture insight from data story
2. Review insights to prioritize goals

WHAT IF YOU NEED TO GET TO THE POINT QUICKLY?
CONTEXT
HEART
ACTION
Data Story
CONTEXT
HEART
ACTION
Your executive
summary can be
the Data Story
in miniature

START BY WRITING
It will help you:
Clarify the structure
Articulate the language and terminology
Check the ﬂow and transitions
Test the attention span of your audience

PART 2: FILLING OUT YOUR STORYHOW TO BUILD OUT THE DETAILS
OF YOUR STORY

A CHECKLIST FOR YOUR DATA STORY CONTENT
Data is only one ingredient
Pick the right charts
Make good visual design choices
Strive for less
Teach once, use often

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE DATA
Words and images are the glue that holds your story today http://rhythm-of-food.net/
Bring emotional resonance and humanize the
content
IMAGES
What would an expert tell you to do about it?
RECOMMENDATIONS
How does the story/visual work? What are the
most relevant insights?
EXPLANATIONS
Definitions and details to pre-answer the follow-
up questions
NOTES AND HELP

PICK THE RIGHT CHART
https://datavizcatalogue.com/search.html

THERE ARE GOOD AND BAD CHOICES
https://material.io/design/communication/data-visualization.html

BETTER CHARTS HAVE LESS
Less to learnLess visual distraction Less color Less data

TEACH ONCE, USE OFTEN
https://pudding.cool/2019/03/hype/

PART 3: DELIVERY

WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE?
Send a report
Present to a group
Change the terms/
terminology of discussion
Bring data into
important decisions
Integrate into
everyday workflows
Spark new discussions,
new questions
Get others to share
the insights

YOUR DATA STORY
WILL FALL SHORT
YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT
YOUR AUDIENCE
BETTER TO LAUNCH
QUICKLY

TO WRAP UP

YOU ARE A DATA TRANSLATOR.
DATA STORYTELLING IS A CRUCIAL
SKILL IN THIS ROLE.

DESIGNING ‘PRETTY CHARTS’ IS A
SMALL PIECE OF THE LARGER
DATA STORYTELLING CHALLENGE.

YOU WILL NEED TO SHARPEN NEW SKILLS:
NARRATIVE WRITING
BUSINESS CONTEXT
SALES PERSUASION

DATA STORIES HAVE A THREE-PART STRUCTURE:
(1) CONTEXT
(2) HEART
(3) ACTIONS

“GOOD WRITERS ARE GOOD READERS.”
DATA JOURNALISTS ARE THE BEST DATA
WRITERS. LEARN FROM THEM.

LEARN FROM THE BEST…
The New York Times’ interactives
The Upshot
The Washington Post
Google News Lab
The Guardian's interactives
The r/dataisbeautiful subreddit
Kantar's Information Is Beautiful Awards
Andy Kirk's Visualizing Data
Pudding
SightlineVis

LET’S TALK
INVITE US TO LUNCH & LEARN IN YOUR
ORGANIZATION
SCHEDULE A MEETING TO DISCUSS YOUR
CUSTOMER-FACING REPORTING OR DATA
PRODUCTS
CHECK OUR OUR RESOURCES PAGE AT
WWW.JUICEANALYTICS.COM/DATA-FLUENCY
zach@juiceanalytics.com
twitter:@zachgemignani

A Practical Guide to the Art of Data Storytelling

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